Just curious if anyone has any experience with these? http://www.jcwhitney.com/leaf-spring-helpers/p2005985.jcwx?filterid=c11298d631y1972o60j1 I was just poking around looking for a economical way to get the ass end of my 72 Mav up where it used to be. I've seen the tread about the E150 leaf swap and know I should probably be thinking about that or something similar....but this seemed pretty simple and a cheap way to mess around with the rear without doing anything too permanent. I'm just diving back into this "Turning Wrenches" thing and kinda want to take it easy for a bit. As long as my mav still has it's i250 I dont see alot of reason to build the suspension up right. That will come after the 302. I was thinking about the 1500lb 20 inch set-up. I'd love to hear if anyone has already done this and if it improved the car at all?
i dont see why they wouldn't work. you can go that way which seems the most budget friendly. they also sale 5 leafs for these cars if you ever want to upgrade (generalspring.com carries them) or you can stick some traction bars underneath to bump it up. i think summit has good prices on leaf spring helpers as well if you wanna check there.
They do work but dont forget that all that stress is still put onto a weak main leaf. Worth a try though if your not into pulling out leaf springs. I cant blame you,its one of my least favourite jobs in the trade. Our cars are pretty rusty though. Maybe you Southern guys dont mind them so much.
Way back when (1973) I used leaves from a '64 Ford Country sedan station wagon with the Maverick main leaf. It rode like a truck but raised the rear up about 3" so my tires wouldn't rub. Another time and another vehicle I used a 2 1/2" Add-A-Leaf that performed the same function. Bruce
YOu could just add a leaf to make four leaf springs. http://mmb.maverick.to/showthread.php?t=78203 Adding cut main leaves might make it too stiff and or too high for your taste but you could always add smaller ones. I was able to reuse my U-bolts with the fourth leaves installed.
I have a similar set on my Comet. They work fine. I had bought them for a Ranger, but never used em on it. So when I needed to do something about the Comet's rear suspension, on they went.
if you are looking for...lift...in the rear i would think the...full length...would be best. it would be like adding another leaf. the 20" would prevent sag if you are loading the trunk or towing...JMO i had the...20"...w/no lift. ...Frank...:Handshake
Well, I found the same set sitting on the shelf at my local Napa auto parts so I grabbed them. Figured I'd give em a try, for what thet cost it was an easy experiment. They went on in about twenty minutes with no problems. The back end is definitely 2+ inches higher and looks much better in my opinion. The ride is definitely stiffer too. I would not call this a performance mod in any way.....but it makes me smile a lilttle more when I look out the window and see my car sitting the way I think it should. If I ever get around to the motor swap I'll end up replacing the leaf springs all together but for now....I think the cool points total just went up a few. Thanks for all the responses. I appreciate all of them.
I use them on my Toyota because it sags with a 12pk of Coca-Cola in the bed but I'm not going to spend the money on springs for it. I agree with the others on the loading of the main spring tho and I would look for a better alternative for a long term repair. For the short term, it can give you time to decide on what you want and where you want the ride hieght because you probably better off to set up the front 1st since it can cost considerably more in labor and parts. The rear springs are not terribly unreasonable tho. They just suck to install.
