What is stock ride height?

[prayers1 153]

I've been shopping around for a set of leaf springs and come across "Will restore to stock ride height".

 

What is the stock ride height at the rear from ground to apex of 1/4 panel??

 

I see a lot of people showing pictures of stock ride heights, but never mention the actual height in inches.

 

I'm using 295/50/15's and don't want much travel due to the tire hitting the 1/4 panel.

How do you determine what leaf springs to get.

What is suggested??

What is the stock ride height??

 

Thank you!

[Brian Conway 264]

Stock suspension 428 4 speed car running 215-70-14 tires on stock wheels and KYB 5517 shocks; from the ground to the wheel well center 26 & 1/2". Brian

[1969_Mach1 333]

That is a tough question since most have sagged a lot in their life.  Your best visual might be in a "Mustang Recognition Guide" or "Mustang Chronicles" book.  I tried stock height rear leaf springs once and immediately removed them and replaced them with Mid-Eye lowering springs because it was to tall. 

[RPM 1,190]

My body assembly book has this chart with three heights depending on suspension. There are a few books for the entire car and the info comes in pretty handy. That being said, the GT handling for E measurement seems to me to be wrong. Another thing that caught my eye is the + and - tolerance. NPD sells them.

[prayers1 153]

My leafs are original and the Left side measures 27" and the Right side is 26 3/4", that is from the ground to the apex of the 1/4 panel.

 

The RH side is 1" from the top of the tire and the LH side is 1 1/4".

I'd like to raise it up about 1".

I do not want much up and down movement back there due to the tires being wide as the 1/4's.

 

I have a 351 Cleveland with iron heads and an AOD transmision

What leaf spring set would work for me?

[barnett468 418]

How do you determine what leaf springs to get.

What is suggested??

What is the stock ride height??

 

Thank you!

.

 

these guys can make the stock springs.

http://www.eatondetroitspring.com/

 

you need original height tires to get stock ride height.

.

[Opentracker 4]

I stock height 5 leaf spring should work for you. The original leafs have most likely sagged at least one inch over the years so a new set of 5 leafs in standard height should raise the car 1" or more. We have them for $210 pr. 

[prayers1 153]

By using your set of springs, how much travel will I get.

I'm looking for something more on the stiff side since I don't want the 1/4 slamming into the tire.

I'd like the tire to be an inch from the 1/4 panel.

[1969_Mach1 333]

Prayers1,  in my experience a lot of these things are trial and error.  I would buy from somebody with a good return policy and carefully mock up without completely tightening down the fasteners.  You cannot account for sag over time, but its the best you can do.

 

I purchased my springs from Mustangs Plus.  It was a long time ago.  I started with the 5 leaf stock height, standard eye springs.  It was far too high for me and they exchanged them for 5 leaf Mid-eye springs.  From online catalogs Mustangs Plus' springs look to be the same brand Opentracker sells.

 

AGAIN, NOT MY THUMBNAIL BELOW!

[barnett468 418]

I'm looking for something more on the stiff side since I don't want the 1/4 slamming into the tire.

 

you need to install a longer pinion or axle bump stops stop then.

[Opentracker 4]

The leaf springs on our site are from Scott Drake but we can get the leafs from Mustangs Plus as well. The 5 leaf has a spring rate of 195lbs. You won't get a lot of travel with them unless you have people in the back seat. I would call them stiff from a ride quality standpoint. 

 

I agree with 1969_Mach1. It is very difficult to guess final ride height because the cars are all a little different. The 295/50 is 26.7" tall, just tad taller than a 245/60. My best guess is that with the 5 leaf standard height spring, your finder lip will be more than 1" above the tire. Most of the time, the mid eye leafs hold the car about an inch above the tire.

 

You can shoot me an email or I can give you a call if you like. I can work with you on a return if your not happy with the ride height but our vendors won't take the springs back if they have been scratched up. They need to look new so they can resell them.

[prayers1 153]

Opentracker-Who do I ask for?

[Opentracker 4]

Opentracker-Who do I ask for?

