Ladder bar leaf spring guys

[joespanova]

OK
Thanks for the replies. Tom , yeah its "old school"............but old school is still OK. I have already applied most of what you are saying over the years , but its good to bring it up again.
Don't forget though ,like I said this car WAS very wheel stand prone and I wanted to tame it down. The ride height change was more cosmetic with the side effect of virtually eliminating wheel stands. I just didn't expect it. So without going back where I was I tried recovering some of it ( by applying what was suggested "Tom" ) just to get the car to work the way I wanted it to. Without much success.
As I got under the car today I see the top hole ( front ladder bar ) , which is 1 hole above the current location , was never used and I'd have to beat the floor pan a little to get the bar in that top hole. So I decided to lower the housing 1 hole on the floaters instead......that C/G thing should be applied here.
Ed , I did use moly lube and yep they slide easier...........I was reluctant to use it because it attracts dirt.

[joespanova]

OK......
Finished.......that change made the azz end sit exactly 1 inch higher. This should be interesting........I'll follow up in a week or so.

[Tom Broome]

Ed, all good points, especially shocks. Good cars deserve good shocks. My modified Camaro, in 1987, had Koni shocks all of the way around, double adjustable in the rear. Big money back then for a guy bolting motors together for a living.
These tires nowadays seem to want the car to do it's thing a little smoother, locking the front end travel down (like the old days) seems to just shock the car when the travel stops. The car pitches forward and gets a big bounce. Good shocks let you control the travel to the limiters without snapping the rotation too fast (allowing more total travel). More total travel lets the car settle more smoothly from a wheelstand without that big bounce.
With a stick, we have to put the clutch into the equation. Got to control the clutch and tire slippage at the hit.
I agree about the control arm bolts and serrations Ed. I'm pretty picky there. For the Camaro (1st gen) Nova front ends I'll green loctite the upper shaft bushing bolts just as the washer begins to drag on the rubber bushings. I want to use full shoulder bolts on the lower pivots and not crush the frame on the bushings when I tighten them. I'll use full metal lock nuts to control how hard I'm squeezing the subframe.

But, I expect that some of the "new style" control arm bushings are probably less finicky than what I'm used to. I don't build as many race cars anymore. I am going to try some pretty soon.

As an aside, if you happen to be putting together a street car (think restoration). I don't recommend tightening the upper and lower control arm pivot bolts (with serrations) until the car is assembled and at ride height. Those serrations can add or subtract some ride height/spring rate.

[Tom Broome]

Originally Posted by joespanova

OK
Thanks for the replies. Tom , yeah its "old school"............but old school is still OK. I have already applied most of what you are saying over the years , but its good to bring it up again.
Don't forget though ,like I said this car WAS very wheel stand prone and I wanted to tame it down. The ride height change was more cosmetic with the side effect of virtually eliminating wheel stands. I just didn't expect it. So without going back where I was I tried recovering some of it ( by applying what was suggested "Tom" ) just to get the car to work the way I wanted it to. Without much success.
As I got under the car today I see the top hole ( front ladder bar ) , which is 1 hole above the current location , was never used and I'd have to beat the floor pan a little to get the bar in that top hole. So I decided to lower the housing 1 hole on the floaters instead......that C/G thing should be applied here.
Ed , I did use moly lube and yep they slide easier...........I was reluctant to use it because it attracts dirt.

No, nothing wrong with "old school" as long as it's not just old. It happens all of the time, those good older parts just want the attention they once received.

In a perfect world I would adjust the housing ends of the ladder bars to mitigate the pinion angle change.

I'll not bore you with too many more opinions, go run that thing.