Couple of things: IMHO, front spring is a minor influence on comfort--there isn't much movement there, most of the action is at rear spring. Coilovers are quite close together--this means they need to be stiff to resist roll. A leaf spring would mount to axle MUCH farther out and give better roll control with less stiffness. I also think your light car with seat near axle probably will need a very good seat cushion to help overcome the basic problem of sitting on the axle!
With ladders, it will beat on you pretty good no matter what... Definetly go to bushings instead of the heims (may be tough on the axle end because of the plate spacing). Is the panhard bar close to level through your suspension travel? If you get way to one side of level, the jacking effect makes the ride very harsh. With 5" rear shocks (***umed from the measurements you gave), it may be hard to get a really soft spring in there. You will likely use up a lot of adjustment getting the car back to ride height.
El P as gotten the info that you are runnig short parallel bars that are solid with the axle.Right?? I would convert them to locator bars by adding joints/bushings to the rear so they can move on both ends. The axle wind up should be handled with a central bar like a 80's Camero. It can run next to the driveshaft and attach at the trans mount. It needs a shackle at the front end because it has a different radius than the old outside bars. I have used this for years on many cars and works great.
When you get the time and money to do a rebuild on that rear suspension, consider quarter-ellipticals. They work great on light cars and can be tucked up in the frame for an invisible install. Next time you get next to a Bugeye Sprite or MG midget take a peak under the rear; they used them for years and they worked really well. Combined with Armstrong hydraulic lever shocks and you've got a mondo cool rear suspension. FWIW Hotwood
thanks guys for all the info. I've gotten some great troubleshooting steps and ideas on this issue. I'll let you all know how my tests go. hopefully this info helps some other rodders in distress. If there are any other ideas please post em!
Mine rides like **** to and it has coil overs. with 250lb rate (I am going to 300 or 350). its bottoms out all the time.. .. I think your rear spring rate is to low in the rear if you are bottoming out, if not, then go lighter to soften the ride
well.. right or wrong air pressure saved the days. I'm now running 24 in my fronts and 19psi in my rears. The car rides fairly well and can even take a pothole or too without poping off the road. I put wire ties on my shocks as suggested and i'm seeing 2" + of movement on all 4 corners under normal driving. I seems the suspension is actuating the way it's supposed to but just needed the reduced air pressure to "Take the edge off". I have come to learn that the ladder bar style radius rods i'm running is not the best suspension. It's fine on flat surfaces but ****s when you hit a bump or pothole Essentially if one wheel hits a bump both wheels will need to go up since they can't actuate independently. Hope this thread helps other folks who run into a similar problem.
Thats exactly why I went to 4 bar links front and back on the roadster pickup. Although split wishbones and hairpin radius rods will work, there is far more "independent" movement of the wheels, and consequently a smoother ride when using a 4 bar set-up.
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