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1967 rear suspension, leaf springs or 4 link

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#21 ·
dhutton said:
Triangulated is more likely to bind afaik. Adding a panhard makes it worse because they fight each other.

Guys looking at four links aren’t going to spring for an IRS setup… :p

Shouldn’t you be fishing or painting your car?
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I can do that later. It is more fun giving you a hard time.
 
#23 ·
D14z67!! said:
So I’m in the process of changing the original leaf springs and shocks which are very damaged and the car sits a little to tall for me on the back. I recently installed new upper and lower tubular control arms and adjustable coils in the front. Debating whether I should stick with leaf springs and adjustable shocks (I would just do the 2 inch drop) or convert to a 4 link system on the rear. All I want is for a smooth ride, for the car to sit lower and to be able to put maybe a 18x10 wheel on the back later on. i use the car mainly as a cruiser, I don’t want to over due it with the 4link if I don’t need to.
Any advice on what I should do, or anyone has had experience with both so that they can provide me with their experience.
I’ve never driven a car with 4 link so would know if there’s much of a difference as far as comfort and handling.
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After reading the replies, it really comes down to what your end game is. Occasional spirited road course driving or a smooth ride. With regard to rear leafs, my mono leaf suspension is Cadillac smooth and are original used equipment. It sits at the factory height which is for me
I can't recommend any aftermarket leaf spring companies due to not so great results-sitting too high, poor ride quality. If ypu know someone who has something else, let them drive you around to get an idea.
 
#24 ·
D14z67!! said:
Thank you for the advice
I’m thinking on the rear I’ll stick with the drums and in the front. I am running rotors. You think a 275 will still give me those type of issues with the drums and possibly not lowering the car the whole 2”. All I’m looking for is to reduce the gap between tire and fender ( I’m thinking maybe switching the wheels with 18’s and maybe running a 275/35/18 or 275/40/18 will take care of the gap)
I still need new shocks because the ones it has right now are no longer good but maybe not new leaf springs
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With drums you want +6mm more offset to center the rim. Or you could simply run a spacer (which would give you the option of running discs later on by simply taking the spacer off).

An 18" setup in the back with 275/40s fills the wheel arches nicely. The 13.35" tire radius follows the fender curve even better than the typical 275/35R18s or 275/40R17s people use. And it'll give you a slightly better ride with the the taller sidewall. Don't be too concerned with ride harshness though. The right spring rate and shock will really help. And a wide tire will distribute the load better.
 
#25 ·
dhutton said:
Triangulated is more likely to bind afaik. Adding a panhard makes it worse because they fight each other.

Guys looking at four links aren’t going to spring for an IRS setup… :p

Shouldn’t you be fishing or painting your car?
Click to expand...
What is this "BIND" you speak of? I've heard people say that about the 4 links and just don't get it. I have the Ridetech triangulated on my 68 and pretty much the same on my FFR 33. I have articulated the suspension every way possible and can not for the life of me create any kind of bind in the system on either car. I DO HOWEVER, have the "R" joints on both ends instead of the bushings and BMR swivel bushings on the housing of the FFR33 so IMO, the only way you'll ever get bind is with bushings on both ends of the link bars,, and I can't imagine anyone doing bushings in today's world of suspension.
 
#26 ·
Just 1 More said:
What is this "BIND" you speak of? I've heard people say that about the 4 links and just don't get it. I have the Ridetech triangulated on my 68 and pretty much the same on my FFR 33. I have articulated the suspension every way possible and can not for the life of me create any kind of bind in the system on either car. I DO HOWEVER, have the "R" joints on both ends instead of the bushings and BMR swivel bushings on the housing of the FFR33 so IMO, the only way you'll ever get bind is with bushings on both ends of the link bars,, and I can't imagine anyone doing bushings in today's world of suspension.
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Your R joints prevent bind by allowing the links to rotate. Replace those with poly bushings and you will see the bind. DSE swivel links also prevent binding.

