raising the Rear end

myfirstii · Feb 17, 2004

What will I have to do to raise my rear end about a half inch or mabe a inch??? I dont want to Have to go up to the high lift springs those are way to high and the ride sucks with those. Can I just ad a spacer above the rear end or something??? I recently purchased new tires and rims and the rear tires will rub if there is someone in the back seat or if the rear end is under load.
Any suggestions??
Thanks
Pat

mustang_mattie · Feb 17, 2004

why not fabricate up a rearend shackle that's 1 " higher?

-Mattie

1badII · Feb 17, 2004

Taller springs.

myfirstii · Feb 17, 2004

The springs thati have on there now are brand new stock replacements. I dont have to the money to but new taller ones. What would be involved in fabracating taller shackles??? Does any one have any that they are willing to sell??
thanks
Pat

myfirstii · Feb 20, 2004

Or are there any aftermarket ones out there??

1badII · Feb 20, 2004

I'm sure you can find some lift shackles in JC Whitney.

CanadianCobra · Feb 20, 2004

I put an extra leafspring on each side from a parts car I had. It raised the rear-end at least an inch (probably more but I can't remember). It doesn't sag near as bad. But also, the car has no tendency to squat when you step on it anymore so no weight gets transferred to the back.... not too good of a thing.

zwhitr · Feb 22, 2004

myfirstii said:
The springs thati have on there now are brand new stock replacements. I dont have to the money to but new taller ones. What would be involved in fabracating taller shackles??? Does any one have any that they are willing to sell??
thanks
Pat

Do you want these?

If your springs are not shot they will do a little something for you ---you said they were new.

These were made by lakewood universal shackles cost aound 20.00 from autozone there yours if you want them I will have to look in my garage see if i didn't pitch them

zz

chaka · Feb 22, 2004

JC Whitney. Part #: 86SA5260B

2" to 4" higher lift.

Wart · Feb 22, 2004

myfirstii said:
What will I have to do to raise my rear end about a half inch or mabe a inch??? I dont want to Have to go up to the high lift springs those are way to high and the ride sucks with those. Can I just ad a spacer above the rear end or something??? I recently purchased new tires and rims and the rear tires will rub if there is someone in the back seat or if the rear end is under load.
Any suggestions??
Thanks
Pat

You've already made a bad choice of tire and rim, don't compound this by using extended shackles.

Of course the true remedy is to stick something in the rear that fits. I have a Versialles rear with 205/70/14 tires, could go wider and taller, so I don't know what you've done to create a rubbing problem.

If your insistant on using a combination of tire and rim that doesn't fit and could cause potentially severe problems add a leaf to the spring pack. I know, you don't want to stiffen the suspension to which I say: Siht in one hand, wish in the other, see which fills first.

myfirstii · Feb 23, 2004

Hey.......Thanks for all the replys.....Zwhitr How high does that lift the rear end?? Did these cause any problems with handling?? Thanks for the offer let me know if you find them.
Pat

a351Must2 · Feb 24, 2004

The lift shackles zwhitr has absolutely kill handling. They'd work great if combined with a panhard bar since you can level out the rear springs, which is supposed to get rid of some understeer. I had a set of those shackles on when I was having trouble getting the right ride height out of my '78 T-Top. They absolutely sucked...if you tightened them to tight, it felt like your axle was welded to the car. If they were too loose, the body would sway all over the place over the axle. If you got them tightened just right, the rear end still swayed all over the place.

THE COBRAMAN · Feb 24, 2004

Nobody is gonna like this suggestion, but why not air shocks? The situation you describe is exactly what they are designed for: a little extra when you (your car, actually)have a load on.

Used with some common sense, they might be a less-expensive, less intrusive solution. Put a LITTLE air in when needed, deflate when not.

They got their bad reputation from the goofballs that stuck N50s under cars with no wheelwell on 10" reverse wheels, then pumped the shocks up to 100# to "clear" the wheel/tire combo.

