Hello The back end of my 53 is pretty soft, the leaves have a bit of wear, the bushings have also gone and I was thinking that instead of just replacing the bushings I might like to chuck in a whole different set of leaves. Does anyone know if there's a set off something else that bolt straight in? I must note that I live in Australia. Is it worth my while modifying something else to fit? What about the bushings, do the leaf bushings from a 55/56/57 chevy also fit the standard 53 leafs? There seem to be a few of them around. Leaves are not something I know much about, so any advice or opinions at all would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Jordan
The 53 that I am working on has a low backend also. What can we do to fix this, other than replace the leafsprings?
stock rear 53-4 springs are 1-3/4" wide if i remember rightly.. National Chevy ***oc. has them in stock and they are new.. or you will have to change perches, hangars, and a few frame mods..to go to the 2" or wider..but its doo-able or cheat..use air shocks until you get the cash up
No spring shops that can make them for you? Normally I'd say look at Posie's springs for these cars, but I don't know what they'd hit you for shipping. There are rumors of some Dodge springs that will work, but when I dug into it I found they're all 2 inch wide and don't directly bolt up.
Ya know, it's been years since I even though about those places. Used to go there to get shackles and Ubolts when I replaced rear leafs on my trucks. I'll have to look around to see if any of these places are still around so I can have some made up for me. Used to be a few different ones in Milwaukee I used to go to.. -Mark
Mark did you try Jones Motors in GB for springs? Speedway also has chevy truck springs, but there not cheap. Maybe you could just add a leaf?
The springs off the 55 will work as well. Possie and Jamco offer direct replacements as well as 2 in spring kits.
Most local spring shops, as long as they have the specs for American springs, should be able to make them for you, much more reasonably than buying through a parts supplier (I.E. Posies)... I've checked into having springs made for my '54 and the spring shop in Harrisburg, PA (Stanley Springs) just pulled out a book which had spring specs for what looked like at least all of the post WWII American cars... I would imagine that even a spring shop in Australia would have access to something like this... would most likely be really worth a try for you.
If your looking for a nice shop, they are for sale and OOB. http://downtowngreenbay.com/node/398 Used to go there all the time when I was on that side of town. Always could find things for me and ever rebuilt a few generators for me. Old school know-how, just disappearing.
I put a set of Posie rear leaf springs in my car. Posies: http://www.posiesrodsandcustoms.com/posies-catalog/ Posies on-line catalog: http://www.posiesrodsandcustoms.com/images/pages3247.pdf
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