Lots of systems out there with poly bushings. R joints used to be a cost added update for Ridetech, not sure they still are.
 
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#27 ·
A lot of good info in here.
As mentioned above, the end goal is important. If you just want your car lower with the fattest wheels that will fit stock tubs, you can do that with springs and lowering blocks. It is cheap, easy can be done quickly and doesn't change ride quality. I do not have experience with a four link in a first gen Camaro, but have read several threads where owners are chasing a better ride, swapping springs and making shock adjustments. Reason for mentioning that is, don't expect to pop on a few new parts and hit the jackpot, it may take some tuning to get you there.

Another thing to mention, I believe you posted about keeping rear drum brakes. My opinion here, usually when someone lowers their car and puts on larger diameter wheels and fat tires, looks are important. Again, in my opinion, larger wheels are typically an open design, this shows off the braking and suspension systems. Drum brakes do not look good in these setups and sort of stand out as being a little odd.
 
#28 ·
There is a big difference in cost between renewing your leaf springs/shocks and your other options. No reason a stock set up should ride rough. Overinflated tires or shocks with too much compression damping could be a problem to check out first before changing the suspension. With stock tires your 67 sticker would show cold tire pressure 26 psi all the way around fully loaded which is 800 lbs. Hot pressure is 32. Wider tires don't need as much pressure to hold the weight of the car. Our convertible rides very nicely with stock suspension, and handles fine.

The other options are a slippery slope - you'll could end up with a new rearend, mini tubs, wheels and tires all the way around before it's over. If you want a smooth ride, start by looking at your tire pressure would be my advice.
 
Discussion starter · #30 ·
ridesdirt said:
A lot of good info in here.
As mentioned above, the end goal is important. If you just want your car lower with the fattest wheels that will fit stock tubs, you can do that with springs and lowering blocks. It is cheap, easy can be done quickly and doesn't change ride quality. I do not have experience with a four link in a first gen Camaro, but have read several threads where owners are chasing a better ride, swapping springs and making shock adjustments. Reason for mentioning that is, don't expect to pop on a few new parts and hit the jackpot, it may take some tuning to get you there.

Another thing to mention, I believe you posted about keeping rear drum brakes. My opinion here, usually when someone lowers their car and puts on larger diameter wheels and fat tires, looks are important. Again, in my opinion, larger wheels are typically an open design, this shows off the braking and suspension systems. Drum brakes do not look good in these setups and sort of stand out as being a little odd.
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Hey, that is a good point hadn’t thought about the fact that having drums in the back would make the look odd. Do you recommend any springs that I could use, I’m thinking I can do something like that and don’t go through the hassle of changing the suspension for now. Maybe it’s something that’ll work
 
Discussion starter · #31 ·
srode said:
There is a big difference in cost between renewing your leaf springs/shocks and your other options. No reason a stock set up should ride rough. Overinflated tires or shocks with too much compression damping could be a problem to check out first before changing the suspension. With stock tires your 67 sticker would show cold tire pressure 26 psi all the way around fully loaded which is 800 lbs. Hot pressure is 32. Wider tires don't need as much pressure to hold the weight of the car. Our convertible rides very nicely with stock suspension, and handles fine.

The other options are a slippery slope - you'll could end up with a new rearend, mini tubs, wheels and tires all the way around before it's over. If you want a smooth ride, start by looking at your tire pressure would be my advice.
Click to expand...
What do you have on the rear and how does it sit?
 
#32 ·
I put new rear springs on my car. I bought them from NPD, they are from Eaton, listed for a 67/68 Z28 and have 4 leaves per spring. The rear does sit close to stock height, there is a gap above the tire to the fender opening so they are not lowering springs. They ride nice, no complaints there.

Figure out what rear shocks you have. If you are not happy with the current ride quality, you may just be able to swap to a different shock and get what you want, there are a couple shock brands out there known to be harsh - KYB gas-adjust for one. For the height, you can use lowering blocks. A lot of people on here have lowered their car using that method. Just watch the driveshaft angle, you may end up needing to add a shim between the rear end and spring to correct for that. Do some searches on here, there is a ton of info out there about doing this, but I think someone posted above with a recommended combination of blocks and shims.
 