They were standard issue on El Caminos, so I feel pretty good about them when used within their designed purpose. I don't think an OEM would have installed something that was inherently unsafe when used as directed.

THE COBRAMAN · Feb 24, 2004

One more thought...

I would try to avoid anything that will raise the rear very much for the following reason:

The II has a front end design that, after 25 years, can be difficult to obtain a decent caster setting on. By raising the rear of the car, you will make the caster less positive, or possibly even negative. The more positive caster that car has, the better the car tracks in a straight line. When caster becomes very low, the front tends to wander and become very "darty" , makes it difficult to keep "on track".

My own cars have required shimming the lower strut rods to get decent caster/camber settings, and that's with them level. Adding any rake will aggravate the situation.

1badII · Feb 24, 2004

Where can I get some air shocks? I'd like to get some to stiffen my rear end up when I go to the drag strip.

Wart · Feb 24, 2004

THE COBRAMAN said:
Nobody is gonna like this suggestion, but why not air shocks? The situation you describe is exactly what they are designed for: a little extra when you (your car, actually)have a load on.
......

They were standard issue on El Caminos, so I feel pretty good about them when used within their designed purpose. I don't think an OEM would have installed something that was inherently unsafe when used as directed.

1) Air shocks don't address the underlying problem. Neither does adding a leaf, but ....

2) (Sigh) Caminos were designed to use air shocks. IIs weren't. Because an item works in a system made to use that item does not make it a good idea to use that item in a system not designed for that item.

Wart · Feb 24, 2004

a351Must2 said:
The lift shackles zwhitr has absolutely kill handling. They'd work great if combined with a panhard bar since you can level out the rear springs, ....

??

How the hell does a panhard 'level out' springs? I know what they are. I know what they do. I can't imagine anyone using a properly installed panhard to do anything but lateral location of the axle.

Wart · Feb 24, 2004

1badII said:
Where can I get some air shocks? I'd like to get some to stiffen my rear end up when I go to the drag strip.

For the strip you can use an air bag between the axle and frame. Just make the bracketry so it can be removed when not stripping.

THE COBRAMAN · Feb 24, 2004

Wart said:
1) Air shocks don't address the underlying problem. Neither does adding a leaf, but ....

2) (Sigh) Caminos were designed to use air shocks. IIs weren't. Because an item works in a system made to use that item does not make it a good idea to use that item in a system not designed for that item.

1) Right, but I gather he doesn't want to spend a lot to buy something that fits correctly.

2) How was the camino designed any differently to use them? It was just a production Chevelle/Malibu chassis with the shocks added. I still feel that the air shocks are the least intrusive method to work around (not through) the problem. Would I use them every day at or near capacity? NO. Would I have put myself in the position to have a need to rectify the problem? No. But for occasional use to alleviate minor loading issues, I don't think the risk of damaging the mounting points is overly large. I rate it less risky than a method that greatly alters the rear height at all times, along with the attendant poor handling issues. I seem to recall a thread a couple of years ago about somebody getting hassled by "the man" over rear bumper height because they wanted to raise the back of the car.

Luckily, you and I and others have learned the hard way to exert the effort in the planning/measuring phase, rather than on the mop-up phase. Personally, I learned a lot the hard way, but they were lessons well-learned.

You know, the coolest part of this board is that the opinions get argued, but we manage to avoid the all-out flame wars that every other board I've seen have nearly weekly.

Wart · Feb 24, 2004

myfirstii said:
Hey.......Thanks for all the replys.....Zwhitr How high does that lift the rear end?? Did these cause any problems with handling?? Thanks for the offer let me know if you find them.
Pat

Does a hard screw on the handling, doesn't even kiss you.

Not to mention what shackles do to the springs. Bends them flat(ter), weakens them, leads to premature breakage. And II springs aren't known to be that stout in the first place.

What's funny is, I have two little used sets of springs here and you wouldn't find me doing much of what has been suggested in this threaed.

But then I wouldn't have installed a tire/ rim combination that rubbed.

I guess experience is worth something.

raising the Rear end

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