Hi all, i am new to the site and was hoping to get a little advise. I need to replace the original leaf springs on my 51. I have swapped out the motor for a 305 small block and am running a 10 bolt chevy rear end. I am am looking into mounting the springs above the axle (as you would see on most pickups) to get a little more height and would ideally like to use the original hangers. I am working on a budget and was hoping someone would know of an easy swap and where to find them. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
the strapping on the stock springs is completely rusted out and someone has previously removed leaves from the spring pack so they are severely 'clapped' out. I'd like to get the back of the car up 4-5 inches to accommodate larger tires.
Posie springs utilize the original hangers, plus they can be made to your specs. Not cheap springs, but they are quality springs. Once you're in this car business of fixing and restoring, nothing is cheap. By the way, mounting the springs OVER the axle is a bad idea, unless you want some kind of 4 x 4 appearance. Leave them where they were intended to be.
Okay, thanks for the info, ill definitely keep that in mind. Has anyone found springs off a different make or model that bolt in place. I don't mind modifying the axle brackets, but would really prefer to use the original hangers.
Look for a set of stock springs. They fit a lot of years. You are limited on tire selection on those cars because the wheelwell is so low. Unless you cut it out you will be limited to a 70 series tire. A 225x70x15 will fit in with stock springs and rear over the springs. That tire will look huge on that car.
Ya definitely don't want to chop it up. Ill probably go that way. does anyone know any good resources for locating used springs? I haven't had much luck in my area and was hoping I wouldn't have to drop the $700 for brand new ones.
Get the chassis engineering kit for $500.00 and bam mounted and done. Sent from my XT1585 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Those Posie Slider Springs are $371.00. Locating pin is already reset for your late model rear end. Posies are same width, but stronger of course, than the factory springs. A bolt in replacement for original springs. No cutting, no welding. My kind of replacement.
Just took a look at this kit. Looks pretty awesome (includes absolutely everything). Think ill go that route, Probably better than doing a hack job on something that was never supposed to fit!
You're going to need new spring pads as the stock pads are a "pivoting" type to function with the torque-tube driveline. Just weld some on from a 4 wheel drive shop, a trailer supply shop, etc. You want to re-drill the pin locator hole 1 1/2 inches forward to help center the wheels/tires in the wheelwells. IF you were to use a 55-57 housing, you would also re-drill the pin locator hole 1/2 inch inward also. Stock springs with coil wrapped overload shocks worked fine for our 51 Chevrolet Business Coupe, and the ride was't harsh at all. It was raised up all around for that "street gasser" look. We used some pretty good sized 15 inch Cragar S/S wheels; the tires are out in the shed, so I'd have to go see what size they were, but they are pretty big. It's dark here now, so it won't be until morning if you want to know the actual size. These cars have a pretty good sized wheelwell. Personally, I would't go with high dollar aftermarket springs, unless you have the money to throw away/around. You can probably find someone who has gone with aftermarket springs, and get their old ones for free or very little. I'd avoid the axle-over-the-leaf-spring method; you can get more than enough height without doing that. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
I mounted a 10 bolt chevy axle under my 50 delivery using the original springs. As a delivery, it may have had an extra leaf or 2 so it sat really high even with the springs under the axle. I made a pair of 1/4" steel spring perches/lowering blocks about 4 or 5 inches high to get the damn thing to sit lower and drilled my home made lowering blocks offset to center the wheels in the wheel wells. I was able to use a pair of 15X8.5 inch wheels with 287/70R15 under mine with a little "adjusting" in the fenders...still rubbed on sharp corners with a full tank of gas but not bad. do yourself a favor and don't wait 'till the rear shocks beat the floor out of your car like I did. Make up a nice cross member to remount the tops of your shocks. I used a length of scrap channel iron welded across the inside of my frame rails...worked great!
OEM springs are designed to carry load not torque . It had a torque tube to control torque . I had a 37 coupe with LT1 , and twisted up a nos OEM set of springs , they had an S shape when finished . Do your self a favor and adapt a newer set or buy aftermarket set and be done Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Done the Engineering Chassis setup several years back on my Poncho - straight forward and very easy swap to do. I wanted to go the opposite route and lowered it an additional 2 inches with blocks. Fabbed up a new set of shock mounts to keep heights the kit recommended - plus kept everything above the scrub line.
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