 

John - I'll be around tonight if you want to call.

[barnett468 418]

.

1. if your tires are outside the wheel well, they will still hit with the 195 lb springs if you hit a bump hard enough unless you install a longer bump stops like i suggested.

 

2. the stiffer your springs are, the higher the rebound damping needs to be on your shocks to control the increased rate/speed of the return of the spring to its static position.

 

3. most shocks with high rebound damping also have a high compression damping which will slow the compression of the suspension but will cause a harsh ride when combined with stiff springs like 195's.

 

4. you can buy shocks that have separate compression and rebound damping so you can "tune" them to your set up . . the least expensive of these types of shocks are called Viking.

 

5. if your concern is getting the perfect ride height all the time, including when the car is full of people, one option is to install air shocks with a separate line for each  shock, however, if you do this, you should reinforce the upper shock mount hole which can be done by welding around a 1/8" thick, large od washer around it . . these shocks can also be used for fine tuning the ride height if you install new springs and it sits a little lower than you want.

.

[prayers1 153]

barnett468- Thank you for your reply. 

To respond to some of your questions, the tire will not stick out past the otter, lip but will hit the inner lip if the rear comes down hard enough.  I've removed the bump stop because the wide tire hits it during travel. Occupants would be the wife and I. Presently I am using air shocks just for the reason stated above.
My concern is too much pressure on the upper shock mount.  That's why I'm replacing the leafs and thought I can get a set to match my desired height.

As for reinforcing the upper mount, are you suggesting to weld a large od washer from inside or underneath the mount.

[LoneWolf2U 136]

If your going to keep the air shocks, Make a plate from 1/8 steel to reinforce the top mounting hole from the underside of the frame.

IIRC a piece of 1 1/2 x 3 plate with a 3/8 hole will work. The steel strapping can be picked up from HD or lowes.

[barnett468 418]

.

 

no prob, your welcome.

 

The washer will work from underneath . . the bigger area you cover the better . . a square plate underneath as mach 1 rider suggested will work also, just cut it to fit . . it will never crack.

 

as far as the bump stop goes, just mount them to the inside of the frame rail or make a longer one for the pinion as i mentioned.

 

i would never risk having the tires hit the body, especially at higher speeds.

[prayers1 153]

I'd really like to get away from the air shocks, but I know how hard it is to get that desired look that each of us want, unless your going stock all around. I guess I can use air shocks to tailor the height just a little so that there wouldn't be that much pressure on the shock mount.

 

I recall in my younger years, I was into early Camaro's and almost all had rotten or busted shock towers, I'm sure the Mustangs are prone to it too but not as bad.  That's why I posted this question, I'm trying to gather everyone's experience to determine what leaf springs I should buy.  I really don't care how little travel I get as long as I can keep the 1/4 panel lip 1"- 1/1/4" from the tire.

 

If my BFG Radial TA 295/50/15 tire is 26.6" tall and I want at least a 1 1/4" sitting above that, then I'll need 28" from ground to 1/4 panel apex.

 

If I knew what the average stock height from ground to 1/4 panel apex, then I can judge what springs to get (stiffer, more or less leafs etc....)

 

How do these Vendors determine what is the stock ride height. Is there a measurement used ????

[barnett468 418]

RPM kindly posted the stock ride height.

 

making a spring so the ride height is a "simple" math formula which i have . . you can also find it online.

 

as i mentioned, not all springs will put your car at the same ride height even if they are "intended" to . . this is because some are crap and some are good . . eibach and detroit eaton are good . . others are also but i cant remember which ones at the moment.

 

detroit eaton has the factory engineering drawings for hundreds of vintage cars but they dont make things like high rate lowering springs . . if you call them and tell them exactly what you want, they might be able to make it, you can also check on their return policy . . open tracker said he would return the springs if they dont work out and dont have the right height so that is another option.

[BuckeyeDemon 211]

i literally just spent the last hour removing the lowering blocks and bending the quarter panel lips back on my friends 68 Camaro because the tires are too wide and sit too far out of the wheelwells.