leaf spring ride height questions

[jerthemost]

I have a 68 Mustang coupe with 17" wheels rear tire size 245x17. I know that is too wide for my wheel wells and can get some scrub. I bought a pair of 5 leaf heavy duty springs from Laural Mountain in September and had them installed. The ride height pretty much stayed inchanged but the scrubbing and handeling was much improved. The old springs were shot. Even though i still had some scrub problem it was something i could live with by watching out for bumps and how much load in put in the car plus my intent was toi get the wheel wells rolled.

But here is the question.... a couple weeks ago I had a sub-woofer installed in the trunk. They went a lot further and upholstered the entire inside of the trunk. It's unbelieavable how good the inside looks but apparantly they added about 50 lbs of weight to the trunk and now i am back to were i was befor the spring change. Actually i noticed an increasing problem over the past couple months. I looked under the car and the springs are completely flat with no one even in the car and no luggage, groceries etc. Shouldn't heavy duty springs still have some arch and not be flat? Could these springs be defective?

How about adding helper springs? If so what kind?

And has anyone ever used spacer blocks to raise the rear a bit? Any opinions on the spring issue will be greatly appreciated.

 

[iskwezm]

First thing is a 245 is not too wide. You should be able to fit a 285.You have the wrong offset for the wheels. I wouldnt use blocks or anything to raise it, I would get the correct offset and your 245's will never rub anything.

 

[jerthemost]

First thing is a 245 is not too wide. You should be able to fit a 285.You have the wrong offset for the wheels. I wouldnt use blocks or anything to raise it, I would get the correct offset and your 245's will never rub anything.

Thanks i will look into that, of course that means having to spend $300 on new wheels. But i am still way too low in the rear end. I mean it is really sitting low. Would you think the springs are shot if they are flattened out with just 100 lbs on the car? When i first put the new springs on i had 1 inch cleaarance between tire and fender well. Now with 100 lbs in the trunk it is 1 inch below top of tire. In otherwords dropped 2 inches. And should not springs still have some arch? These springs are under warranty.

 

[iskwezm]

where are the tires rubbing? on the fender lip or inside wheel house?

 

[jerthemost]

where are the tires rubbing? on the fender lip or inside wheel house?

fender lip. I can get them rolled, and will as soon as i get a chance, but still does not solve low rear end problem.

 

[65wildstang]

Heres a side shot of mine

By wildstang at 2011-10-27 . 17X8" wheel 245 tire. If you add blocks between the springs & rear end, it will lower the car even more. Can you post up a pic of the rear springs. Maybe we will be able to give you a better answer to your question afetr seeing the pics. Thanks

 

[Hack]

People have used longer shackles on the rear leaf mount to raise the rear of the car, but I wouldn't recommend that. I think you should call the spring's manufacturer and see what they will do for you. You will probably have to pay something, but I'm sure with the right springs you can get the stance the way you want. Otherwise you could rebuild the springs adding leafs for more height in the rear. If you kept your old springs you can add leafs from them. Opentracker posted a "how to" on rebuilding rear leafs a few years ago. I've done it in my car and I was very happy with the results.

 

[jerthemost]

Here are a few pics. I have contacted Laurel mountain where i bought the springs and they said to send pics. Will see what comes of it. Even when i had just put the springs on I still did not have the load capability i wanted. The stance was perfect but still could not have 3 people in the car without problems.

 

[JonK]

Were the 5 leafs standard eye, mideye or reverse eye? You could try breaking the front bolts lose enough to spin them then bounce the car with the wheels on the ground and see if it was in bind when torqued down. After you bounce it and see if it levels out better then retorque the bolts.
Jon