Too tight?

[markinnaples]

I've got old school Lakewoods on my '68 Camaro, and they appear to be cinched down pretty tight; the car rides like it has minimal or no suspension, lol.

I was wondering if I loosened them up a little that the ride would improve a little? I'm not racing it or really hammering the car so a little less harsh ride is welcomed. Appreciate your thoughts, thanks.

[earntaz]

IMHO way too tight -- the U-clamp of the spring is to "tune" the suspension for max traction ... this is one of those deals where you need to launch the car in order to get the bars set right. AND your adjustments may not hold true for different surfaces ... TAZ

[Salvatore]

should be a gap between the snubber and the spring. It pre-loads the spring and each side is set different. Do you know how to loosen them up Mark?

[68l30]

I'd say that front u- Bolt needs to be loosened up a bit to see where the snubber sits. There should be little to no load on that end. That is designed as a safety not a way to "tune" the set up. You can add shims under the mounting pad to adjust the angle and move / trim the snubbers to the desired gap. A little gap is nice for the street, play around with it. Set up correctly, it's still a tough set up to beat almost 50 years after it was designed.

BIG

[earntaz]

That is designed as a safety not a way to "tune" the set up -- life is a learning process ... there is something for you to learn?

[68l30]

[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/hmmm.gif[/img] Not sure I follow....There are a million ways to tune a car, do what makes you happy in the end.


BIG

[earntaz]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 68l30</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/hmmm.gif[/img] Not sure I follow....There are a million ways to tune a car, do what makes you happy in the end.


BIG</div></div>

Yep -- back in the late 60s as a young snout nosed kid, I raced at Amarillo (and other tracks in the Southwest). On one occasion I got into a conversation with Billy Hielscher and he took the time to check out the suspension on my Camaro. In fact, he pointed out to me the adjustment of the U-bolts and trimming snubbers on J-Bar Lakewoods to change the launch. After fiddling around with different settings -- he was right ... car was quicker. TAZ

[68l30]

Great point, A quick and easy technique used before the cast wedges were developed to help unload the spring bind. This setup was best for for track time but leaves little in the way of suspension movement on the street. Something the OP was looking to improve. Lots of ideas out there, but you need to play with and decipher how your car is set up. Load, unload and where it sits naturally. Go back to zero and adjust your bar angle under the weight of the car.

BIG

[markinnaples]

Thanks gentlemen. I'll loosen them up a little and see how that changes things. I remember seeing them as a kid in the 70's where they didn't touch the leaf spring until you got on the gas with some anger, not always cinched up against it. This may have worked well when all they were doing was racing it, but I'm not a fan of the dump truck ride now. Appreciate your thoughts as I've never had a car with these on myself, so it's all a learning process. Heck, I've never had a car as modified as this one is, so this ALL new to me as far as owning and driving one.

[69 Post Sedan]

As stated above....there should be a small gap between the snubber and the spring, about 1/4&quot;.

Kurt