1968 rear spring

[Robert M.]

I am in the midst of restoring my 68 L71 roadster and the rear spring has 8 leafs and the judjing manual states that it should have 9. In talking to another 68 owner he said that his car also had 8 leafs and the spare spring he had out of a 77 also had 8 leafs.Do both of our cars have the wrong springs in them, I dont have an issue with the purchase of a 9 leaf spring if someone can direct me to a unit that has the correct ride height. thanks, Bob Moon

[Rich G.]

Re: 1968 rear spring

I'm pretty sure my 68 L71 coupe has nine. Are you sure you're counting the one in the center/top?

F41 has 7, I think but standard should be nine.

Rich

[Joe L.]

Re: 1968 rear spring

I am in the midst of restoring my 68 L71 roadster and the rear spring has 8 leafs and the judjing manual states that it should have 9. In talking to another 68 owner he said that his car also had 8 leafs and the spare spring he had out of a 77 also had 8 leafs.Do both of our cars have the wrong springs in them, I dont have an issue with the purchase of a 9 leaf spring if someone can direct me to a unit that has the correct ride height. thanks, Bob Moon

Bob------


All original 1965-77 non-F-41/FE-7 springs have 9 leaves. I know of no spring that even existed in the GM parts bin at that time for a Corvette which had 8 leaves. Are the ends of the leaves (except the bottom leaf) of your spring slightly "tapered" with up-turned ends?

[Robert M.]

Re: 1968 rear spring

Rich; I did count the top leaf into the total which is the length of the rear end carrier. Joe,the end of the springs do have a slight taper and are turned up at the ends except the top and bottom springs have no taper and are not curved on the ends. one think i didn't mention was once I removed the paint I could see the number 21-309 stenciled in yellow on the bottom leaf. Can anyone recommend a suppler who makes a spring that will give me the correct ride height? Thanks Bob

[Tom R.]

Re: 1968 rear spring

Robert,

You could also search for the manufacturers mark sometimes found randomly on the edge of the leaves. Both on my 67 and 70 original springs I have it on two out of the 9 leaves. You'll be looking for the letters GLS - they'll be slightly raised. Hard to find and usually worn off though. At least it would confirm if yours was original even though it seems to be missing a leaf.

[John H.]

Re: 1968 rear spring

Can anyone recommend a suppler who makes a spring that will give me the correct ride height? Thanks Bob

Bob -

The closest reproduction out there is made by Eaton Detroit Spring, www.eatonsprings.com. Mike supplies them unpainted now, and you can complete them with Quanta's paint and liners. I have one on my '67.

[Steve L.]

Re: 1968 rear spring

I saw someone selling an Eaton spring at Carlisle. I was shocked to see that the curls on the spring ends were almost 90* up--way more than the originals. I didn't check if the edges on the ends were skived about 1 or 2 inches as are the originals.

[Gary B.]

1968 rear spring; 7 leaf + top/spacer plate = 8 leaves

Robert,

Some (all?) of the Corvette 7-leaf springs have a flat top plate or spacer plate. It could be that you have a authentic Corvette 7 leaf spring plus the flat top plate that makes your count = 8.

Gary

[Jeffrey S.]

Re: 1968 rear spring

By far the best reproduction spring is made by America's Finest Corvettes. They shared a space next to mine at Carlisle - Steve, I had the Eaton spring for sale- and he told me he will be doing the 9 leaf shortly but for now he has the 7 leaf. The configuration is exactly as the original (gently turned up ends, slight indentation about 3 inched from end, etc.) and he said the spring rate is as original yielding a correct ride height. The Eaton spring is significantly different than the original I have for my '69 in many areas and that is why I was selling the brand new Eaton. I have written an article for the Restorer comparing the 2 in great depth which I have yet to sent in but will shortly.
Jeff

[Gary B.]

Correction: 75-77 used a top plate on the 7-leaf spring

Robert,

The heavy duty 7-leaf spring for 75-77 used a top plate, of thickness 0.306". If the top "leaf" of your 8-leaf spring is completely flat and 0.306" thick, it may be a 75-77 Corvette HD spring.

Gary

[Steve L.]

Re: 1968 rear spring

Jeffrey,
That's interesting that I walked right by your spot at Carlisle. I was focused on getting somewhere's else at the time or I would have stopped to have a better look at the Eaton spring. It really caught my attention since I was surprised at how much curl it had.

It always amazes me that a vendor will go through the effort to add a feature but still screw it up.

My first thought was that someone had found a good original spring and now was stuck with the Eaton one.

It will be really interesting when America's Finest will show their 9 leaf spring. I wonder if the thickness will be right. That's probably the biggest problem.

[Gary B.]

Rear spring; Eaton "curl"

Steve,

I agree with you 100% about the Eaton "curl". If the Eaton curl is the same as it was when I inspected it about 7 or 8 years ago then it's more of an angle bend that is not 90 degrees, but not far from it either. It's a shame they couldn't get it closer to the original smoothly curled GM geometry. But that's what encourages companies like America's Finest Corvette to try again.

Gary