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leaf springs look ok? shackle has some angle but too much?

Got fast reply from Laura at ESPO.. the stock shackles were 3.5" center to center (so guessing less than 5"?) so mine are certainly longer shackles, gave me some options on springs to go with
They are great people to work with and to buy from. I bet there have been thousands of happy customers from all the forums here.
 
I bought my Leaf springs from Summit Racing. They have a large selection but I got the Super Stocks that match what your car would have had from the factory. I think they were about $250.00 with free shipping.
 
OP needs to understand, if the OEM shackles were exactly vertical, they would be loaded mainly in compression, their lightweight design is not ideal for that loading, once they are past over center, they are started to be loaded in tension, and their design is more than adequate for that loading.
 
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They are great people to work with and to buy from. I bet there have been thousands of happy customers from all the forums here.
Does ESPO still actually sell leaf springs? Looking on their site, they only list leaf spring parts & not the actual springs...
 
Does ESPO still actually sell leaf springs? Looking on their site, they only list leaf spring parts & not the actual springs...
Contact them. I don't think they list them on the site. Way too many choices.
 
Yikes those slapper bars that far down would scare me!
I don't know if they would "scare" me, but they sure could be installed better. IF they are the cheap summit style, with just a couple u-bolts, they should be slid as far forward as possible. If they are the lakewood style that replaced the spring pad, I would certainly lengthen the arm so it hits under the spring eye, instead of six inches behind it like they are now.
NO OFFENSE intended to the owner, i like his car! And imo, t-bars are WAY better than the factory worthless pinion snubber.
 
I don't know if they would "scare" me, but they sure could be installed better. IF they are the cheap summit style, with just a couple u-bolts, they should be slid as far forward as possible. If they are the lakewood style that replaced the spring pad, I would certainly lengthen the arm so it hits under the spring eye, instead of six inches behind it like they are now.
NO OFFENSE intended to the owner, i like his car! And imo, t-bars are WAY better than the factory worthless pinion snubber.
All kinds of scenarios like hitting speed bumps, potholes, you name it.. was where I was headed.
Buy yeah , up, forward, and some sort of retention as per nhra would be good
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Does ESPO still actually sell leaf springs? Looking on their site, they only list leaf spring parts & not the actual springs...

Laura at ESPO indicated they can sell me a variety of leaf springs for the gtx, and shackles if i want them.
 
Melk-man congrats on your new purchase. She looks beautiful. It's your car so you should do what you want but I honestly think you are overthinking this. I would recommend to throw some radials on it and just drive it . Enjoy your car and repair things as they surface.
 
Melk-man congrats on your new purchase. She looks beautiful. It's your car so you should do what you want but I honestly think you are overthinking this. I would recommend to throw some radials on it and just drive it . Enjoy your car and repair things as they surface.

starting to agree with this thought process. the car has longer shackles already and the stance is so close to what i'd like, I will likely just go with it.
but yes, the bias ply tires are in great shape and have a ton of tread, but they are not fun to drive unless the pavement is perfect.. some fat 60 series BFG's are likely in my future.
 
1970 gtx i just bought, no rebuild documentation was provided, decent "driver" quality i think. paid a bunch, had Dave Wise MMP detroit inspect prior to sale and gonna have a few touch up items replaced, but rather than just doing new bushings on the leaf springs, would replacing the leaf springs give me 1-2" lift in rear i'm looking for?
read a bunch of threads on here and should this angle of the shackle be of concern? there's 1/2 tank of gas, nothing in trunk not even a spare tire. leaf springs aren't flat, but not much curve to them. leaf count is different on both sides, but reading this is normal?
Love the color combo and mag 500 wheels and the LOOK of the bias ply polyglass tires (but not fun to drive on these tires). thanks. my first post here.
EDIT: the shackles are 7" long, is this typical? or are they likely aftermarket/homemade?
new EDIT: Laura at ESPO springs did indicate that these are NOT stock, that the stock shackles are 3.5" center-to-center.

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Your shackles are not original and should be replaced. These were available to raise the rear of cars in my day. The problems with them is they are to long and since they have bolts, they could be over tightened and will allow the spring rubbers to wear out and soon you will have a sway in the rear and metal on metal rubbing. The original did NOT have bolts. The plates were cupped to allow the rear spring rubbers to sit in the cup area and the shafts were welded to one side and threaded on the other. When you tightened them down they could ONLY tighten so far as they were designed to STOP, preventing the rubber inserts from being destroyed.
 
Your shackles are not original and should be replaced. These were available to raise the rear of cars in my day. The problems with them is they are to long and since they have bolts, they could be over tightened and will allow the spring rubbers to wear out and soon you will have a sway in the rear and metal on metal rubbing. The original did NOT have bolts. The plates were cupped to allow the rear spring rubbers to sit in the cup area and the shafts were welded to one side and threaded on the other. When you tightened them down they could ONLY tighten so far as they were designed to STOP, preventing the rubber inserts from being destroyed.

agree with this. may go with new springs and new oem shackles just would like the rear height at LEAST where i'm at now. the longer shackles at least did bring up the rear a bit, but potentially due to the leafs having lost some curve.
 
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