need help on Rear Leaf Spring

[SlyMart]

hey guys

I messed up my rear spring installation with the bushings. something is off. I install the left side with a bit of trouble but when I am trying to install the right side the bolt is on an angle. please help

 

[XFIRE82]

I wonder if you have to do a 180 on all the leafs springs, meaning you got the right side on the left ? can't see what else can be that offset ?? maybe measure center of the springs to the bolt hole and see if they are exactly same ?

 

[nascar03]

Sly... can you measure a few things before you take it apart..?
Maybe the left/right side measurement from end of 7th leaf to end of 6th leaf..
Then 6th to 5th, 5th to 4th, etc...
That may point you in some direction..?!.
Just thinkin’ outloud.
Good luck, man.
Graham

 

[ddgermann]

Calling @turbozig

 

[SlyMart]

I will switch it around and see. thanks guys for your help

 

[taylorsk8]

How it the alignment on your trailing arms? They can move quite a bit and maybe it is out?

T

 

[SlyMart]

everything is brand new. the rear trailing arms. leaf springs and bushing. ..etc

 

[SlyMart]

When I installed the new shims I put the biggest shim plus a thin one on each side. what is the size of the shims you guys put on your trailing arms on each side on your corvette c3 ?

 

[SlyMart]

here is the size of the shims I have on my control arms

 

[XFIRE82]

when I had mine out a few years ago I just put them back as removed, but I don't remember how many. Can you sorta tell if your wheel is pointing straight ahead ? put a straight edge on the wheel or even rotor and see if it looks aligned going ahead or is angled off to the side thus pushing the bolt to be off like yours is now . You'll need a wheel alignment now 4 sure. Here's a pic of mine taking it apart , bolt pretty well straight up and down, gymkhana suspension.

 

[Norm07]

As Xfire82 did, I was careful to note the location and exact sizes of the shims when I removed my trailing arms. I replaced them the same way. I found it didn't take much to mess up the alignment. I tried some different combinations of spacers but my best set up was the same one that was originally on the car. On one side there were no spacers at all on the outside of the bushing, it was right against the frame.I used the string method (shown in my pics). Obviously it's much easier when the body is off. As far as the bolt issue you have, I know mine was off and when everything was put in place, shocks, 1/2 shafts etc, and the suspension was "loaded" it corrected itself. I don't think mine was off as much as yours. And.....make sure your 4 spring bolt are not tightened until after there is ....load on the spring/car off jackstands, wheels on etc..

Here is a u tube link that I followed. Great video, easy to follow.

 

[SlyMart]

Am I suppose to install the rear leaf spring with the half shaft and rear shocks off?

 

[Norm07]

I installed differential then trailing arms, 1/2 shafts, spring, spring bolts then the shocks. You can see in the picture, when I was putting the tension on the spring the 4 bolts were just in enough to hold the spring in place. I know when I was getting close to getting everything together things were still a bit out of whack which I would presume was because the suspension was just hanging, with no load. I would also hope someone with more experience would jump in fo some advice as I don't have a lot of experience with this style of suspension.

 

[SlyMart]

Just for fun I switched the Rear Leaf Spring. Same issue I checked the model number of it and I have the correct 7 leaf springs for 63 to 79

 

[SlyMart]

I think the issue is with the leaf spring that needs to be installed properly. When you install the rear leaf springs it has a notch at the top that goes into the differential and a notch at the bottom that sits in the small hole in the back plate. After that you can swing the leaf spring from left to right and maybe I need to put it in a perfect spot in order for the bolts to be aligned perfectly..

 

[SlyMart]

I think I have figured it out? Does the bushings look ok on the rear leaf spring?

 

[Norm07]

That looks much better nicely done ...... and the nuts should face the bottom...from what I can see looks like they are correct.

 

[XFIRE82]

looks ok from here , good it worked.

 

[turbozig]

Great job Slymart. Persistence pays off. I can't tell you how many times I assembled and then dissassembled because things didn't fit or look just right. I used completely new trailing arms, but kept the original shims in the 4 bundles exactly the way they came out. I had to remove 2 because the new trailing arms were slightly wider due to the powdercoating. As some have mentioned, I left the spring to diff bolts loose until fully assembled with shocks and strut rods, then tightened in a criss cross pattern and then torqued once full weight of the car was on the suspension. I have found even after breaking in the new parts, the rear is still sitting too high. I have ordered the extra long lowering bolts and will be replacing them at some point. Looking good, Kudos!