Well, just as I suspected... my right rear leaf springs are shot. Missing the plastic slider, so it squeaks, and it has an un-natural arch... I.E.- goes down, flatens out, goes down, flatens out....etc etc... Must have been those late night at the drags... heh.. So... I need new ones.. Where can I get some decent ones at? I've been looking at the mustangsplus catalog and I'm eyeballing their 5 leaf mid eye, but i dont know if they'd bolt up since they're for a mustang... also, it says the mid eye is about 1" lower than stock... how high did the stock sit up, mine are old so they have settled, and I have a helper spring on it now which, i dont want my rear to go any higher, it has a nice rake now, but any higher and i couldnt stand it.... you get my drift... anybody?
I don't like mine either! the back is too soft it dances I had a 5 leaf made in Brazil for my other mav what a difference. Now i need something like that for my mav here
I had mine rearched and added a leaf and it sits just about perfect all for around $185.00 with new bushings. The ride is a little stiff but I like it that way. Watch out when buying form a Mustang store, I bought a set from Laurel Mountain Mustang (before I found American Springs) and I can not find a set of bushings for the rear eyes. I ones I have tried are either to small o/s or to big i/s. If you can find a shop that can rearch a set you can almost get them customized to your specs. If you have an extra set laying around it is easier, that way your car will not be down for a few days until you get them reinstalled. Good luck what ever you decide. Chuck
FYI- The number of leaves has nothing to do with spring weight. For example take the 64 Fairlane. The four leave was the heavy duty set-up use with the 289 HiPo. They were made out of thicker leaves. The 5-leave spring were used in the base model and were made out of thinner materal. The point is when buying aftermarket springs look at the spring rate and not the number of leaves.
I (as well as many others on this forum) replaced the springs with JC Whitney springs. It costs about $100, and new bushings are about another $30. They are 4-leaf "heavy duty" springs. I think you can replace them through ESPO also...
I know it probably would not be ideal for most of you guys back east but for the guys in the western states you might want to check out these guys http://www.aaaspring.com/ they are a supplier to some of the aftermarket companies and they can custom make any spring you desire at the weight rating you want and their prices are pretty cheap. I know that there are companies back east that do exactly the same thing as these guys so look around and you might find the original manufacturer of JCWhitney or Mustangs Plus...ect. springs for alot cheaper then they sell them for.
72Mavgrabher, I thumbed through their entire catalog online yesterday myself. There is some neat stuff in there. I wanted to contact them regarding their 4 and 1/2 leaf springs with reversed eyes, but I like my car fairly low. It makes the tire fill the wheelwell, and these cars are so nose-heavy, keeping the back end down is a good thing. It looks like they make springs "to-order". Their 5 leaf springs sound to me like something to put on a "track only" car, but talking with them may clear a few things up. Bushing size might be an issue to overcome too. I have always wondered why the rear bushing is HUGE on our springs. That can't be good for handling, but maybe they need that much slack to travel through their arc. I think that adapting a smaller eye to our car may take pieces from a couple of shackle sets. I am thinking about their 620 lb front springs too... and roller spring perches ... and shocks ... and rear sway bar ...
well, to get me back on the road, i might just go with scoopers idea and go to JC Whitney, however, some of their stuff isn't up to my quality standards, so hopefully they'll be fine... i need to install them by this weekend, so made to order isn't going to work from mustangsplus, but it was a novel idea... if anyone ever gets a set made, please let me know... i might change them out later. around here, to get them re arched is a hassle.... and yes captain, i like mine to sit in the wheel well as well, and the 4 1/2 leaf was looking good... as for heavy duty and how many springs... they had mono leafs that were ultra heavy duty back in the day, so yeah, it all depends. thanks. ~Dan.
Took mine to the spring shop. Had them rearched to set 1" higher than stock & add a 4th leaf. Only a 24 hour turmaround.....$60 each side....
calvert racing who makes caltraxs bars also has a spit mono leave set up where they use a thick leaf for the front and a then leaf for the rear. this helps fight axle wrap up but still gives a good spring rate. you might want to consider those also.
