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I took my 63 out yesterday to a local show. A friend of mine was looking at my car and said he thought my car is sagging at the rear right. We looked at the rear spring and it is flat, no arch to it. When I got home I measured the height from the ground to the top of my rear wheel opening. On the right side I had 24 1/2" on the left side I had 25 1/2". What is the problem here? Does the spring need to be replaced or can it be repaired? Any info on the best place to get parts and a walkthrough on how to remove and replace the spring would be appreciated.
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Rear Spring
Bob,
If you want to keep the car original then I recommend restoring your current spring or finding a good used spring. In terms of judging, the repro springs are different enough that a good judge should spot the difference. What you might consider doing is removing your current spring and rotating 1 or 2 leaves side for side in the hopes of evening out the height imbalance. Unfortunately, this will be a trial and error process as I know of no easy way to predict how many or which leaves to switch end to end.
Gary -
Re: Rear Spring
You should check the front springs also before you start and write down all your measurements for front and rear. Do this on a level area.Lyle
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Re: Rear Spring
The spring should be flat at normal ride height. With the car on a level
surface, measure the "D" dimension as outlined in the AIM.
If it is out of spec, verify that the spring link bolts are the same length and the cushions are compressed the same amount. If the cushions are deteriorated, replace them and recheck ride height.
If you find no "external" problems remove and disassemble the spring. There is a possibililty it might have a broken leaf. Clean up the leaves and treat them to a corrosion resistant coating and assemble them with new liners. Swap every other leaf end to end as recommended by Gary, and use new cushions on the link bolts if you didn't replace them as above.
I would highly recommend that you do everything possible to save the OEM spring. If you find a broken leaf, one can probaby be salvaged from another OEM spring, or even fabricated at a spring shop.
DukeComment
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Re: Rear Spring
Bob-----
Very often, differential ride heights on either side of the car are not influenced by "sagging" springs. The difference is caused by body-to-frame factors. GM had a fairly large "acceptable range" for side-to-side ride height differences when the car was new. Also, over time, body mounts may deteriorate. I would not be surprised, at all, if you rebuild or, even, replace your spring(s), that you don't end up with the same situation that you have now.
For sure, you should replace your 4 spring rear cushions. Always replace the bolts at the same time, too. If this doesn't cure the problem, I don't think that spring rebuild or replacement will, either. That doesn't mean that you might not need to rebuild or replace your spring(s) for other reasons. But, I don't think that will correct the problem that you've identified.In Appreciation of John HinckleyComment
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Re: Rear Spring
Thanks, as usual the advice is very helpfull.
Bob RComment
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Re: Rear Spring
Duke, How can i tell if my rear spring is OEM for sure?
ThanksComment
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Re: Rear Spring
I believe there are some visual cues, but I haven't paid too much attention to them as I know my car still had the OEM springs since I bought it new and have never changed them.
I think Gary or Joe might be able to fill you in, but I know that on my OEM '63 spring the leaf ends are slightly turned up and the material thickness appears to taper to a point. Also the cushion retainers are swagged in to the ends of the bottom leaf.
DukeComment
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Re: Rear Spring
The stock rear leaf springs were designed for about 500,000 cycles before failure. If you determine that one of the leaves has failed, then I would strongly advise replacing the entire spring. If you're going to drive the car on the road, be responsible and use parts that aren't ready to fail and cause a serious accident. You can always keep the spring if its original, recondition it and install it prior to judging.Comment
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