I was thinking the other day about the possibility of putting a fiberglas transverse-mount mono leaf spring under the front of my Mav and was wondering if anyone had ever looked into that before. I would beef up the lower cont. arms to mount it to and fab up some mounts for the shocks, thereby alowing me to remove the shock towers and lose some weight too. I am having trouble finding info about spring rates of leaf springs. What years were they used on Vettes and how wide? Any thoughts/input? I have had this idea for some time now but have not looked into it much yet until now...
it wont let you cut out the shock towers but i think what you want is a bigger sway bar. check into some mustang II front suspensions if you want to loose the towers. they take some work but it would probably be a little easier
Yes it would eliminate the towers if you do not have the coil springs and shocks there! MII systems are still too pricey and too common/easy( anyone with the funds can go that route).The transverse leaf would not weigh as much and you keep most all of the front suspension stock (sort of).I like to try out new ways to do things, thats how we learn stuff. Torsion bars would be neat but there is not enough room.Its just an idea anyway.It worked out well for the Vette front suspension.... If it could be done for less money and less work and ride/handle better why not.
You would have to build the center mount for the spring, reinforce the lower control arm and ball joint for the reverse pressure on it. It won't reduce the unsuspended weight so you aren't going to handle much better and the ride will be terrible. You are giving up independant front suspension for weight - not a good trade.
