Edzred72

The 77 is going up on stands soon to change all the old compressed and cracked bushings on my original steel spring. I'm going with the poly type bushings and have the standard length bolt that came with the kit. Is it advisable to go with the longer bolt for more ride hight adjustment capability? If so, does tightening the castle nut raise or lower the body hight? This is my first time doing the job, and I want to know as much as I can to make it go smooth. I have read all the spring install info on this forum and am pretty confident.. except for the bolt issue. Thanks for all imput... :D :D :D

FeedVaal

The longer bolt is to lower the body.

Jvette73

If you tighten the castle nut it will raise the vehicle. Longer bolts allow you to lower the ride height. You can also stagger the adjustment side to side if one side sits lower then the other.

Barry's70LT1

Silvr77..
I just replaced my "old compressed and cracked bushings" with poly ones.
I used the stock existing bolt.
The end result was I "gained" at least 1" in height.
The poly ones seem to be thicker than stock.

I'd give it a try with the stock bolt. If you want additional height, then you
always can change it later.
Barry

Jvette73

Maybe the reason they give you the longer bolts is so you can maintain stock height after replacing squishy rubber bushings the harder poly. Keep in mind that if you change the rear suspention ride height, you also effect the alignment. As the ends of the strut rods are are lifted higher or lower, they slightly change distance from the vehicle centerline. This change has the most pronounced effect on the rear camber setting.

Edzred72

Jvette 73: DUUHHHH.. I get it now Thanks

Barry: I'll go that route with the stock bolt. I do need about 1 inch to level her out. How do you like the poly bushings? Mine are impregnated with graphite and aren't supposed to squeek... we'll see... Thanks
:cheers: to all

Edzred72

Jvette 73:

You are right about the rear ride hight effecting the alignment. Most fiberglass spring installs call for the longer bolt...being that mine is stock steel, I just wanted to know if the longer bolt would help. I only need to raise the rear about 1 inch to maintain the correct ride hight so I'll try the stock length bolt first. Thanks for your shared knowledge :D :D :cheers:

Barry's70LT1

Not sure yet about the poly bushings. My total rear rebuild ran late.
I just finished in time to take a couple drives and put it away for the winter.
The bushings seemed fine, what little I did drive.

As for changing the ride height/camber, I reset the camber to "0" using
a 4 foot level. Used a dial guage to find two equal (opposing) spots on the
wheel.

I wanted it to sit all winter, then do a 4 wheel alignment in the spring.
If anything is going settle it should be done by then.
Barry