C1 58 Ride Height

[Ken Susnjara]

Well, I finally got my 58 body painted and remounted but encountered a new problem. The old springs were completely shot so I replaced them with new ones from CC and now the car seems to ride too high. The bottom of the fender opening is about 2" above the top of the tire. I still have not filled it with gas and there are some additional items I need to add, but it appears this will not be nearly enough. Is there any way to address this without removing the body again? Thanks for any thoughts.

[John H.]

Re: C1 58 Ride Height

Ken -

Wait until you finish it, gas it up, install the spare tire/jack etc. and drive it, and see if they settle out with some miles. Did you have the car pulled down to design ride height when you tightened the front bushing bolts and rear shackle bolts? That's important too. No need to remove the body if you have to change the springs out later.

[Roy B.]

Re: C1 58 Ride Height

You and most people that use repro front springs, was your old ones SHOT??
My friend got so mad (repro) that he heated them to drop the front.

[Leon Brown]

Re: C1 58 Ride Height

I've encountered the exact same problem with my 61. I've replaced the front and rear springs and the ride height is way to high. You mentioned pull down to desgn ride height when tightening the front and rear bolts. Stupid question, but can you clarify how ride height is adjusted after springs are replaced on a car?

Thanks

[Allen W.]

Re: C1 58 Ride Height

There is an article on the Restorer disc that speaks to replacement of the rear spring on a C1. To position the spring correctly to install one needs to the flatten the spring with some square steel tubing, a chain and a bottle jack. If you were able to install your spring without doing this something might be amiss. You need to look at that article.
Allen

[Roy B.]

Re: C1 58 Ride Height

I'm just asking because I've seen people install the rear spring under the rear frame cross support. It goes OVER the rear frame. Sure you did it right , you also have the correct spring front bracket ? 53 to 55 is different the 56 to 62.

[Larry P.]

Re: C1 58 Ride Height

I assume your talking about the rear springs. I had the same problem with springs from Corvette Central. You need to add a 2" block to offset the extra hieght of the spring. You will need to have longer U bolts made. The shame of this is that a guy from Corvette Central told me about this three years ago at Bloomington! So, they know about it and still sell them.
LP