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After reading many post I have come across a few terms you guys can help me with. I do want to add I have never had a car want to shift left to right when I have hit a large dip in the road or while going unto a bridge. But the term whip and sway and a few others may mean the same thing. The steering in the front seems tight, you move left or right and it responds accordingly. However, removed the spare tire to inspect the suspension and I noticed that the leaf spring is almost flat. The bushing seem to be ok and the shocks seem to have been replaced. I notice I do have some inward tilting of the wheels. I am going to assume that this spring needs replacing and it could be my problem for it to whip, sway or just jerk left to right when hitting dips and such. Including a pic of the spring for you guys to evaluate. I plan on replacing it along with the bushings and shocks. I would like your opinion about this leaf spring,
Based upon the angle of the halfshafts to the ground that spring is not sagging. Who ever installed it did not remove the shipping straps, remove them.
if there is noticeable tilt inward of the top of the tire you need a 4 wheel alignment and the shop should check the condition of all suspension components.
You are missing one of your spring retainer bolts! That's not good.
Your strut bracket looks modified, and it looks like you may have adjustable strut rods already (they act like a turnbuckle to adjust length, vs. the original cammed camber bolts). Can you get a better picture?
More than likely, your rear strut rod bushings need to be replaced, possibly your trailing arm bushings, too. Due to the way the suspension works on these cars, rear toe-out, and/or camber changes, will cause them to be very spooky on the road.
I think you might have the smart strut bracket, or something similar, with adjustable strut rods. It could even be the earlier bracket adapted to the Dana 44 rear end. If you can get a better picture, that would help.
The bands on each end need to be removed? What would be the best way to remove them? I am assuming I can come in from the side with a 4 inch grinder and cut them off. What should I expect to see when I do? My maintenance manual will be arriving in a few days so I will have more information to follow. Will post more pictures soon. First, remove bands and install missing bolt. Thanks for the responses.
Just raised up the car to measure the bolt length. There is a good reason for the bolt to be missing. PO wrung off the bolt, so will be drilling and using an easy out.
Last edited by Quackster; Mar 2, 2020 at 11:39 AM.
I'm curious as to how the PO managed to snap the bolt off. That is a steel bolt going into an aluminum flange with a max torque of around 40 ft-lb (that's my memory - don't take if for gospel). Over torquing it would more likely strip the thread in the flange rather than snap that 12 mm bolt. In any case, when you get it out you'll need to check the flange threads for damage.
I also question if that is the original spring given the red paint. I've owned my 80 since new and the spring was not red when installed.
I have a better thought...get rid of that spring..besides the missing spring mount bolt, the number of leafs on that spring is not an OEM steel spring with either 7 leafs (Sport spring) or the 9 leaf base suspension spring. Do yourself a big favor and install a composite spring of either 360 lbs (sport) or 300 lbs (base) both of which are infinitely superior to that steel spring of unknown origin. The composite will save 45-50 lbs in weight, will ride much better than any steel spring and will never sag......
I have a better thought...get rid of that spring..besides the missing spring mount bolt, the number of leafs on that spring is not an OEM steel spring with either 7 leafs (Sport spring) or the 9 leaf base suspension spring. Do yourself a big favor and install a composite spring of either 360 lbs (sport) or 300 lbs (base) both of which are infinitely superior to that steel spring of unknown origin. The composite will save 45-50 lbs in weight, will ride much better than any steel spring and will never sag......
I couldn't agree more. If that old spring has to come out to fix the bolt, think twice about putting it back in. A composite spring is SO much easier.
But first things first, make the car safe to drive! Replacing the spring, or the strut rods (if that is the source of the wandering), will quickly grow to a complete rear-end refresh.
I will find out when I am able to drill the bolt out and I agree it is puzzling on how the bolt was broken. As for the paint. someone painted the spring orange while it was on the car, over spray was on the spare tire cover.
The whip and shifting that you are explaining sounds like trailing arm bushings. As stated the spring bolt needs to be taken care of ASAP. The spring bands can be removed by tin snips. Don't worry when you cut the band the spring will not move.
The lower rear strut rods are the single most wear prone item in the rear suspension as they handle over 90% of the cornering loads. The rubber bushings can fail rapidly. But it looks as though yours have already been replaced with adjustables. I would still check them out and see if they have solid ends (which need greased) or rubber ends which can pound/wear out. And they cause bad wandering when the bushings are loose.
