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Hey guys,
I lowered the rear of my '79 with 10" bolts and would like to go lower. Is there any spring that would improve handling and lower the car more as well? i'd like to go another 3 or 4" down.
And the end of the spring bolts above the lower lip of the rim. If you lowered the rear with 10 inch bolts and still believe you have another 3-4 inches, there could be an issue with your setup. Solving a possible problem could bring the rear end down where it should be.
Post some photos of your setup and let's see what is going on.
You have some other issues if you already have 10 inch bolts and need another 3 to 4 inches. Even a stock ride height C3 can barely go down 3 or 4 inches. Mine is down about 1.5 inches and that is about as low as you would want to go on the street. Picture of your setup would be helpful.
I shortened the rear spring and have plenty of clearance between the tires and spring. I'd love to go to a different spring that wold give better handling and also lower it some more. I'm not worried about ride quality.
here are some pictures of what i have ATM. I'm not sure if its stock or not.
It is a 79 with a 327.
I'd love to go coil overs if i had the funds, but alas i do not. Would a fiberglass spring do anything to lower and improve handling as well as lose weight?
I'd love to go coil overs if i had the funds, but alas i do not. Would a fiberglass spring do anything to lower and improve handling as well as lose weight?
A fiberglass spring, in my opinion, would most definitely be an improvement. I had good results with a VB&P rear spring.
HOWEVER, looking at the picture you posted, it looks like there's only a couple of inches between the ground and your exhaust pipes NOW. How are you going to lower it 3-4"??
In your picture it appears the spring bolts and even the ends of the springs are lower than the bottom lip of your wheel. if you had a flat or blowout this could cause catastrophic damage to you, your car and possibly anyone near you on the road. If you want your car lowered, do it safely by replacing your spring.
thanks for the input, guys. The pictures are sort of deceiving. I've got about 2.5" clearance on each end of the spring. I'm painting the car ATM and will be going to side pipes so wont have to worry about under the spring.
What spring would give the best handling? are there special shocks needed for a composite spring?
Word of caution about going too much lower. If the inner u-joints of the half shafts are below the outer u-joints, this will adversely affect handling because the rear suspension bump-steer will increase. You really want the inner joints to be at least 1/2" higher than the outer joints.
If you want to lower the car 3-4", you should probably consider raising the rear differential relative to the rest of the frame.
I'd love to go coil overs if i had the funds, but alas i do not. Would a fiberglass spring do anything to lower and improve handling as well as lose weight?
If you reduced the fiberglass spring's spacers, the differential MIGHT sit a little lower on the spring. I'm not really sure, I would need to see what's in the original kit. Picture of my installation shows the spring is pretty much right next to the differential. I do love the handling improvement however, so just on that basis it is worth doing.
What are you after anyway? Maybe post a picture of the car so we can see what's bothering you?
In your picture, your half shafts are about an inch higher at the differential than at the trailing arms. With 10 inch spring bolts already installed, I think you have something wrong in your current setup that needs corrected before you compound the problem trying to lower the car even more. I would suspect you have an incorrect spring in the rear. I'm no expert, this is just my opinion. Think safety first.
Hi jn,
When you shortened the longest (bottom) leaf you effectively raised the the amount of weight it takes to deflect the spring a given amount
Think about someone on a diving board.... the further a person walks out on the board the more it bends.
You cut the 'board' shorter so the person can't bend the board as much.
Shortening the spring raised the car..... if you had cut it even shorter the car would be sitting even higher.
Regards,
Alan
A VB&P composite spring will improve your handling and give you the correct ride height with 8" bolts. What rating of spring you go with depends on your driving habits. They'll shorten the spring for you as well if needed.
need suspension help
