lowering rear, remove upper 2 leaves ?
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2002
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From: Moneta Virginia
lowering rear, remove upper 2 leaves ?
I have a 70 small block coupe that I just rebuilt the rear suspension on, new shocks, bushings,joints, diff, strut bars etc. The car was set up with the weight on the tires before tightening anything and is now sitting much higher, probably 2-3 inches higher than pre work. I did reuse the stock 9 leaf spring. I know I need to put some miles on it to let it "settle" but will it settle that much ? I have driven it up and down my road but less than a mile. So my other question, is there a reason I could not take out the upper 2 leaves of the spring ? This would lower the whole rear similar to using a shorter spring in the front of a coil suspension, I know I would need a shorter bolt thru the spring stack, is there a down side to this that I am missing ? It seems easily reversible if there are issues. My only other thought is to remove one end of the shocks to see if they are "holding things up "and would do that first.
Thanks for any help.
Jim
Thanks for any help.
Jim
Burning Brakes
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 789
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From: Los Banos CA
The easiest way to lower the rear is to replace the bolts at the ends of the spring with longer ones. Stock is around 6", you can get 8" or 10" replacements (but 10" will be pretty close to the pavement, and could hit if you get a flat tire with stock 15" wheels).
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From: North of Toronto - Ontario
That's an awful lot of height change from where it was with the same spring, regardless of the shocks
Has the car moved at all since you sat it back down? If not than the rear wheels may not have slid out to where they should be (caster)
Do you have a rear swaybar? If so make sure it's not gone over-center and holding the trailing arms from going up
M
Has the car moved at all since you sat it back down? If not than the rear wheels may not have slid out to where they should be (caster)
Do you have a rear swaybar? If so make sure it's not gone over-center and holding the trailing arms from going up
M
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 244
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From: Moneta Virginia
I did add a sway bar and will verify if over center, I don’t think so as I still have it loose, it does have 8” bolts as it did before. Car has been moved but not more than 1/2 mile
Melting Slicks
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On my '75, two leaf were removed , and have 6.5" bolts at ends,
Counting from top down, ( short on top ) the 3rd and 4th leaf were removed,, allowing the two shortest to remain as they were.
Rear wheel well measures 27.5" when half tank of fuel and no one is in the car.
Counting from top down, ( short on top ) the 3rd and 4th leaf were removed,, allowing the two shortest to remain as they were.
Rear wheel well measures 27.5" when half tank of fuel and no one is in the car.
Last edited by 60 SHARK; Apr 15, 2021 at 12:21 PM.
Race Director
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From: North of Toronto - Ontario
If the swaybar was over center the rear should be stiff as hell (basically solid) so you should have noticed when driving
Before taking any leafs out I'd check to see if something isn't binding, "2-3 inches higher than pre work" really shouldn't happen. New shocks might add a little but they shouldn't do anything like that. Easy to check though, unbolt them from the bottom and see
M
Burning Brakes
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 789
Likes: 129
From: Los Banos CA
What is the height from the ground to the highest section of the wheel well? If you re-used the original spring, and have 8" bolts, then something else is causing it to ride high. Maybe include some pictures from the side, and from the rear showing the angle of the half shafts when it's sitting on the ground?
Last edited by bradleyb66; Apr 15, 2021 at 12:58 PM.
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From: New Or-leens Loo-z-anna
I have a 70 small block coupe that I just rebuilt the rear suspension on, new shocks, bushings,joints, diff, strut bars etc. The car was set up with the weight on the tires before tightening anything and is now sitting much higher, probably 2-3 inches higher than pre work. I did reuse the stock 9 leaf spring. I know I need to put some miles on it to let it "settle" but will it settle that much ? I have driven it up and down my road but less than a mile. So my other question, is there a reason I could not take out the upper 2 leaves of the spring ? This would lower the whole rear similar to using a shorter spring in the front of a coil suspension, I know I would need a shorter bolt thru the spring stack, is there a down side to this that I am missing ? It seems easily reversible if there are issues. My only other thought is to remove one end of the shocks to see if they are "holding things up "and would do that first.
Thanks for any help.
Jim
Thanks for any help.
