Bob you would use the wedges between the housing and springs if you needed to change pinion angle. In this case with the slapper bars they are used to help bring the front of the slapper bar closers to the spring. If your going to cut the slapper bar itself, I would recommend finding some rectangular tubing the same size and extending them so the rubber snubbed hits right under the spring eye. Remember to put some weight in the car to match the drivers weight to be more accurate in the whole shimming or cutting.
I'm thinking I'm going to ditch this whole project... maybe see if there are factory style bars for the drivers side available... I don't like how that plate of the traction bar sits on there...the nuts don't even sit flat because the angle is so far off.. you can see it in the pic... I didn't install the leaf springs.. is it possible to install them backwards? they are 5 leaf springs. it seems like the leafs favor the front of the spring.. is that right?
Don't give up The leaf springs they say are made for these cars is questionable, I have only seen one set that actually seemed to be correct. The rest of them sit up in the air like a 4x4. Yes the spring bias is towards the front.
The center bolt is not half way from front to back, it is 31" from one end and 25" from the other end. Yours does seem to have a lot of tilt to it, even with the shims installed the rubber at the front isn't even close to the spring. It looks like the bottom of the arc of the spring is about a foot in front of the center bolt. Do you have the weight of the car on the springs or on the jack? I wonder what your pinion angle is?
Big chief is correct about the so-called replacement springs. One supplier has two for stock height. A 115 spring rate with a 6-1/2" arc and a 125 spring rate with a 7-1/8" arc. With the same 575 pounds per sied on the springs the second spring will position the rear of the car 1-1/4" higher than the first spring.
I'm not sure how to get the pinion angle... but the housing looks straight and its flat on the bottom... if I had to guess id say the driveshaft comes out at about a 6 degree angle...I have it all back together now.. I have a 6 degree wedge and with it all bolted tight the snubber is 3/8 away from the spring... it looks good.. something I noticed that seems odd.. the tire is about an 1 1/2 away from the wheel well in the front of the tire and about 4 inches behind... seems like it should be centered.. ive been having issues since I changed those springs..im wondering if they are just not correct and issues have been adding up since..
I'd say something is wrong. Whether wrong springs or something else. 3/8" gap sounds ok. It looked like a lot more in the pics. Still you shouldn't have to shim it to get in the right place.
Should be the same, I just went out to the carport and measured mine. At wheel center level it is 2-1/2" front and back, Maybe yours are in backwards.
I still don't see how you centered the axle on the springs. You don't have a hole in the perch, does the center bolt protrude all the way through the shims and into a hole in the traction bar?
The mono leaf rubber upper spring pads had some 'speed bump' kinda humps in them that rested in the grooves in the perch and the center bolt fit into the hole in the pad. That kept the springs in position untill the bottom plate was tightened in place with the center bolt protroding into the hole in the bottom plate. Those mono leaf pads are only 2-1/4" wide for the mono leaf spring, multi leafs are 2-1/2'. Do you have the single or multi leaf pads or any pad at all?
Man, if you lived close we could go over and help you out. Bit far for a sunday afternoon wrenching session.
this is what I think happened... I think changing the mono leaf to a 5 leaf multi leaf changed the pinion angle.. that would explain the u bolts tilting back so much... I'm going to take it apart and put a 4 degree wedge in the perch and center the tires in the wheel well and see where that leaves me...
ok.. that was a fail... .. I'm ordering new , new springs.. on the bright side.. I was able to paint the whole underside while this project was going on.. lol..
been a rough go on this project.... got my new rear end....with new drum brakes installed...no bracket to hook up parking brakes..... anyone know how to fix that issue??
Are you missing the levers that the emergency cables attach to inside the drums. Also don't forget the cross bar.
yes... there is no bracket behind the rear shoe... I'm wondering if the one from my old one would fit... I found the bracket on one of the part sites... looks like its pretty universal... I'm gonna take my one ones apart and try it... frustrating cause this was supposed to come complete...
Did you get the complete setup from Jim at JD race? If so did you contact him about it? He is reall good with customer service.
I did.. and I did... and...... now I'm trying to tear it apart and put my old brackets in.... I have never done drum brakes that's why I wanted it complete.... is what it is at this point.. I just want to get it fixed so I can get the car back together...
it does look like the old brackets are gonna work..
this is all back together... Jim from jdrace was a huge help and sent me the parts I needed and a nice video of the install... the new rear end fixed a few issues/concerns and the tires now sit in the center of the wheel well. the traction bars still point downward some.. I wish there was a better option.. I have not seen anything else though... I may end up cutting them and having them welded like big chief suggested... onward to the next project.. lol
