Rear Spring Replacement
 

Ok. I have read about 201 threads about the different composite springs and shocks and combos and etc, etc, etc. I hope this is an easier question. For a daily driver, keeping the car for a long time, and am budget minded; is replacing the rear spring with a composite worth it? The spring in there is in terrible shape and needs to be replaced. Is it worth replacing steel for steel and a good set of shocks a good idea or keep the car off the road for a longer time and go composite. For the wife ride quality is more important than road racing 78 L82

Hi C,
What are you seeing or feeling that makes you think the spring is in such bad shape?
Might it just be the shocks that need to be replaced to improve the ride?
Regards,
Alan

Spring clamps missing and springs spread out like a deck of cards. Never had seen that before

Sweet......! Let's see a pic of that !
:willy:

In my opinion getting the better upgrade for the long haul and having to wait a bit for it is much better a choice than just throwing something on there for the time being. Get a set of good shocks, Bilstein sports if possible if not get the ones at autozone like these:

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/par...258137_0_7413_

I put these on my old chevy silverado and have been happy so far.

Big upgrade will be the rear spring. VB&P:

http://www.vbandp.com/C2-C3-Corvette...y-1963-82.html

The spring is an easy install and will soften the ride a lot but here's the deal. The cheapy shocks may not do well with the new spring. This spring is designed to run with a good quality shock. But the cheapy ones will get you by for now. So in short if you can get the rear spring and the new good quality shocks at the same time.

hth,

Sully

Got a friend with an 81 or 82 with the fiberglass spring? Take a ride. You will notice the difference.

:thumbs:

Original or stock springs had no clamps. You have other problems.

Hi C,
The top 3 leafs are straight.
Might that be what you're seeing?
Regards,
Alan

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/c...G_0001-1-1.jpg

When you said "fanned out like a deck of cards" I was thinking sideways, as in not in line with each other. So I thought you must have broken one of the four bolts that held the spring to the diff.
Hopefully you meant like what Alan is talking about and they are fanned up/down

As for the spring, I've had a TRW one on my 72 for ever and with a decent set of delco shocks (just changed this winter to KYB so don't know about those yet) I was very happy with the ride, 99% of the time boulevard crawler.
My $.02
Mooser

Hi m,
You could be right.... that would allow the leaves to 'fan' out and make Cam wonder about 'clamps'.
Regards,
Alan

The VBP #330 spring with the specifically designed VBP218 shocks is a nice combo. It works very well for me for just driving.

http://www.vbandp.com/C2-C3-Corvette...ear-Shock.html

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ingbolt3-1.jpg

Installing the fiberglass rear spring was possibly the best upgrade I ever made to my '79. There is nothing else you can do that will improve the ride and handling of a C3 as much as that spring!

My '75 had the HD spring (7 leaf), was a daily driver for 6 years, and my wife hated the harsh ride. My '80 has the composite spring (upgraded by previous owner) and it is a noticeable improvement. Having driven both I would recommend the composite spring. If you are changing it yourself, do some research on the shielding required to protect it from exhaust heat.

I'll crawl back under again this evening. Yes, fanned out sideways not up and down as Alan suggested. I'll try to find out what the problem is and will start looking for the composite spring. Now I remember why I haven't had a corvette in 25 years.....

The usual cause of the leafs fanning sideways is a mismatch of spring and diff rear cover, or missing spacers. Look for a big gap in the pocket where the spring sits in the cover.

Ok. Composite spring and Bilsteins....after I run a tap thru the brake caliper bracket I tried to cross thread last night. Frustrating but it is fun in its own weird way

Same here. :thumbs:

And same here. :thumbs:

I've had mine (330lb VBP with KYB GR2 shocks valved for composite springs) for about a month. Its the main reason why my car is fun to drive again.

I agree. It was one of the best mods on my 1974. People like the Bilsteins, and they may be very good, but they are twice the price and not necessarily tuned for the VBP spring. I believe VBP has some engineering expertise. Those specialty shocks come from Japan (not China) but what the heck. I'm happy with the mods in 2011. They work very well.

And driving just some 50 miles in 2012 all seems fine.

Heat shielding is highly recommended by VBP. In fact its absence voids the warranty.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...pension005.jpg