An inexpensive way to drop the rear end, or stance, of my car is by placing 2" blocks between the leaf spring and perch. This raises the axle and gives the lowered appearance to your car. Costs are around $30 plus the labor. No big deal! Now my question is what are the drawbacks that others have experienced? It would appear to me to do this that the spring is no longer inserted in the perch and during some hard turns there could be a problem with some scary moments if the spring shifts. Am I wrong?
Lowering blocks
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I have 1" blocks on my car with no problems.
Someone with another current post is having issues with shock clearance with 2" blocks (and 17" wheels!)
Possible issues could include increased chance for wheelhop due to the axle centerline being much higher than the spring (more leverage could = more spring wrap)
and:
Contact between the lower shock eye and the rim.
It's pretty normal for people with WIDE 15's to have clearance problems with the lower shock eye. Those of us with 17's see that the shock eye tucks right inside the rim no matter how wide it is. The lowering blocks will raise the rim closer to the shock eye possibly causing contact.
Someone with another current post is having issues with shock clearance with 2" blocks (and 17" wheels!)
Possible issues could include increased chance for wheelhop due to the axle centerline being much higher than the spring (more leverage could = more spring wrap)
and:
Contact between the lower shock eye and the rim.
It's pretty normal for people with WIDE 15's to have clearance problems with the lower shock eye. Those of us with 17's see that the shock eye tucks right inside the rim no matter how wide it is. The lowering blocks will raise the rim closer to the shock eye possibly causing contact.
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Hi Guy,
I think you'll find you may run into shock and tire clearence, reference Softail's problem... http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=104584
Many cars running leaf springs use a flat perch with no sides or pocket to encase the springs. Check out the mopar spring perches as an example. Many guys run multi-leafs with mono perches, I did until I switched to drop springs, then had rearend specialities put multi-leaf perches on my axle tubes.
As for lowering blocks, I think the key is moderation. A 2" block on a passanger car seems extreme to me. Yet I see lifted trucks running 6" or more lift blocks (perches and springs on top of axle tube) all over the place...
I think you'll find you may run into shock and tire clearence, reference Softail's problem... http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=104584
Many cars running leaf springs use a flat perch with no sides or pocket to encase the springs. Check out the mopar spring perches as an example. Many guys run multi-leafs with mono perches, I did until I switched to drop springs, then had rearend specialities put multi-leaf perches on my axle tubes.
As for lowering blocks, I think the key is moderation. A 2" block on a passanger car seems extreme to me. Yet I see lifted trucks running 6" or more lift blocks (perches and springs on top of axle tube) all over the place...
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also forgot to mention that my 1" blocks lock into place. They have a "stud" that locks into the hole in the multi perches, and a "hole" that the multileaf thru-bolt locks into, plus the bottom of the bolt locks into the shock plates. They ain't going no where!
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109 Posts
do you have mono or multileaf spring?
Mine are the multileaf from Hotchkis. As you can see by the picture. My fear is adding 2 inch block will push the springs out of the perch area. Looking at the picture I don't think the shock will hit the wheel. But not 100% on that....
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The ones I have are billet aluminum...they have a good size center on them.
Last night I was looking at the old multi leaf springs I pulled off the car and had thoughts of cutting off the center section (this would give me about 4 strips of iron) and using these instead of lowering blocks to help lower the stance. Has anyone done this?
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Have you tried the ride height without the traction bars? If they are contacting the spring in front, they may be holding the car up. Hotchkis leafs should sit lower than that and they are flatter than stock leafs so the traction bar would need to be shimmed or done away with.
How much horsepower do you have? You could probably get by without the bars.
David
How much horsepower do you have? You could probably get by without the bars.
David
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We have the Hotchkis leafs on my wife's 73 Camaro with 445hp 383 crate engine. It dynoed with 366 hp at the rear wheels, - no wheel hop. The rear actually sat a bit too low.
Be sure to tighten the spring eye bolts with weight on the springs, you can put the jack stands under the axle tubes.
David
Be sure to tighten the spring eye bolts with weight on the springs, you can put the jack stands under the axle tubes.
David
David,
I did tighten up everything with full weight, but I also had the traction bars installed and secured at this time. The wheel hop I had was really bad but it may have been due to the weak springs I originally had. It was my understanding that because of the non staggered shocks that this problem was manifest in the first year Camaro especially with BB.
Guy
I did tighten up everything with full weight, but I also had the traction bars installed and secured at this time. The wheel hop I had was really bad but it may have been due to the weak springs I originally had. It was my understanding that because of the non staggered shocks that this problem was manifest in the first year Camaro especially with BB.
Guy
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