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Was helping a buddy diagnose a problem he's having with his 69. It sits fairly low anyway, but it seems the driver's side rear sits about 1-2 inches lower than the right. We figured to adjust the spring bolts to see if we could level her out. I tightened the left (the lower side) bolt up until I ran out of threads. That helped but didn't make up the difference. He loosened the right (the high side) until he almost ran out of bolt. Car is close to level but still not right.
Now when you look at it, the left side of the spring is nearly horizontal. The right side is deeply arched, yet the car still isn't quite level side to side. Is this just a shot spring or is there something else we should look at?
Was helping a buddy diagnose a problem he's having with his 69. It sits fairly low anyway, but it seems the driver's side rear sits about 1-2 inches lower than the right. We figured to adjust the spring bolts to see if we could level her out. I tightened the left (the lower side) bolt up until I ran out of threads. That helped but didn't make up the difference. He loosened the right (the high side) until he almost ran out of bolt. Car is close to level but still not right.
Now when you look at it, the left side of the spring is nearly horizontal. The right side is deeply arched, yet the car still isn't quite level side to side. Is this just a shot spring or is there something else we should look at?
Has it always been like that? Did something change. Has he owned the car awhile. A picture or 2 might help. Is the leaf spring new.
R
He hasn't had the car very long but it's been like that since he got it. Spring is definitely not new. I have a few pics. I will try to post them via photobucket later today.
How do the rear-right-side body mounts and bushings look......are they rotted/falling apart......they can cause the body to "slump" down onto the frame.
Replace them if they are damaged/"pancaked"/rotted. You can also install a temporary wooden block where the pancaked body mount is/was......in order to see if the body "levels out".
Also use a bright light to check the front-right-side coil spring to make sure it is indexed properly and is sitting in the upper and lower A-arm pockets correctly (if it is not, it will make the car sit lower in the left rear.
Check the front-left-side coil spring to make sure it isn't broken or collapsed....it will make the rear-right sit higher if it is damaged.
If those areas are O.K. .......maybe a new steel springpack or a new composite spring might be needed.....the car shouldn't need the springbolts screwed all-the-way in opposite directions for the car to look level.
The adjustment nuts on the springs should be equal on a "healthy spring". They also should have some sort of safety to prevent them from backing off such as a hole in the bolt and a cotter pin. What was the angle of the half shafts with respect to the ground before you started making adjustments and the nuts were located at the same spot? The half shafts should be roughly parallel to the ground with a 1/2 tank of gas and a driver. If they were you may have a body mount issue.
Ok. First of all we restored the spring bolts to where they were before and counted threads to assure they're equal. I measured the height from the ground to the lower wheel lip edge.
LHS: 26.5"
RHS: 27.5"
Here's some good pics of the ride height. You can see the bigget gap between tire and wheel well on the RHS.
Hi 69L,
That's a very nice looking convertible.
It appears that's a replacement spring of some sort and they're certainly replacement (longer) bolts.
It's likely that when this spring was installed the car sat high, so longer bolts were needed to improve the perceived ride height.
Without knowing what's been going on with the car it's difficult to assess why you're seeing what you're seeing.
Is it at all possible that there's a cracked leaf in the stack that you can't see because of the leaf liners?
Regards,
Alan
Hi 69L,
That's a very nice looking convertible.
It appears that's a replacement spring of some sort and they're certainly replacement (longer) bolts.
It's likely that when this spring was installed the car sat high, so longer bolts were needed to improve the perceived ride height.
Without knowing what's been going on with the car it's difficult to assess why you're seeing what you're seeing.
Is it at all possible that there's a cracked leaf in the stack that you can't see because of the leaf liners?
Regards,
Alan
Alan, what do you think about those rubber bushings? To me, they look dead, which (I think) will have the body sit lower than if fresh bushings were in place, no? I have a friend that doubled bushings and got increased ride height out of it. Im not suggesting this but offering it to prove that bushing thickness vs ride height is relevant.
You know... I have a brand new (well, 10 years old but never driven) VBP 330lb composite spring with poly bushings sitting under my long unfinished 69 coupe. I'd been thinking it's more of a resto project so maybe I'd pick up an F41 steel spring to keep it stock. Maybe I'll donate the composite and see what happens....
Previous owner said front springs were replaced when suspension was redone. Ball joints and all look pretty new. Springs look pretty new too. Also, to the naked eye, look to be made of thicker wire. Perhaps aftermarket lowering springs? Whole car does sit pretty damn low.....
Bad rear spring?
