Help! stock spring weight on 1980 vette?

[tonyponykay]

Hi everyone

I have just bought my 4th vette (over the years) and its a 1980 which I want to rebuild. This will the first vette that I have rebuilt.

I am wondering if anybody knows what the stock rear spring weight was on these 1980s because I want to buy a new monoleaf composite spring and I want it to have a soft "roadster" ride. Not building a race car.

Eklers has one that is rated at 300 lbs and others that range from 340 to 380 I think. They are saying the 300 lb has a "very soft" ride, which may be what I am looking for, but to have something to compare it to, I was wondering what the stock weight is?

Thanks
Tony

 

[Hib Halverson]

Actually...it's not how much the spring weights. It's the spring rate, in pounds-per-inch to which those numbers refer.

I can't remember the base rear spring rate in 80, but it's soft. Before you buy a spring, you need to find out what you have on that 80 now. If the car already has a base spring, you don't want anything softer than that otherwise you'll have handling problems with the suspension bottoming too often.

 

[tonyponykay]

yes thats what i meant, its stock but i duno what weight stock was

thanks for reply

yes, what you said, spring weight or rate or whatever,.. all I know is at Eklers they number them by weight rating ... so I assumed that's what I'd go by. I don't want to bottom out, my tires are now sitting at slight angles to the road, showing signs of a sagging rear suspension so I figured to replace the rear spring and shocks maybe as well, though the bounce test for the shocks doens't show them as bad.

so, I am trying to find out the stock rear spring rating/weight/whatever it is number so i can compare. I've looked and googled and all that but haven't found the right place or answer yet.

thanks
tony :W

 

[Hib Halverson]

Looking at the angle of the wheels is not a good check for "sagging" suspension. The only accurate way to assess ride height and to decide if you need new springs is to meausure the ride height using the procedure listed in the factory service manual.

The slight angles might just mean you need to have the suspension aligned.

 

[73shark]

The correct camber setting for the rear wheels will have them leaning in slightly at the top. Like Hib said, the 300 lbs means it will deflect one inch w/ 300 lbs applied to it.

 

[tonyponykay]

thanks to all

for great responses, I learned a lot from what you guys said here,

I don't have the factory book but i do have the AIM, not sure if it lists the correct height for the rear, but I do know that I have to raise my rear becasue I live in Baltimore (worst roads in the nation) on the outskirts of the city, in a historic district (still worst roads ever), and there are two spots on my one-way street by my house where the horrible road condition precipitates the rubbing of my catalytic converter on the bizarre buckling up of the road material. Just a slight rub, but my car definitely should sit higher, i've seen pics of a car just like mine and it definitely sits higher in the rear than my poor old vette.

SO, I am going to start with new shocks, but I read something about being able to raise the rear end by screwing in the bolts on the spring somewhere, but it was very unclear and only said those words in passing in some article I was reading. SO I don't know which bolts those might be, certainly not the center bolts where it connects to the diff carrier, so I am wondering if that is a legitimate way to raise the rear end?

tightening the end bolts where the spring hooks up to the wheel assemblies?

I am not certain new shocks will raise it enough, the shocks on there don't seem that bad, but they are going just cause i don't know how old they are and i want new ones in there. eventually i intend to rebuilt the entire rear suspension but that project has to wait till next year cause of funding.

any further words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

oh yes, i found out the stock spring is a 260 lb spring in the rear.

thanks
tony

 

[JohnZ]

SO, I am going to start with new shocks, but I read something about being able to raise the rear end by screwing in the bolts on the spring somewhere, but it was very unclear and only said those words in passing in some article I was reading. SO I don't know which bolts those might be, certainly not the center bolts where it connects to the diff carrier, so I am wondering if that is a legitimate way to raise the rear end?

tightening the end bolts where the spring hooks up to the wheel assemblies?

I am not certain new shocks will raise it enough,

The stock rear spring link bolts (the ones at the outer end of the spring that link to the bottom rear of the trailing arms) aren't adjustable; some aftermarket suppliers have bolts that are longer, but they lower the rear - to raise the rear you need shorter bolts. A correctly designed replacement spring should give you original ride height.

The shocks have nothing to do with ride height - they don't carry any weight - they just damp ride motions.

 

[Crimson Thunder]

Check out Vette Brakes.(click on the top thread in this forum) They have suspension kits with shocks and springs matched to go together.

 

[tonyponykay]

300 lb mono spring

thanks for replies, I learned much from you all.

I therefore, with your comments, went ahead and purchased the 300lb monospring from VBP and am going to try to install it this weekend

:bash;helphnoes

I dig these little guys !

Hopefully, it will all go smoothly and i can do some sprucing up while i'm down there, prolly change the shocks too while i'm at it. maybe not, just to see the difference with the new spring first.

Thanks for the help

tony

 

[Art Jett]

When installing a new spring, be sure to just snug the bolts on the bottom of the diff. before you put the weight of the car on the spring. Then torque them. If you torque them with the weight off the spring then set the car down, you run the risk of breaking the mount on the rear diff. cover.Art

 

[73shark]

Be sure to use a lot of penetrant like Kroil or PB Blaster on the spring mounting bolts as they are tuff to get out and may break off an ear on the diff cover or twist off in the cover. A stout impact wrench is handy here.

 

[tonyponykay]

new 300lb monospring and new shocks in and she's tight as a drum

hey everybody, thanks very much for the hints, used them all in my installation of the monospring and the new shocks on rear. Took her out for a quick spin and the rear rides like a dream..

i found some funny things going on underneath though. one whole bolt was missing from the center 3 bolts holding the old leaf spring in, the old shocks, delco brand, probably the stock shocks..lol .. you wouldn't believe what condition they were in. completely useless, i was pushing them in and pulling them out lilke an accordion, they had nothing left at all. I duno how the heck the car was riding like this. Good thing i bought it and took it away from the negligent previous owner. I can't imagine treating a car so horribly.

trailing arms had a little surface rust on the ends but 90% of the arms were black and rust free, still will replace them in a year or two. I was anxious to get her put together and see how she rode or i would have waited for the new strut rods to come, I'll put them in later.

darn spare tire carrier hanger bolts would not come loose from the big cross brace so i could get that frame out of there to work easier.

now I have to tackle the front shocks/springs and brush some rust off the front of the frame area, por 15 it a few layers, prime it up and frame paint it, got a mess of work to do up front.

Thanks again for all the help. I Have the AIM and the Corvette service manual on disc from ecklers now. yay!

I'll be posting some pics soon

tony