Tabcon
Jedi Warrior
Offline
I didn't like the rear suspension in my car at all. Hitting bumps, even small ones, would cause jarring and sometimes I think it was even bottoming out. Handling was not that great either and the worst thing of all, it squeaked.
I took the entire rear suspension system off today, and I'm glad I did. While the restoration on this car was cosmetically great, he didn't really address the small things you couldn't see, like the suspension. The rear shackle pins had been reused and apparently sandblasted with about half of one of the pins gone. All the bushings were rubber and were already starting to deteriorate. One of the shock links cracked in half when I was removing it and the front eye bushings on the leaf springs were almost welded in place. It was a hoot getting them off. The lever shocks were painted, but I think that's about all. One of them barely had any fluid left in it and both were much too easy to push up and down.
Besides all that, the rear end was sitting way too high. Probably from the cheap "competition" rear leaf springs he installed. One of them almost came apart when I removed it.
I'm installing some new quality stuff from Racestorations, but I really don't want to go back to the Flintstone like rear shocks. I've looked at upgraded Armstrong's from Racestorations, but they're very expensive and they are still levers. I've looked at the conversion kits also. One type you have to weld to the axle the other is all bolt on. I've even looked at the adjustable lever shocks now being made...but they are still levers and once the fluid gets warm to hot, the performance falls way off.
Have any of you guys actually installed the a tube shock conversion with adjustable shocks? Do they work? Are there any other options worth considering???
Thanks!
Tab
I took the entire rear suspension system off today, and I'm glad I did. While the restoration on this car was cosmetically great, he didn't really address the small things you couldn't see, like the suspension. The rear shackle pins had been reused and apparently sandblasted with about half of one of the pins gone. All the bushings were rubber and were already starting to deteriorate. One of the shock links cracked in half when I was removing it and the front eye bushings on the leaf springs were almost welded in place. It was a hoot getting them off. The lever shocks were painted, but I think that's about all. One of them barely had any fluid left in it and both were much too easy to push up and down.
Besides all that, the rear end was sitting way too high. Probably from the cheap "competition" rear leaf springs he installed. One of them almost came apart when I removed it.
I'm installing some new quality stuff from Racestorations, but I really don't want to go back to the Flintstone like rear shocks. I've looked at upgraded Armstrong's from Racestorations, but they're very expensive and they are still levers. I've looked at the conversion kits also. One type you have to weld to the axle the other is all bolt on. I've even looked at the adjustable lever shocks now being made...but they are still levers and once the fluid gets warm to hot, the performance falls way off.
Have any of you guys actually installed the a tube shock conversion with adjustable shocks? Do they work? Are there any other options worth considering???
Thanks!
Tab