Jim
I'm thinking after you see if the shocks are lifting the body----make sure everything is bolted in place correctly....
put 5-10 miles on the car around town on some roads that aren't "smooth" to help the suspension settle completely.
Is it possible you "shortened" the new strut rods when you installed them...that would make the entire rear of the car sit higher, but the camber of the wheels would be forced be "off-outward" at the top of each wheel which would not be a good thing.
I removed the top "leaf" which basically "took up space" on my 9-leaf-pack-it was about 6"-8" long. Removing it helped lower the body. I may have removed the next leaf also, but don't remember.
You may not need a shorter thru-bolt ...just use a hack saw or cutoff wheel to remove the excess threads after tightening down the springpack...make sure the original thru-bolt isn't corroded/threads are not worn.
Be careful if you remove leafs from the middle of the pack..it could cause the pack to sag and lose it's arch quickly.
As everyone said...take pics from different angles of the suspension for members to view.
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Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2007
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From: cary Il
I removed the 2 very top spacer leafs on a 9 leaf spring, it does bring it down a little, also leave the 4
spring support bolts loose until all weight in on the ground, and don't over torque those 4 bolts, you do
have to shorten the 2 front bolts so not to penetrate the rear case blind holes
spring support bolts loose until all weight in on the ground, and don't over torque those 4 bolts, you do
have to shorten the 2 front bolts so not to penetrate the rear case blind holes
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removing leaves from the spring has got to change the spring rate. Just can't see that as a good thing. with 8inch bolts you should have no trouble getting a decent ride height. Really makes me wonder which shocks you put in. I'm running the Bilsteins for a lowered car with a glass mono spring. 7 inch bolts and about an inch lower than stock.
Thread Starter
Instructor
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From: Moneta Virginia
The shocks are KYB gas adjusts all around, I will verify the camber and sway bar in the morning. When I took it for its short “drive” the bolts for the spring mount were snugged but not tight enough to restrict the spring from settling. I’ll have to figure out how to post pictures but at this point I can put my fist between the tire and fender without touching either.
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From: New Or-leens Loo-z-anna
The shocks are KYB gas adjusts all around, I will verify the camber and sway bar in the morning. When I took it for its short “drive” the bolts for the spring mount were snugged but not tight enough to restrict the spring from settling. I’ll have to figure out how to post pictures but at this point I can put my fist between the tire and fender without touching either.
Good point. Also...low profile tires will make the gap look even larger. A tire less than 28" in diameter increases the gap.
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removing leaves from the spring has got to change the spring rate. Just can't see that as a good thing. with 8inch bolts you should have no trouble getting a decent ride height. Really makes me wonder which shocks you put in. I'm running the Bilsteins for a lowered car with a glass mono spring. 7 inch bolts and about an inch lower than stock.
There are lots of threads on this. Here's the best in recent memory.
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/c3-tech-performance/4383768-rear-spring-info-steel-and-composite.html
Please post photos!
Last edited by Bikespace; Apr 16, 2021 at 03:01 AM.
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you could disconnect the shocks and the sway bar and see if your height changes after a short drive...something isnt the same. Has the crossbar settled into the sombreros all the way?
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2002
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From: Moneta Virginia
Well it looks like the shocks are the issue, sway bar has no load at ride height, remove the shock at the lower mount and drops it by more than and inch closer to 2.
Sooooo what choices are there for shocks that don’t raise the car !!!??? These are KYB gas a justs, I replaced all 4, silly me....car is just a cruiser no racing or auto cross etc.
Sooooo what choices are there for shocks that don’t raise the car !!!??? These are KYB gas a justs, I replaced all 4, silly me....car is just a cruiser no racing or auto cross etc.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2009
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From: Lake Norman, NC
removing leaves from the spring has got to change the spring rate. Just can't see that as a good thing. with 8inch bolts you should have no trouble getting a decent ride height. Really makes me wonder which shocks you put in. I'm running the Bilsteins for a lowered car with a glass mono spring. 7 inch bolts and about an inch lower than stock.
If you choose to remove leafs from your rear spring, be advised/warnedthat the 4 holes in the diff case are blind holes. There is very little material between the bottom (actually, top when in car) and the cavity of the diff. If you use the original bolts, they may pierce through the bottom of the blind holes and cause a big leak issue on your diff.
Hope this helps...