[tbd67]

I have a 67 camaro that still has the stock leaf springs in it. It doesn't sag at all, but any time I hit any kind of dip on the highway it bottoms out in the back. There is plenty of clearance in the back (it's not lowered or anything) so I am not sure exactly why it bottoms out so bad. This is the first leaf spring car I have owned so im assuming my leaf springs need to be replaced? Or could this be a bigger problem?

[larryh56]

Sounds like you may have bad shocks. If you bounce the rear of the car does it keep bouncing on its own for a couple bounces? If so its the shocks.

[tbd67]

No, the shocks are the only thing that I have replaced, just a few months ago. It doesn't keep bouncing at all.

[Nashville Beth]

By "bottoming out" do you mean the fender is scraping the outer side of the tire?
If so the backspace of the rim might be incorrect. A lot of old camaros have corvette rally wheels that only have 4" backspacing.
If you do need new springs there is an excellent sticky on the jcw 3 leaf springs at the top of this forum.

[tbd67]

well, that's the weird thing is that there are no marks or gashes on the outer part of either of the rear tires so I don't know where it is rubbing. I need to take a look again and see if it is somewhere else. I thought that the top of the tire was maybe hitting the top of the wheel well? I have the old Krager wheels. They were on the car when I bought them.

[nev68]

Originally Posted by tbd67

well, that's the weird thing is that there are no marks or gashes on the outer part of either of the rear tires so I don't know where it is rubbing. I need to take a look again and see if it is somewhere else. I thought that the top of the tire was maybe hitting the top of the wheel well? I have the old Krager wheels. They were on the car when I bought them.

Where does your exhaust / tail pipes come out?
I have an issue with mine where the tail pipe will clash with the leaf spring when I hit a big bump at highway speed (I'll fix it soon)
If it is hitting you will see a mark on the exhaust or spring.

[Dave69Z]

I insrtalled new eaton springs (factory z28 spec.) and there just too soft. These cars had fairly soft rear springs from the factory. Mine hit the exhaust where it goes over the axle. good luck.

[tbd67]

Well, I took a closer look at my tires yesterday and I do see where the little needles on the top/side of the tire have be worn off. I pushed down on the rear end of the car last night and it just didn't take anything to really push it down. Again, I don't know much about leaf springs but, I think mine are just worn out. I don't think it is the tailpipe because it makes that rubber on fender sound when I hit a dip. Although my tailpipe does rattle against my leaf spring when I start it sometimes (not related to this topic). So I guess I need new leaf springs. Now the thing I am worried about is having the stance of my car change when I get a new leaf spring. When a spring gets worn out will it cause the car to sag or can it just lose its strength and not sag? I am asking because if it causes them to sag then maybe I need to get a spring with a 1" drop in the back to maintain the same ride height I have now. I am running larger tires in the back so I have a rake and I like it. My springs in the front are essentially stock replacement springs. I certainly don't want to buy new springs and have them be to soft or have the height in my rear end go up a bunch. I have just the original mono-leaf springs (probably original springs that came with the car). Any suggestions? I want to maintain the same rake/ride height.

[r_w]

Original top of fender arch to ground with stock tires is about 28" to 28 1/2". You would need to measure top of fender arch to ground, and then add the difference the taller tires make to see how much your springs are sagging.

28.5" - (Fender lip to ground) + (current tire diameter - stock tire diameter)/2