Hi All, I'm rebuilding my great grandfathers 1950 Chev Fleetline deluxe in a somewhat original vein but with modern upgrades. I am keeping the stock suspension and stock height but would like to improve handling. So, a couple of questions: 1) Will I likely see much improvement by replacing the original leaf springs with new? 2) I want to upgrade the front sway bar and add a rear. I've seen a couple of sway bar kits online, does anyone have experience with any of them? 3) I haven't looked yet, but, did these come with a panhard bar and if not, is it difficult to install one? 4) Replace stock shocks in the rear with coil overs (if that is even possible) 5) any other recommendations for improving handling from stock? Thanks all!
Panhard bar on a parallel leaf suspension? Why? Coilovers on a parallel leaf suspension? Why? Those cars were originally built big and squishey. I'd bet someone out there makes firmer springs in the same dimensions if you want it to ride harder. I'm not a Chevy aficionado, but maybe try Eaton Spring?
I have run Panhard bars on leaf spring cars, on several builds. yes, it can improve handling characteristics, but only after all other avenues have been exhausted. It likely will not help here, unless you are building a road-race car. These did not come with one, and you would need to make your own. Brand new springs in the rear will help, for sure. You don't want to add "extra" springs in the rear, in addition to the first set of springs. This is a suspension tuning nightmare, even for a suspension expert. Put fresh modern springs on all 4-corners. Rebuild/replace all suspension pivots and steering links. Make sure your steering box is adjusted properly. Gas shocks on all 4-corners. Rear anti-sway bars are not always helpful on these, so you might want to hold off until you drive it and see how it handles. There are many factors at play in the rear of one of these, and one of the biggest is that your rear axle is attached to the transmission, in the middle of the wheelbase.
There can be a real downside to rear sway bars. A front sway bar helps keep the car more level on a curve. A over built rear suspension can cause the outside rear wheel to leave the road or ride light on the surface of the road, then there's no telling where it's going to go. I had to go to skid car school, how they made the skid car spin out is lifting up the rear wheels. There's a reason only front sway bars were used in this period. The front needs to be stiffer than the rear, equal or with a stiffer rear ( not load weight but twist ) you could have real trouble. The car may even handle better or feel like it handles better, but when you go past that point, there's no telling where it will go. The old bootleggers would use what's referred to as dead men. These "dead men" were heavy weights; commonly railroad iron or cast lead. These were mounted as close to the brake drums as possible. The theory was it kept the rear wheels glued to the road. Another trick was a weighted gyro in the truck. Removal of the torque tube on a Chevy, takes away some of the rear support. This makes the rears some what noodlelike. I think the best option is Traction Masters, (a period piece) or Cal Tracs. These stiffen the rear springs but they do not effect that (for lack of a better term) twist.
From the information you've given I'm going to assume you're not building a custom or low-rider but more of a "freeway flyer" that can also corner. Chassis Engineering has a bolt-on rear spring kit that also lowers the rear of the car, for the front they make a bolt-on Mustang II front suspension kit. No, these parts aren't "traditional" or cheap, but they will give you what you're looking for.
Front suspension and spring will handle the weight of the v8 easy. The original inline weighs more. see if you can find a corvette center link as it has a bearing instead of a bushing and tightens you the steering. Also they made a center link support, basically a cup the held the center link in position and made things tighter. 53-54 uprights will lower the front about 1.5” 52 and later had better brakes. a jaguar series 2 or 3 front subframe is a literal bolt in, correct track and same bolt pattern for the wheels and you get discs upfront possies and chassis engineering both make better rear springs for these cars. The original tears have an 1-3/4” width spring 1st and 2gen Camaros diffs drop in Tru five chevyies drop in Along with many others that just need the spring perched tweaked a bit. awsome cars I miss my 50 fleetline !
I would try to use an old Camaro torque arm... If not figure out some kind of torque arm to control spring wrap up...
Russ, I went with this kit for my '50 https://totalcostinvolved.com/products/1949-1954-chevy-car-leaf-spring-kit/
You say you want improved handling but ,like stock. Which I infer as stock appearing. The easiest way is to lower the CG ie lower the car. New springs, all bushings new, gas shocks, front anti-roll bar and, dare I say radial tires. Sent from my SM-G965U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Thanks for the link, I've looked at these already. I want to keep the stock ride height, not trying to stance the car or anything. I have already rebuilt the original front suspension with all stock components including springs. I plan to upgrade the quality and stiffness of the front sway bar and will go with gas shocks on all four corners. Essentially, I would like to reduce body roll and rear slosh (ergo the panhard bar question) on curvy roads at a decent highway speed. Not looking for autocross handling or anything like that. It's definitely a cruiser, capable in modern city traffic but still fun in the canyon twisties if I end up there in my travels.
Treb11, you're very close to what I would like to end up with. Outside and interior I want to look like not much or anything was done. Under the hood and under the car a different story. I'm looking for some original style but wider wheels that will take my original hubcaps and beauty rings along with a wider tire, nothing crazy. Rebuilt, tightened up and modestly improved original style suspension. I realize I could go M2 and 4-link and all that, I could also just go Art Morrison if I wanted to, but I think that takes away from the original character of the car and I'm doing enough of that with the motor, trans, power steering and power disk brakes.
A great update to the rear narrow leafs is to source Dodge Ramcharger FRONT leaves. they are wider, very flat and come in 3 and 5 spring packs. You will need to fab new mounts. I also found a newer source, 90s and 2000s For Ranger rear springs. You can tune the ride and height by adjusting the amount in the spring pack. Good quality shocks are a must, you will also want to build upper shock mounts instead of the floor mts. On my old 54 I was constantly breaking the old worn narrow springs so an upgrade is a great idea.
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