Monospring vs 9 leaf spring advantage ?

[Wayne P.]

I am replacing the rear trailing arms . Offset disk I have the 9 leaf spring out. I am keeping all parts taken off car.
Any advantage or disadvantage replacing with Mono spring ?
Looking at VBP 330 LB Poly. Product # 42333
Also smart struts . Product # 52000hd
1964 vett driver. 327
Thanks

[Duke W.]

Re: Monospring vs 9 leaf spring advantage ?

That's about double the rate of your OE spring. Why not disassemble the OE spring, check it for corrosion, refinish it, and put it together with new liners. Also, replace the four spring link cushions. They are probably ancient, compressed, and hard as rocks.

The above will make it ride like new. It's amazing how the spring link cushions affect rear ride harshness.

Duke

[Michael W.]

Re: Monospring vs 9 leaf spring advantage ?

I've always wondered what was smart about the 'smart struts'.

[Paul J.]

Re: Monospring vs 9 leaf spring advantage ?

That's about double the rate of your OE spring. Why not disassemble the OE spring, check it for corrosion, refinish it, and put it together with new liners. Also, replace the four spring link cushions. They are probably ancient, compressed, and hard as rocks.

The above will make it ride like new. It's amazing how the spring link cushions affect rear ride harshness.

Duke

Wayne:

I agree with Duke. It won't cost that much to do this and you might be surprised. If you're not satisfied then you can hot rod it.

Paul

[Wayne P.]

Re: Monospring vs 9 leaf spring advantage ?

I believe the spring is fine I will measure it . Archive has good info. I hoped to save weight and increase handling. I will be updating shocks as well. If this is not a measurable difference I will stick with original.
Maybe replace front and rear sway bars.
I believe the smart strut has a finer camber adjustment.

[Michael W.]

Re: Monospring vs 9 leaf spring advantage ?

Maybe replace front and rear sway bars. I believe the smart strut has a finer camber adjustment.

A '64 small block with a rear sway bar?

I think if you study the 'smart struts' you'll see that there's a lot of hype and very little substance. I have no trouble achieving precise and correct camber with the stock set up.

[Duke W.]

Re: Monospring vs 9 leaf spring advantage ?

I believe the spring is fine I will measure it . Archive has good info. I hoped to save weight and increase handling. I will be updating shocks as well. If this is not a measurable difference I will stick with original.
Maybe replace front and rear sway bars.
I believe the smart strut has a finer camber adjustment.

Yeah, rear anti-roll bar? No such thing on '64s or any C2 small block even with Z-06/F-40. Maybe bubba has already been there.

Stiffening the rear spring without any other changes will make it oversteer more, which will not "improve handling".

If you're looking into shocks you can't beat the QA-1 adjustables if you want to "tune" the suspension to your driving conditions and preferences.

The place to spend money on the C2 chassis is tires, shocks, and alignment tuning if you want to maximize overall handling. The basic ride rates from the OE base springs are excellent for a high performance sports car.

C2s can be a little tail happy at the limit, and the tendency is exacerbated with low grip tires (like typical S-rated 205/75R-15s with wear ratings over 400), so it's a good idea to install urethane bushings in the front anti-roll bar links. If it's still tail happy, replace the OE 3/4" front bar with the 13/16" front bar that was used on mid to late base suspension C3s and use urethane link bushings.

Duke

[Wayne P.]

Re: Monospring vs 9 leaf spring advantage ?

Sorry ment stabilizer bar.

[Duke W.]

Re: Monospring vs 9 leaf spring advantage ?

The generic chassis engineering term is "anti-roll bar". GM calls them "stabilizer bars". Bubba calls them "sway bars".

Duke

[Bill M.]

Re: Monospring vs 9 leaf spring advantage ?

Stiffening the rear spring without any other changes will make it understeer more, which will not "improve handling".

C2s can be a little tail happy at the limit, and the tendency is exacerbated with low grip tires (like typical S-rated 205/75R-15s with wear ratings over 400), so it's a good idea to install urethane bushings in the front anti-roll bar links. If it's still tail happy, replace the OE 3/4" front bar with the 13/16" front bar that was used on mid to late base suspension C3s and use urethane link bushings.

Duke

Based on his recommendation for the front suspension, Duke obviously knows that a stiffer rear spring increases oversteer.

[John H.]

Re: Monospring vs 9 leaf spring advantage ?

Any advantage or disadvantage replacing with Mono spring ?

You'll go nuts trying to find rear shocks with enough rebound damping to control the "bouncy-bouncy" syndrome the aftermarket monospring has; they have no interleaf friction to aid in damping their excursions, and you'll need a custom shock calibration. Good luck.

[Duke W.]

Re: Monospring vs 9 leaf spring advantage ?

Based on his recommendation for the front suspension, Duke obviously knows that a stiffer rear spring increases oversteer.

Yes, I do. I corrected the error.

Duke

[Wayne P.]

Re: Monospring vs 9 leaf spring advantage ?

Thanks all I think I will stick with the 9 leaf and get better shocks.
Also buy new pads and bolts for rear spring.

[Scott S.]

Re: Monospring vs 9 leaf spring advantage ?

That's about double the rate of your OE spring. Why not disassemble the OE spring, check it for corrosion, refinish it, and put it together with new liners. Also, replace the four spring link cushions. They are probably ancient, compressed, and hard as rocks.

The above will make it ride like new. It's amazing how the spring link cushions affect rear ride harshness.

Duke

Eaton Detroit Spring offers a re-arching service, but how do you determine if it needs to be re-arched? If you just refinish it and add new liners, then won't something called "spring memory" cause it to sag back to its current (i.e., before refinishing and new liners) state?

In the archives I have read about both (re-arching vs. refinishing and installing new liners) and I'm trying to figure out which procedure is appropriate for a particular spring.

[Scott S.]

Re: Monospring vs 9 leaf spring advantage ?

A '64 small block with a rear sway bar?

I think if you study the 'smart struts' you'll see that there's a lot of hype and very little substance. I have no trouble achieving precise and correct camber with the stock set up.

Is my understanding correct that the "smart strut" bracket (and similar products from other vendors) is basically a copy of the '68 or '69 strut bracket, which is about an inch or so lower than the stock midyear strut bracket, offering better suspension geometry?

Or does "smart struts" refer more to something about the design of the strut itself?