[rohrt]

Looking at you springs in the photo I had the same bushing on my old springs. When I tighten up the rear shackle it made it so there was no movement at all. It road like crap obviously never looked into it any more until I decided to replace them. I was in shock (punny) when I loosed the shackle and the read dropped 4 inches.

Also a stiff shock like KYB with a stiff spring is not a winning combo. I ran KYBs too. Great for a soft stock spring though.

I now run the Hotchkis springs in the back with their new Foxshocks. I like the ride in the back now. I don't like the riide in the front. Still working on that. The leaf spring bushing are coned shaped and can articulate correctly now.

What ever you do I would consider a spring/shock combo. Suspension parts are not cheap and ride quality is subjective.

DSE, Hotchkis, RideTech are all good names.

[Sport69]

Originally Posted by rohrt

Looking at you springs in the photo I had the same bushing on my old springs. When I tighten up the rear shackle it made it so there was no movement at all. It road like crap obviously never looked into it any more until I decided to replace them. I was in shock (punny) when I loosed the shackle and the read dropped 4 inches.

Also a stiff shock like KYB with a stiff spring is not a winning combo. I ran KYBs too. Great for a soft stock spring though.

I now run the Hotchkis springs in the back with their new Foxshocks. I like the ride in the back now. I don't like the riide in the front. Still working on that. The leaf spring bushing are coned shaped and can articulate correctly now.

What ever you do I would consider a spring/shock combo. Suspension parts are not cheap and ride quality is subjective.

DSE, Hotchkis, RideTech are all good names.

I don't understand how or why your shackles wouldn't allow your rear end to seat properly, or allow the bushing to not work, what did you find for the cause? I installed new urethane bushings when I redid everything so I know they're good. The shakle bolts are shoulder-bolts and only tighten to a certain torque. I will check out the shakles, I know when I first installed everything I didn't tighten the shakles down until the car was sitting on it's own weight.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J327A using Tapatalk

[Sport69]

Waiting on reply as to why your rear shackles didn't seat?

[grivera]

Maybe he tightened them without weight on the suspension, causing it to bind

[grivera]

Sport - can you advise the distance in inches from rocker panel to ground (location immediately to front of rear tire and rear of front tire.

[Sport69]

I'll have to get that for you as soon as I can get my car off the jack stands. I'm parking my snow blower behind it right not, and so far we haven't been catching a break on the snow here in Pa. I will get that to you as soon as I can.

[rohrt]

I will see if I can describe it better.

Your leaf bushing look flat on the end like mine did. They also look like they don't have a metal sleeve in them. Again like mine did.

So when I tightened up the shackles good and tight, I was squeezing the shackle into the bushing and the bushing into the frame or leaf, making it so the leaf couldn't extends or retract. The shackle needs to be able to be able to swing a little bit as the leaf flattens and curves. Mine could not budge.

The Hotchkiss leaf's I replaced them with, had a cone shape bushing with a metal sleeve. They can be tightened up without pinching on the bushing and the shackle will still articulate.

[Sport69]

Those ones in the picture are the old bushings before removal. When the shoulder bolts are used you don't use the metal sleeves. They tighten up to the threads allowed by the shoulder bolt (preset tightness) and no further. I don't understand what your saying about being flattened on the ends, they have a larger end than the center which allows them to seat into position and no further? Shoulder bolts are cleaned and greased before assembly.

[Sport69]

rohrt, ????

[Sport69]

Originally Posted by grivera

Sport - can you advise the distance in inches from rocker panel to ground (location immediately to front of rear tire and rear of front tire.

It's 10" from the ground to the rocker.

[Sport69]

Originally Posted by Sport69

It's 10" from the ground to the rocker.

Just to clarify, that's 10" from the ground to the rocker with 15" wheels and tires.

[grivera]

Thank you!

[Sport69]

Sorry guys, I forgot to follow up with this post. Here goes;

I removed the shock extenders and re-installed the shocks in the correct installation order, but it really hasn't made a lot of difference. Re-checked the leaf spring shackle seating, all good there. I run 32# of tire pressure all around, is that an issue? I remember that these cars originally called for that much, but I saw where someone said to run 29-30 in the rears. I don't want to lower the rear anymore than it so I'm at an impasse! I'm not sure different shocks would make a difference?
I did just think, since I changed the original tire height from 14" to 15" would that affect the stock shock specs? If it would then maybe I need to look at a different shock? It still seems like a leaf spring issue but I'm really not sure anymore.

[694.1]

Very unlikely to be the shocks. Try a different rear spring. If the new ones are more to your liking, the current springs should be easy to sell.

[north]

Just make sure you have the right length shocks. They should be neutral when the car is on its suspension. Too long (especially gas) can lift the light rear of these cars.

Factory tire pressure was 24-28 but that was for belted tires. Nothing wrong with 30-35 for radials.

[HO Kenny]

I had a similar problem on a 67 Acadain (Nova). But adding to the stiffness was horrible creaking sounds.
It had bushings and shouldered bolts like yours.
Like rohrt said, the shackles would pinch the bushing ends enough to bind them.
To test the theory, I loosened the nuts and spread the shackles with a pry bar. A quick trip confirmed the problem.
I then ground the bushings ends down a bit and made them cone shaped. When it put it together, I added a washer on the bolt that made the shoulder longer.
It worked.