Do not drive the car again until the spring mount bolt is reinstalled.
I believe automatic trans 1980 Vette's came with a composite spring from the factory.....somebody will chime in and correct me if I am wrong I hope....but the point is that a composite spring weighs about 40 lbs. less....and was factory equipment at the time.....do not feel bashful to upgrade.....there is a ton of controversy about steel vs. composite but thousands of people run composite and so do I front and rear.
You need to check the condition of the trailing arm bushings and get a four wheel alignment if all is ok.........the car should not "walk" over bumps.
Do not drive the car again until the spring mount bolt is reinstalled.
I believe automatic trans 1980 Vette's came with a composite spring from the factory.....somebody will chime in and correct me if I am wrong I hope....but the point is that a composite spring weighs about 40 lbs. less....and was factory equipment at the time.....do not feel bashful to upgrade.....there is a ton of controversy about steel vs. composite but thousands of people run composite and so do I front and rear.
You need to check the condition of the trailing arm bushings and get a four wheel alignment if all is ok.........the car should not "walk" over bumps.
Jebby
I'll chime in, as the original owner of a 1980 vette, they had the first Dana 44 rear ends but retained the steel spring. They went composite the next year.
Mine went composite a couple years ago. Great improvement.
I agree the TA's need to be rebuilt. Basically, as others said, at the point of getting the spring out the following might as well be done:
Replace spring - composite preferably but a good proper leaf will serve OK if you like tradition
Shocks - lots of good ones to choose from
TA's - full rebuild - be ready to fight like hell to get them out - plenty of forum posts on that topci
Struts - as someone else noted they look like aftermarket adjustables, may be OK but check
Rear end - If never rebuilt there's a good chance stub axles are worn and seals are leaking - need to rebuild but if looking to go over 400 hp gross some day, you may want to convert to Eaton iron rear end - note, the 400 hp is not hard and fast rule, plenty running with more without issue, others, not so much
U-joints - replace them all, solids, i.e not greasable
All associated bushings
Had time to pull the spring out so I can attempt to remove the broken bolt, hopefully with no issues. This spring has 10 leaves and that's including a very short one on top. This spring has what I think is anti squeak material between most of the leaves. I ordered a new 9 leaf spring today, I decided to go this route with the steel spring to keep cost down. I have found that the front bushing on the rear arms are shot, so they are on order as well. Hopefully I can have them out and back in by the weekend. leaf spring may take longer to be delivered. If I understand from MelWFF is the bands on the end of the spring should have been removed before installing. I assume the new spring with be delivered with the shipping bands installed as well and should be removed? Now, a question, if the new one does not come with the anti squeak material, would it be acceptable to use the material from the old spring? I will be disassembling the old one anyway, will be using the leaves as blades and tools as I forge a little bit.
If I understand most of the posts I have read concerning the rear height, I can add longer bolts to lower the back end and still have the benefits of a new leaf spring and not one that is wore out or questioning if it is the correct one for the 1980? As for the monster truck look, um! I have viewed plenty of images of stock spring vette's and I like the way they look. Getting the car mechanically sound and keeping the cost down will speed up the process for us to be able to enjoy the ride. Have plenty to do on this car and have encountered several issues that I did not realize would show up. Old dawg, learning new tricks as life passes us by!
If you're purchasing a new leaf spring, it should have the anti squeak shims (not sure that is the correct term) already. Doesn't make sense you would spend money on an assembled spring only to have to install the shims. Also get your self the Assembly Instruction Manual (AIM). You said you purchased the service manual, hopefully the GM on and not the Haynes. Good Luck
On your statement " I have found that the front bushing on the rear arms are shot, so they are on order as well" I assume you mean the trailing arms. Be advised, those bolts are hardened steel. You mentioned forging so you clearly know what that will mean. Here's a link to a thread I started a couple years ago which has some information which might be useful when it comes to a good blade to cut the bolts. Some have found they can actually get them to come out without a fight. But most have found they need to be cut out.
Also, given the age of the car and the shape it is in, there's a good chance the bearings in the TA's are near end of life. It's not my area of expertise, but hopefully someone knowledgeable will chime in with guidance on how to check them. If needed, as long as the TA's are out replacing the bearings if needed would make sense.
Lastly, if the shims are rusted, you should probably get a stainless set to replace them.
rear suspension information 1980 Corvette
