Coil Springs & Age

[Bingster]

How much tension do you think front coil springs lose in sixty years? Would new springs really improve the ride that much or make it tight and rough?

How much of the ride quality of our classic cars is due to the coil springs vs. the front shocks?

[moparalltheway]

Both / 100%

[Fluid drive]

Weak springs can become dangerous . They can easily become so weak that your wheels tend to tuck under on turns causing you to loose control of the vehicle. If you are dealing with the front end chrysler used from '39 into the mid'50s the springs are easy to change. You will need two floor jacks. Jack up the car with one and then compress the A frame with the other . with jack stands in place as a safety , carefully remove the bolts in the lower A frame thru the front frame section. That will allow you to slowly release the jack under the suspension and remove the spring. New springs are available through most of the spring companies by bar stock size and length so that the original size can be duplicated.

[aero3113]

I ordered front springs fom www.espo.com today, they were $85 a pair. My front springs sagged so much that I cant get my new tires to fit. The rear leafs also sagged and no longer have an arch in them. I am sure it was not a good idea to be driving the car like this.

Front

Rear

[greg g]

If you have a spring shop in the area, you can have your springs retempered and re arched and have new bushings installed. I remember my father having this done to his 60 Dart. When it came out of the shop I could barely see over the fins. It settled in after a month or so, but for a while the headlamps only iluminated about 20 feet in front of the car. Used to be pretty cheap I think it was 50 bucks for the job but that was in 64 or so.

[aero3113]

I do have a spring shop near by, they are going to do the work on Thursday. I think that is what they are going to do or I might just have them put new leafs in.