RE: [Chrysler300] 65 L leaf spring rebuild puzzle

[Ryan Hill <ryan_hillc300@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I had a set of springs custom made, brand new, for a '67 Coronet I used to race. I had sheared two of the original springs with a set of slicks and no pinion snubber. Decided to add additional leaves to the spring and copied the dimensions of the Mopar super stock springs. I had the main leaf built to the exact length of the original, then added the additional 6 leaves. When I assembled it all and rolled it under the car I had the same problem with the shackles but was able to flip them back with a pry bar once I loaded the springs a bit. When I first set the car back on the ground, it sat at least 5 inches higher than it had originally but after a couple of months it settled down by a couple more inches giving me a nice ride height. A competent spring shop should be able to calculate how much arc a spring should have if they know the weight and balance of the car.
 
I also reinstalled the springs on my '65 after they were off the car for several months during restoration. The springs appeared in good condition and I elected to not rebuild them, just clean them and paint them. I encountered the same issue with the length and had to flip the shackle back after installation again by partially loading the suspension and prying the shackle back. The car sat over an inch higher with no modifications other than new front and rear bushings. These had not been re-arced.
 
The thickness of the leaves doesn't have any effect on the ride height when the axle is mounted above the main leaf. The only factors I can see, if using the original length and thickness leaves, are the arc and the resistance to compression by the new bushings and clamps. The car should settle down a lot more, especially if you haven't installed the rear bumper or spare tire. Once you drive it and work in the bushings you should also see a difference.

Ryan Hill 


 


To: Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
From: schroe99@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Sun, 7 Nov 2010 17:34:17 -0600
Subject: [Chrysler300] 65 L leaf spring rebuild puzzle


  



Hello,

My brother is being the guinea pig with his leaf spring rebuilding on his L. I'll soon be tackling my H springs and hope to learn from his experience. Anyway, Don carefully rebuilt his springs with new front and back bushings, leaf pads, and clamps. He did not take arch or length measurements when the springs were off the car (lesson no. 1 for me).

Everything on the spring reassembled OK but the arch increased and the length shortened so much that when he reinstalled the springs both shackles were nearly horizontal pointing forward.

We are both surprised at the amount of change in the spring dimensions and wondered if that is normal.

Only with prying at the shackle and jacking on the spring and weighting down the trunk was he able to flatten the spring enough to get the shackle pointing backward.

So while the car now sits 2 - 3" higher and will come down further in height as the bumper and trunk lid and other parts are added, this big change in spring arch and length seems odd to both of us.

The old pads were about gone so with 4 pads at the leaf fronts and rears you might add 1/2" at most to the spring thickness. The only other possibility that I thought of is if the shorter leafs are assembled and clamped on very tightly while the main leaf is in a high arch position maybe they would tend to keep the spring in that position. On the other hand if the spring was assembled with the main leaf flattened a bit maybe the entire spring would keep that flatter shape.

Has anyone else had any experience similar to this?

Thanks,
Carlton Schroeder, Eagle River, WI

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