I've posted on this before, but I am now ready to take action on this project. I am looking at replacing the leaf springs on my 68 'vert. I'm a fairly handy guy but I don't have any mechanical experience. Is this a job a should tackle or should I just bring it to a shop? There are 4 leafs. Should I be looking at purchasing a certain style or brand? I am told that I should use polyurethane bushings and possibly add a sway bar. There is a placed called RPM Auto Parts in Saskatoon Canada that sells the parts. RPM is about 500 miles from me, I am in Winnipeg Canada. Does anyone know if there is a place closer to me that sells parts. I bought a boot cover from RPM and it fit and looks great. RPM says the leaf springs would cost $299 (set), bushings $120 (set), sway bar $300.00 (depending on size). Thoughts?

Also, my steering wheel is cracked pretty bad at the center part. RPM says they can't get an original. The one I have is all black (hard material, plastic?) Can I get an original somewhere? Cost?

Thanks in advance for the help.
Jay

Eaton Springs are a good bet.

eatonsprings.com They are out of Detroit.

Or I believe Ames sells Eaton products as well. Eaton also sells a 'mounting kit' to help make sure you get everything you need.

I have never used a sway bar, so I don't have an opinion on that. Your 4 leafs are correct for the 400 package. I'd match those, but you have other options.

There is a guy out there that restores the steering wheels to original. If you do a search of this site, there should be some threads about it. If not, I'm sure some other members will chime in. I was thinking he was in the upper midwest or even Canada, but I'm not sure. I think he charges around $600 to $700, but results are like new. Nice old ones are pretty hard to find.

Jay,

NPD sells Eaton springs chaeper than what you can get them for directly through Eaton. I bought leaf and coil springs from NPD last year.

The most important question is yet to be answered. Should I tackle this project or leave it to the pro's?

If you have never done anything like it before, I'd leave it to the pros. You wouldn't want to drop a spring on the highway...

Most good shops will let you bring the parts to them to eliminate their markup though. The drawback is that if something is missing or broken, you have to chase it down for them.

I purchased new springs and will have a mechanic freind install them. I'd rather spend my time driving the 'bird than working on it.

I installed my own for the first time. I have not dropped a spring on the highway. I guess it depends on whether you would enjoy trying it. Rear springs are easy. Fronts are not.

The hardest part of this job sometimes(believe it or not) is getting the rusted in bolts out of the clip nuts for the front spring mounts. Out of the six bolts at least a couple of the nuts will twist out of the clips. Order six new ones with the springs and use some never seize. The rest of the job is pretty straight forward if you have the right tools on hand.

Robert

Robert is right. The hard part is getting all the old fasteners out. Best to soak'em with Blaster. Do one spring at a time to help keep it from moving around to much. Make sure that the axle gets seated on the 'pin' for proper placement, and tighten everything down good. It's not a real hard task, just take your time. If ya get stuck, give us a shout.

Changed my leafs and coils without too much trouble. Although the leafs that I bought had the bushings pre-pressed and they were not centered. The front coils are a little tricky to get the pivot bolts lined back up.

I bought my heavy duty 5-leaf rear springs from Tamraz's. Even with my 4" lifted shackles, they ride awesome and they were under $200 (with shipping). That RPM place sounds way expensive.

Leafs are very easy to replace. As previously mentioned, the hardest part is getting the old hardware off. There was a step by step published on this site a while back. Do a search.