What Rear Leaf Springs have ZYou had the best results with

Presently Iam running the fiberglass 200inlb rate leaf springs, but I find they are not to my liking I loss adhesion and my rear breaks loose in the curves

After scanning various catalogs I have found the following available

150 in lb fiberglass
143 in lb multi leaf
126 in lb multi leaf
126 in lb monoleaf
125 in lb mono leaf

iam presently running an addco 1 1/4 in front bar and a herb adams 1 in rear bar

i really want to go to a smaller rear addco bar but iam unable to use it as it mounts right where my emergency brake brackets are for my corvette rear brakes

anyway if you guys can help with my spring selection it would be appreciated

You didn't state the car make/model/year, but have you tried running without the rear sway bar? Many people on this forum have stated that a rear bar on a first gen camaro can cause oversteer. Maybe removing the bar is all you need to do?

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Bret Copsey
'68 Camaro base coupe
'92 Caprice wagon
'98 Malibu

What exactly do you dislike about the composite springs other than the rear kicking out on you? I ask because I am considering getting some of those 200# springs from Vette Brakes.

If you are sure you want to swap them out, Hotchkis makes a lowering spring with around a 180# rate that is supposed to be very good.

What do you want to do with the car? Road race, drag, street?

I got a custom made set of springs for me for $235 that were exactly like the Hotchkis, just without the lowered ride height. Better deal if you ask me.

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1969 Base Camaro
Vortec 355, Perf. RPM, Demon Carb., TH-400
All sheetmetal is NOS GM
See my NEW webpage at: http://www.geocities.com/compuboy007/

I'm by no means a suspension expert, but I tend to think like Bret here. I would remove the rear bar and drive the car for a few days/week and see how she does. It sounds to me from what I've read on the web that your rear is too stiff where as your front should be stiff than your rear end. I think David Pozzi has a section on his website about rear sway bars on first generation Camaro's, but I'm not sure. The general consensus is however that rear bars are not nessary becuase of the design of the rear suspension on these cars.

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Bryan Shook
Favorite Quote - Some people have shrinks. Some people have their garage.
My Father's 1968 RS 327! (http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Speedway/6673/camaro.html)
My First Generation Camaro site (http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Speedway/6673/firstgen.html)

What is the front spring rate?
If the front springs are stiff enough, I would soften the rear bar.
Try unhooking one end link on the rear bar and see how it handles that way. If you need something in-between in rate, try using some rubber bushings and rubber end links instead of polly bushings. If the bar arms can be lengthened, the rear rate can be reduced by doing that.
The rear bar can have a flat machined in it's center section to reduce rate too, but the bar must be straight in that area, not curved.
With proper spring rates front and rear, a rear bar is seldom required.
David

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Check my web page for First Gen Camaro suspension info:
David's Motorsports page (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/David_Pozzi/)
First Gen Suspension Page (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/David_Pozzi/first_gen_suspension.htm)
67 RS 327 original owner. 69 Camaro Vintage Racer, 65 Lola T-70 Chev SB Can-Am Vintage Racer

based on reading the replys here, i'm wondering.....
i have a 69 camaro with an 1 1/4 front bar and a 1 inch in the rear. i have rubber bushings in the front and poly in the back.
but i also have sub frame connectors.

what do the sub frame connectors do to this whole picture? good things or bad??
should i be putting rubber bushings in the back too?

i'm using the car for both the odd weekend drag racing and daily summer regular driving.
i have not noticed any bad handling characteristics.

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69 Camaro RS/SS 350.
GM 2.02 angle plug heads.
223 dur/480 lift hyd cam.
69 z/28 alum high rise.
69 z/28 780 vac sec holly carb.
4 bolt mains,steel crank,forged flat top pistons.
Turbo 350 2800 stall with shift kit.
3:73 12 bolt posi.
functional cowl induction & ZL2 hood

Thanks guys my car is a 67, Ive removed the rar bar it seems to have helped, iam going to thrash it for a few days i will let you know, front spring is moog p/n 6312, i dont know the rate, maybe i will call moog today

I put an Addco 3/4" rear sway-bar on my '67 and it fit fine if you want to consider using it instead of the 1" one.

I am going to take David's advice and run mine both with and without the rear bar to see which way is best once I get my car put together. pdq67

Oh, I have the 1" Addco front bar, also.

I looked up the spring rate for my front coils it is 327 #

Ive thrashed car seems to still oversteer a bit, going to switch to moog front coil spring #6308 that has a rating of #380 ill let you know how it feels then

Decided to use 6320 spring, installed it today but unable to thrash due to rain

Whats the rate on the 6320 spring? Did you cut any coils? How is the stance, and most of all, keep us updated when you find out how she is after the rain is done. Did you reinstall the rear sway bar?

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Bryan Shook
Favorite Quote - Some people have shrinks. Some people have their garage.
My Father's 1968 RS 327! (http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Speedway/6673/camaro.html)
My First Generation Camaro site (http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Speedway/6673/firstgen.html)

Put in 6320 front coil rated at 380# ride height is awesome very nice rake, spring cost 54.00 for pair

200# fiber leaf in rear 1 1/8" addco bar in front no bar in rear

thrashed car seems very tight in the turns even under acceleration very slight oversteer detected, great on bumps too I think I can make the final adjustments with tire pressure, I cant believe how nice it rides even on some of the crap roads i have around here, Ill keep you posted But for now it feels good

[This message has been edited by David R (edited 04-16-2002).]