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TL;DR Stock Springs/Leaf Spring, Bilstein B6 front/back or B6 front/B8 rear for smooth ride.
Hey everyone, I'm new to this forum and I've recently bought a 1976 Corvette. It's the first car I've ever had to genuinely work on other than basic maintenance.
So, I'm going to replace the suspension and I plan on using Bilstein shocks with stock springs and leaf spring; I've read that most people like having B6s up front and B8s in the rear but usually mentioned having a composite spring. So I guess question is: Should I have B6s front/rear or have B6 front/B8 rear for an overall smooth ride for cruising.
Nice ride for cruising? Loose that stock rear spring. At least in my humble opinion.
But if you insist on keeping the stock rear spring. B6's all the way around.
I’d agree with the assessment above. If your leaf spring is the original 50 year old piece it’s definitely due for a replacement. The composite spring is quite and upgrade in ride quality, durability, and weighs significantly less than the steel one. There’s a reason they went to them in the 80s and never went back.
Here’s another thread discussing the differences between the B6 and B8 shocks.
I’d agree with the assessment above. If your leaf spring is the original 50 year old piece it’s definitely due for a replacement. The composite spring is quite and upgrade in ride quality, durability, and weighs significantly less than the steel one. There’s a reason they went to them in the 80s and never went back.
Here’s another thread discussing the differences between the B6 and B8 shocks.
I was going to replace the leaf spring with a new one, I guess I should've clarified that I was gonna just install OEM springs.
I was curious if a composite spring was worth the money or not since they go for around $2500~ and a leaf spring is around $300~
Recommend QA-1 non adjustable shocks to compliment spring and ride quality
op, i have no experience with plastic spring to compare.
u can go steel and do an L82 spring. Much lighter than standard spring. I went bilsteins . Next time i would try qa shocks. Also bilstein mexico made now. Thread here on spring. If you do any spirited driving i would lean stiffer. Also the length is shorter on bllsteins rear on mine so travel more limited. No clue if thats good or bad. My car rides great
good luck and let all know how you made out! https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...af-spring.html
Last edited by interpon; Mar 17, 2026 at 06:10 PM.
More horsepower/weight requires heavier springs. This very recent, but well written thread talks about how the 330 lb spring is the minimum required to keep the car off the bump stops at WOT for a BBC. As for the shocks I’m sure it’s to help you spend more money.
Lots of people have the composite spring with Bilstein B8s and like the setup.
Last edited by Piersonpie; Mar 17, 2026 at 07:45 PM.
I have had a 360lbs composite spring on my 78 L-82 4 speed gymkhana originally suspended since 1985, replacing the 7 leaf OEM steel sport spring! As others have noted, forget the using a steel rear spring for the following reasons:
1. Steel spring weighs 50lbs versus composite 8 lbs
2. Steel ride quality is very harsh versus the composite which rides much smoother, quicker reacting.
3. Steel springs ALL sag over time versus a composite which will never wear out...requires millions of oscillations
As others have noted, Bilstein HD B6's in front since the front coils whether base or sport are generally VERY stiff, if aftermarket, usually 420/450/550lbs.
Steel rear springs require B6's for a smoother. I was one of the early adopters of using Bilstein Sports B8 in the rear with the composite since the B6 Bilstein with my 360 composite was too bouncy and did not allow adequate damping. I purchased a separate set of B8 sports for the rear. Best decision ever!
I have had a 360lbs composite spring on my 78 L-82 4 speed gymkhana originally suspended since 1985, replacing the 7 leaf OEM steel sport spring! As others have noted, forget the using a steel rear spring for the following reasons:
1. Steel spring weighs 50lbs versus composite 8 lbs
2. Steel ride quality is very harsh versus the composite which rides much smoother, quicker reacting.
3. Steel springs ALL sag over time versus a composite which will never wear out...requires millions of oscillations
As others have noted, Bilstein HD B6's in front since the front coils whether base or sport are generally VERY stiff, if aftermarket, usually 420/450/550lbs.
Steel rear springs require B6's for a smoother. I was one of the early adopters of using Bilstein Sports B8 in the rear with the composite since the B6 Bilstein with my 360 composite was too bouncy and did not allow adequate damping. I purchased a separate set of B8 sports for the rear. Best decision ever!
you advised me on mine!
just more options if you want to stay steel. The L82 spring is much lighter than the non L82 spring, ~30 pounds.
Recommend QA-1 non adjustable shocks to compliment spring and ride quality
op, i have no experience with plastic spring to compare.
u can go steel and do an L82 spring. Much lighter than standard spring. I went bilsteins . Next time i would try qa shocks. Also bilstein mexico made now. Thread here on spring. If you do any spirited driving i would lean stiffer. Also the length is shorter on bllsteins rear on mine so travel more limited. No clue if thats good or bad. My car rides great
good luck and let all know how you made out! https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...af-spring.html
I have had a 360lbs composite spring on my 78 L-82 4 speed gymkhana originally suspended since 1985, replacing the 7 leaf OEM steel sport spring! As others have noted, forget the using a steel rear spring for the following reasons:
1. Steel spring weighs 50lbs versus composite 8 lbs
2. Steel ride quality is very harsh versus the composite which rides much smoother, quicker reacting.
3. Steel springs ALL sag over time versus a composite which will never wear out...requires millions of oscillations
As others have noted, Bilstein HD B6's in front since the front coils whether base or sport are generally VERY stiff, if aftermarket, usually 420/450/550lbs.
Steel rear springs require B6's for a smoother. I was one of the early adopters of using Bilstein Sports B8 in the rear with the composite since the B6 Bilstein with my 360 composite was too bouncy and did not allow adequate damping. I purchased a separate set of B8 sports for the rear. Best decision ever!
What front spring weight would you recommend? Also I'm starting to be convinced of this composite rear, what weight should I get? I'm putting in a 700R4 if that changes anything for weight.
What front spring weight would you recommend? Also I'm starting to be convinced of this composite rear, what weight should I get? I'm putting in a 700R4 if that changes anything for weight.
The simple quick answer is that your 76 C3 most likely has the base suspension (no rear sway OEM from GM) and a smaller diameter front sway bar than the sport gymkhana cars. With those assumptions, the aftermarket base/grand touring front coil suspension springs are a 460 lbs spring and I would couple those springs with either a 300 or 330 rear composite. Both the OEM gm springs on these cars were considerable lower spring rates for a plush cushy ride....
That spring is certainly much lighter than my OEM 78 Gymkhana spring 7 leaf steel spring and looks much different in terms of the metal leafs. Is that spring ^^^^^^^^^ an OEM Gymkhana Sport rear spring originally on the car, for sure, from the factory? The base suspension cars had a 9 leaf GM steel spring from the factory.
I did find this comment searching weights for the C3 steel rear springs:
Technical Note: While the 7-leaf "Sport" spring has fewer leaves, they are significantly thicker and made of a higher-grade heat-treated steel to achieve the higher spring rate. This extra thickness per leaf results in a total weight that is nearly identical to the 9-leaf standard spring."
Bilstein B6 or B8?
, composite springs just don't cost that much.
