HD leaf springs vs. Standard for handling

[Cranky]

I have super stock springs on my 63 b-body. Anything I can do to improve handling without changing the springs? Already have rear sway bar 3/4 inch. Maybe splayed rear hangers?

SS springs usually raise the back end up....,how high is your car now?

 

[old guys rule]

SS springs usually raise the back end up....,how high is your car now?

Very slightly more than front but the front is too low and needs to come up a bit. I prefer a slight rake.Will SS leafs affect handling negativity?

 

[Cranky]

Very slightly more than front but the front is too low and needs to come up a bit. I prefer a slight rake.Will SS leafs affect handling negativity?

A vehicle that's lower has a lower center of gravity and that generally helps the way it acts in the handling department. I lowered my 66 Belvedere a pretty good amount in the front and the back was already a little bit low because the springs were flat but it did have a slight rake..... probably an inch or so lower in the front. Threw on some good shocks, added quite a bit of camber with wider wheels and decent tires and it was like night and day difference and that was without sway bars on it. I guess one way to find out if it handles better with the SS springs is to give it a shot. Can you post a picture of The stance of the car now?

 

[old guys rule]

A vehicle that's lower has a lower center of gravity and that generally helps the way it acts in the handling department. I lowered my 66 Belvedere a pretty good amount in the front and the back was already a little bit low because the springs were flat but it did have a slight rake..... probably an inch or so lower in the front. Threw on some good shocks, added quite a bit of camber with wider wheels and decent tires and it was like night and day difference and that was without sway bars on it. I guess one way to find out if it handles better with the SS springs is to give it a shot. Can you post a picture of The stance of the car now?

I will soon. I'm in the hospital right now. I'll get back to you. Thanks for the help, Dave

 

[1 Wild R/T]

My preference has always been a stiff chassis, fairly soft springs, beefy sway bars, premium shocks & a performance alignment....

I've ridden in stiffly sprung cars that at least at the performance level of a street car doesn't handle sufficiently better than my cars to justify the harshness... I know lots of guys use the biggest torsion bars & HD springs.... I'd rather keep the best ride quality I can & still handle well enough to keep up with most modern cars...

 

[Cranky]

My preference has always been a stiff chassis, fairly soft springs, beefy sway bars, premium shocks & a performance alignment....

I've ridden in stiffly sprung cars that at least at the performance level of a street car doesn't handle sufficiently better than my cars to justify the harshness... I know lots of guys use the biggest torsion bars & HD springs.... I'd rather keep the best ride quality I can & still handle well enough to keep up with most modern cars...

I used to have some high performance handling books and one of them talked about spring rates and street cars that handle good and it mentioned that very thing about not using heavy duty springs and using bigger sway bars with them. My Belvedere was a perfect example of that but was also a lightweight car at 3150 with me in it....and it had no sway bars on it. Sure it had some body roll but it was nowhere near like it was before I did the mods.

 

[1STMP]

Calculating suspension frequencies
to obtain a "flat ride" on a vehicle
driven mainly on the street requires
the separation of sprung vs unsprung
weights, the weight of the vehicle at
each tire, weights of the front and rear
seperately,, the spring rate for both the
front and rear springs, Sprung weight
includes a full tank of gas, and 300 lbs
for vehicle occupants.
Cross corner weights aren't necessary
unless you're going to be tracking the
vehicle.
What to shoot for is a frequency of
1 htz for the front, and 1.3 htz for the
rear.
(htz=the least amount of oscillations at both axles after going over a bump.)
This is how vehicle manufacturers
calculate springs for their vehicles.
But this can be speculative as some
prefer a firmer feel in their rides, as I
did on a 2006 Jeep Rubicon..Off the
showroom floor, felt like riding on a
watered. (suspension calculated for
the 95 percentile masses). Added a
3 inch lift, 33 inch tall tires (added
unsprung weight). All 4 corners
weighed again, and a new set of
springs with the correct rate
installed to maintain the strived
for frequencies.