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........I ended up getting C4 10" spring bolts and the ride height was perfect. My car now sits super low.. There is just over an inch of travel before it hits the bumper stops.. I used a fairly tight spring so that I won't hit the bumper stops too frequently......
Grandsport3: Can I assume your car is not at stock ride height? How much did you lower it do you think?
DorianC3: Could you do us a favor and measure the free height before you install it? (Bottom of spring to bottom edge)
The spring came in today and I had to argue with the UPS man for him to leave it. He wanted me to pay customs €140 but I had already paid it. I even had to show him a proof of receipt email from UPS. He kept on asking me for a proof of receipt. I kept telling him this was one. Said he wanted paper. I said I’d be happy to print the email out. Finally I told him to call his boss. Interestingly, they spoke Russian to each other.
Finally he left the spring.
I discussed my issue with Vansteel. They said they had run into my issue before and could solve my problem. I mentioned that I might eventually put on 17-inch rims. They recommended trimming the spring by .5 inch and using 8-inch end bolts. Fortunately I had some.
The Vansteel have less of a dog bone shape.
Thicker
Less arch.
Significantly
Last edited by DorianC3; Apr 23, 2020 at 01:50 AM.
It was an easy job. We started around 1900 by 2100 we were done.
It’s a bit dark, but the height is near perfect. With the nuts flush with the end of the bolt, it’s even very slightly low. As the car settles, I may have to adjust the nuts up a smidge.
From: Loud, Raw and Dangerous 1968 327 4S in Southern California
Fantastic....finally got it totally right! And you got plenty of threads on the bolts to fine tune it. Now I am thinking of a composite spring in my future. Let us know later when you get a chance how the ride is feeling now.
Last edited by Redvette2; Apr 22, 2020 at 09:00 PM.
Something is wrong and longer bolts will not solve the issue.
Look at the angle of your half shafts.
With the weight of the car on the suspension with the tires on the ground, your half shafts should be level to the ground.
Yours are not and adding longer bolts like you did is only masking a problem.
Go back to the original length spring bolts and correct what is wrong.
As mentioned earlier, there are some aftermarket composite springs that will not allow you to get the proper ride height.
I would start checking everything again and maybe replace that new spring.
the previous owner had VBP Suspension components installed and the half shafts actually have a slight downward slope towards the center section. Is this anything to worry about?
Grandsport3: Can I assume your car is not at stock ride height? How much did you lower it do you think?
DorianC3: Could you do us a favor and measure the free height before you install it? (Bottom of spring to bottom edge)
It's hard to say. It's say that I lowered it from STOCK ride height about 2 inches. When I got the car, the original spring was already worn down and the car was sitting lower than stock. I then went with the TRW spring and the car was sitting as high as a 4 x 4, even with the 9" spring bolts.. So, I changed the spring to the low arch spring with 10" bolts to achieve the ride height that I wanted.. Based on some pictures of the factory ride height, my car sits at least 2 inches but as much as 3 inches lower.. It's less than 2 fingers from the top of the tires to the fender..
Last edited by GrandSportC3; Apr 22, 2020 at 10:28 PM.
When I talked to the guys at Eaton Detroit, they said the spring should be flat or with slight negative arch. Your looks great. My half shafts are like yours, my thought is that with the old spring or the TRW the half shafts are running at an angle steeper than what you have now. I would not worry about it. I know that they way mine is now, the factory ride height dimensions off the pivot points are much closer to speck now than before. Unk
Last edited by RU7376vettes; Apr 22, 2020 at 10:30 PM.
I took it out for a few drives and I can feel that the geometry is off. It is distracting enough that I cannot focus on the feel of the spring. Initially, the suspension feels a bit soft... which could easily be the gas-a-just shocks.
My first drive with my new VanSteel composite spring and QA1 adjustable shocks felt weird and mushy. I had the shocks set at 5 on an increasing resistance scale of 1 to 18. I changed the setting to 10 and drove it again. That made a huge difference. The ride feels perfectly firm now (360 lb spring).