[Sport69]

Great suggestions guy, thanks. I'll give these a try, but it's Winter again so everything will be on the back burner till Spring.

I'll check the shock length, and the rear shackles for binding. Tire pressure is at 32 lbs. all around so it sounds like that's good. If all else fails then I'll have to try a different set of leaf springs.

At least I have some things to check over now, I'll get back to you in the Spring. Thanks again, and Merry Christmas!

[gtobird]

Originally Posted by Sport69

Great suggestions guy, thanks. I'll give these a try, but it's Winter again so everything will be on the back burner till Spring.

I'll check the shock length, and the rear shackles for binding. Tire pressure is at 32 lbs. all around so it sounds like that's good. If all else fails then I'll have to try a different set of leaf springs.

At least I have some things to check over now, I'll get back to you in the Spring. Thanks again, and Merry Christmas!

I'm going to add my two cents in support of the potential problem as outlined by others. I seriously doubt this problem has anything to do with the shocks or tire pressure.

As others have mentioned, your car sits a bit high both front and back, yet it looks relatively level. That tells me your back end has an issue with the springs and or shackles as they are installed. It's absolutely true that if your springs are too strong, your car "may" sit high and could potentially have a harsh ride. That said, there are two mistakes people make that cause both the front and back to sit high. Both have to do with bolting everything together before the vehicle has weight on its wheels. Again, per the suggestions above, it is very likely that the rear shackles were tighted with the weight of the body off the wheels. It certainly can then pinch the rubber bushings in the rear when the shackles / bushings are in the wrong rotational positon. What's happening is the bushings twist a bit as the springs flex during your ride. The problem when this mistake is made is that the rotational neutral position of the bushings / shackles is now with the body up high. This causes nasty problems in the ride and will cause the bushings to wear prematurely.

A very similar problem happens when the front control arm bushings are tightened before the cars weight is on the wheels. The front end sits high.
Of course, the front end issue could also be from using stiffer springs.

Anyway, if the issue is tightening things up before weight is on the wheels, the rear end issue can be fixed by proper installation of the rear bushings, shackles and springs, but your rear end will then sit lower when all is correct. Lowering the front will require properly setting the front control arm bushings if those are the issue. If it's high because of the front springs being too stiff, then change them.

You probably already know this, but don't take for granted the potential DANGER in doing any of this. The car / body / rearend and other things can suddenly drop when doing this if you don't support it properly. Springs by their nature are dangerous, especially the front.

On a different note, if your problems are none of the above, then I ask, is your car really bottoming out on the shocks, or are your rear tires hitting the inner wheel housing? I've seen it where people run larger tires (not referring to rim size) or have a different wheel offset and they bottom out on the inner wheel housing. I don't think that's the issue here since your car sits high, but didn't want to leave that out as a possible problem.

BTW just installed all new springs in my 68 convert. Sits good, bounces good, but haven't driven it yet.

Old Joe

[M1Lover]

What brand leaf springs did you end up going with? Mine are tired, stock '69 and I've got it apart, so.....

Originally Posted by gtobird

I'm going to add my two cents in support of the potential problem as outlined by others. I seriously doubt this problem has anything to do with the shocks or tire pressure.

As others have mentioned, your car sits a bit high both front and back, yet it looks relatively level. That tells me your back end has an issue with the springs and or shackles as they are installed. It's absolutely true that if your springs are too strong, your car "may" sit high and could potentially have a harsh ride. That said, there are two mistakes people make that cause both the front and back to sit high. Both have to do with bolting everything together before the vehicle has weight on its wheels. Again, per the suggestions above, it is very likely that the rear shackles were tighted with the weight of the body off the wheels. It certainly can then pinch the rubber bushings in the rear when the shackles / bushings are in the wrong rotational positon. What's happening is the bushings twist a bit as the springs flex during your ride. The problem when this mistake is made is that the rotational neutral position of the bushings / shackles is now with the body up high. This causes nasty problems in the ride and will cause the bushings to wear prematurely.

A very similar problem happens when the front control arm bushings are tightened before the cars weight is on the wheels. The front end sits high.
Of course, the front end issue could also be from using stiffer springs.

Anyway, if the issue is tightening things up before weight is on the wheels, the rear end issue can be fixed by proper installation of the rear bushings, shackles and springs, but your rear end will then sit lower when all is correct. Lowering the front will require properly setting the front control arm bushings if those are the issue. If it's high because of the front springs being too stiff, then change them.

You probably already know this, but don't take for granted the potential DANGER in doing any of this. The car / body / rearend and other things can suddenly drop when doing this if you don't support it properly. Springs by their nature are dangerous, especially the front.

On a different note, if your problems are none of the above, then I ask, is your car really bottoming out on the shocks, or are your rear tires hitting the inner wheel housing? I've seen it where people run larger tires (not referring to rim size) or have a different wheel offset and they bottom out on the inner wheel housing. I don't think that's the issue here since your car sits high, but didn't want to leave that out as a possible problem.

BTW just installed all new springs in my 68 convert. Sits good, bounces good, but haven't driven it yet.

Old Joe

[gtobird]

Originally Posted by M1Lover

What brand leaf springs did you end up going with? Mine are tired, stock '69 and I've got it apart, so.....

On the rear I used Eaton Springs and bought them from NPD. Eaton makes several leaf styles for our cars. I used part number C-7503-10. While they are new springs, I bought them years ago, so not sure if that part number is still valid.