#33 ·
ridesdirt said:
I put new rear springs on my car. I bought them from NPD, they are from Eaton, listed for a 67/68 Z28 and have 4 leaves per spring. The rear does sit close to stock height, there is a gap above the tire to the fender opening so they are not lowering springs. They ride nice, no complaints there.

Figure out what rear shocks you have. If you are not happy with the current ride quality, you may just be able to swap to a different shock and get what you want, there are a couple shock brands out there known to be harsh - KYB gas-adjust for one. For the height, you can use lowering blocks. A lot of people on here have lowered their car using that method. Just watch the driveshaft angle, you may end up needing to add a shim between the rear end and spring to correct for that. Do some searches on here, there is a ton of info out there about doing this, but I think someone posted above with a recommended combination of blocks and shims.
Click to expand...
Just to add,

as far as driveline angle,
you can get lowering blocks with a bit of wedge built in.
Summit has them I'm sure. I believe that's where I got mine for another car.
 
Discussion starter · #35 ·
ridesdirt said:
I put new rear springs on my car. I bought them from NPD, they are from Eaton, listed for a 67/68 Z28 and have 4 leaves per spring. The rear does sit close to stock height, there is a gap above the tire to the fender opening so they are not lowering springs. They ride nice, no complaints there.

Figure out what rear shocks you have. If you are not happy with the current ride quality, you may just be able to swap to a different shock and get what you want, there are a couple shock brands out there known to be harsh - KYB gas-adjust for one. For the height, you can use lowering blocks. A lot of people on here have lowered their car using that method. Just watch the driveshaft angle, you may end up needing to add a shim between the rear end and spring to correct for that. Do some searches on here, there is a ton of info out there about doing this, but I think someone posted above with a recommended combination of blocks and shims.
Click to expand...
Thanks man.
Currently there’s quite bit of squeaking in the rear, not sure if it’s coming from the shocks or perhaps the bushings in springs. The shocks are really beat up and for sure need to change them, was thinking an adjustable shock like QA1 to have that extra flexibility
This are some pictures of what I have right now. The shocks are air shocks and it already has some lowering blocks, which I’m thinking because of the shocks that it currently has it sits higher than I would like it to be. If I could change those shocks and hopefully the height would drop once I put in new shocks, and replace bushings and shackles maybe that would eliminate the squeak???
 
#38 ·
Those are air shocks. Pull those off of there and just install some cheap Monroe or Gabriel replacement shocks, I am confident it will be night and day difference. May actually have a lower ride height when you remove those shocks too. Air shocks are what everyone used back in the 70s to jack up the back and fit super wide tires that hung out past the fenders. Get those off of there and you may be good to go!

Adjustable shocks are great, but possibly overrated for "most" people. Unless you go from cruiser to track day often, you will more than likely set them and forget them. Koni makes an affordable adjustable shock, I have them on my car right now. Very nice shocks, they have to be compressed to adjust them, so not as simple as the shocks with knobs on them. ridetech makes a rebound adjustable shock that gets good reviews. There are several other brands too, QA1 gets a lot of attention.
 
#39 ·
Your car also has a rear sway bar added. That can stiffen up the rear feel to some extent. I am guessing it has an oversize aftermarket front bar too. These are good for helping keep the car flat in turns. Some say a rear bar is overkill, but you got it so personally I would keep it on there.

I don't have one on my car right now but do have one in the shop ready to install, just have other things higher on the priority list right now.

Also, I mentioned the drum brakes earlier, there is nothing wrong with drum brakes, they function just fine on a first gen Camaro. It's just a lot of guys get a woody looking at big brakes at car shows. The drums just look very small when using large wheels.
 
#40 ·
I’m not seeing any lowering blocks in those pics. They would be between the leaf and spring perch…
 
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