FNG question, I don't know any better: if you have rear leaf springs and you have a spring under mounting for them, shouldn't adding leaves (leafs?) work the same as a lowering block to lower the rear end of a car? I ask because lowering blocks are what I read about doing for rear leaf springs and it seems sliding a couple/3 extra leafs would do the same thing. Why not, if not?
On most leaf springs there is a stud on top which locates the axle. Adding anything to the top which didn't also have this stud would make it impossible to locate your axle. Good news for you... Lowering blocks have all of this designed into them. Use lowering blocks.
IF the leaves you were to add were trimmed short...(like 'lowering blocks') and added above the spring pack, (like 'lowering blocks') they would lower it the amount of thickness the short leaves added up to. But the leaves, even if shortened to say, 6", MUST be as flat as the arc of the loaded spring pack. (if they are 'arched', they will tend to influence the arcs of the existing springs, forcing them to raise their arcs slightly) Read Randy's post above: it is concise, and answers your question accurately. He also blew my doors off typing! LOL
Ok, that makes sense, but since I don't know what I'm talking about, my ***umption was the extra shorter leaves would go in the middle or towards the bottom of the pack. I am going to respond to the later post next about flat springs and matching spring arch....
I agree with your comment about Randy's post. Your information is important to answer my question too. It still seems like leaves of de-arched spring, or shot spring leaf would function as a lowering device, but I do understand your physics described.
I get that. I wasn't thinking about the fact that the leafs aren't just a piece of metal that just sits there, they have the arch put in them. I had the idea that a 3/8" (?) strip of steel in the spring pack would just follow the rest of the spring travel.
The axle on a spring under configuration sits on top of the main leaf and the ubolts carry the load. The car hangs from the axle on the ubolts. Adding leaves to the bottom of the pack will make the pack thicker and likely raise the car because of the arch. Lowering blocks between the main leaf and the axle, raising the axle up off of the spring and that has the effect of lowering the car. (Main leaf is the one with the spring eyes that attach to your car) If it was a spring over configuration you would use the same blocks, but would call them lift blocks. The cars weight is sitig on top of the axle in this configuration. The spring packs are arched the same in both applications. (This all applies to 'modern' suspension - odd ball spring configs before 1940ish? may not fit this description) Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Thank you for the information. If I was actually under the car and attempting to do this, it might have answered my questions...I was just rolling the idea around in my head, so this was just a why not? musing.
Might as well throw this idea in the pot seeing as how Im considering attempting this on my ride, if insdead of using lowering blocks or adding leafs in place of blocks, could some one in theory flip the entire leaf ***embly over so that it looks like a frown but still sits on top of the axle?
What do you have that the springs sit on TOP of the axle? That's usually only trucks. The short answer is yes, you can flip the springs over but it would probably drop the rear end TOO far (like 6-8 inches for most cars). You can also have your springs de-arched by a competent spring shop. I had the ones for my '53 Chevy done by a local spring shop about 10 years ago, told them how much (3 inches, in my case) AND had them reverse the eyes for less than $100.
You normally see spring over axles on 4x4's. If its a spring over you could cut the perches off and weld them to the under side of the axle, that should give you a few inches of drop. Its really easy to do just make sure you get the pinion angle right otherwise your have driveline vibrations. I've done it to my truck when the axle went out well i used a 2wd axle and had to convert it over to a spring over.
You can buy a two-inch block kit for like $30 and install it in a day. Why make it more work to take more stuff apart? You're going to have to spend at least that same $30 on new U-bolts anyways.
sorry i feed into the hijacking LeoH, My truck had a 3 inch block on it and 3 less leaf springs, it dropped it about 4-5 inches. Another possible option would be to use different springs. Alot of the guys with older jeeps would use S-10 rear springs to lift them 3 inches or so. I'm sure the same thing could be done to lower a ride. The problem i could see with that would be your car uses 1 3/4" wide springs, I think and most newer cars (trucks) use 2 inch wide springs. Has anyone tried to use different springs? Could this be done?
Oh the down side to my dropped rear end is if I get a flat tire the U-bolts and leafs will dig into the ground. something to keep in mind.
Never mind, I just looked it up in my interchange manual and it seems your current springs are 2 1/2" wide, 20 inches from eye to eye and 31 inches long. It seems there isn't any springs that wide with less of an arch. Now if you wanted to lift your car 4 inches you could use a set of 57 desoto springs.
please be aware that this is not only illegal in most states (look up Scrub Line) but you can also be liable for damage to the road and if you lose control and cause an accident you can be sued for negligently driving a car with a known defect under your control.
Good call hotroddon, thats why i'm going with a 4 link and air bags. I just wanted to put that out there because it is a safety issue.
This car had a flipped mono leaf spring on back. The spring was designed for a stock ride height. Flipping the spring got it this low.
Yes Gary,, Everything HAS BEEN DONE at some time,, ANYthing that can be done to a car HAS BEEN DONE,, nuthing is original ANYMORE..
Was thinking about raising the rear about 1" & wondered if any pro's or cons about doin it that way???
No worries. I'm still learning reading about what other people are doing or considering, so keep it coming as far as I'm concerned.
Do you have a Hollister Interchange manual? If not its pretty much a must if you own a non big three car. It tells you the specs on just about every part and what will work in its place. they have saved me a ton of money over the years.
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