I have a car that the leaves are sagging pretty bad and they need replaced. Bad news is they are on back order and I'm wanting to drive this car. I have already put long shackles on and the tires still want to rub when I hit bumps. Would it be that big of a deal to add a extra main leaf, maybe two extra leaves to get the back end up. Drive it this way until my springs come in. The car only came with 5 leaves originally and was originally a small block. Now has a big block 440 and those cars came with 7 leaves.
I've used something like these bolts ons. Stiffens up the ride a bit. https://www.amazon.com/JEGS-Perform...cphy=9004037&hvtargid=pla-1674504431714&psc=1
If the tires touch on excess travel you need to fix the bump stops to stop it reaching this condition in any case. You can re-arch leaf springs in a hydraulic press as a quick fix.
You might also consider pulling all but the main leaf out, and finding a donor spring pack to rob to replace what you pulled out. I've done this to raise or lower cars and worked great. Just hit the wrecking yards to find something the same width. You can also cut length down on donor leafs if you need shorter. I lowered my '39 Chev rear using spring pack from the front of a '55-'59 Chev truck front spring packs.
I removed the spring's on my 60 Vett and pounded the top side of the spring with a ball peen hammer about 50 shot's to each leaf. It jacked the back of the car up 3 inches don't over do it like I did.
If its a Mopar the main leaves are all the same length. Just get a set of rear springs out of a Chrysler or Dodge Monaco or Plymouth Fury with a 440.
Unless the springs are rusted and badly pitted take the car to a spring shop. They will probably re-arch the springs for less than the cost of new springs. If you want it higher than stock they can add a leaf or put more arch in the spring. I am all about doing things myself and can press them myself. But if you have no press that is the easiest way.
Adding a leaf stiffens the ride quality. If you like the ride quality as-is then leave the same number of leaves in the spring. But take them out and reset [re-arch] them. Then they're good for another 50 years The big block 440 came with 7 leaves and your car came with 5 leaves would be because the 7 leaf would be needed to control axle torque. Usually the softer spring has a higher "spring load" [not to be confused with stiffness] In Layman's terms "spring load" is the Arch or shape of the spring. A softer spring will settle more when it is loaded, whereas the the stiffer spring will settle less. [so usually stiffer springs are usually flatter] If you are a competent DIYer [and welder] you can make a jig to re-arch [or de-arch] the springs yourself. here's mine [I use a bottle jack] Springs are linear, so it you want to lift it 2" of ride height, you need to re-arch the static height by 2".
I did not know that the mains were all the same length, that will work out fine then. I have a set of leaf springs from a 65 Plymouth fury big block car that has 7 leafs. I will just get some new bushings and swap them out.
I thought about this but I can tell the main leaf is bent. It looks like in front of the axle to the main eye there is a teepee in the leaf. Then after the axle there is another teepee.
The correct tool for this operation is a 216 Chevy bare block turned upside down and a 4 pound hammer with a short handle.
The Jalopy Journal
