Leaf spring service?

[rikubot]

Hi guys,

I've got a lot of noise coming from the rear suspension of my '69. I'm not sure if the leaf springs have ever been rebuilt, but I think they may be a big part of the noise. I'd love to hear what you guys think it could be, and what methods you guys have to tie up any loose suspension stuff back there. Front suspension just got new ball joints and tie rods, so it feels pretty good. Anyway thanks in advance.
- Mike

[Dino]

Maybe it's time for some new bushings. If the leafs are still arched they should be fine.

[rikubot]

They seem to be arched just fine. One thing I noticed is that the brackets that hold the leaves together rattle around. When you say bushings, do you mean the flat rubber spacers that go inbetween, or the cyllinder shaped bushing on the bracket hangers, or both?

[Dino]

Cylinder shaped bushings. I put Moogs in mine but I only had to do the rears, you may need to press in new bushings in the front eyes as well. Not sure what the flat ones are but if it's rubber and you can replace it I'd say do it.
If the springs themselves are good I'd probably remove them, press out the front bushings, blast and repaint the springs, press in new bushings and insert new rears and reassemble the lot. I also bought new hanger brackets for mine as they were in bad shape. They were about $40 for the pair and came with bushings but I did not use those as I already bought the Moog bushings.

[rikubot]

I see. It doesn't look like a full service of these things will be too difficult. I replaced my bracket hangers a while back too but I ended up using the rubber bushings they came with. Say this doesn't fix all the noise. Do you have any idea what else I could try?

[Dino]

Check everything that's bolted to the springs. You can have noise coming from any component that has play in it. Heck it might be the exhaust system rattling around even.

[HPP]

I'd suggest an inspection of everything before jumping into any repairs. Bushings go bad, shocks fail, mounts get loose, pipes interfere, mechanical devices wear. It could be any number of things or even a combination of several things.

[darbgnik]

As above, when looking it all over, look for any shiny spots on things that are in close proximity to each other.

[rikubot]

Very good tips. Thanks. I need to get her in the air and do a thorough inspection. The only thing that I've replaced on the rear suspension since I've had the car are the leaf spring hanger brackets. Mine had those super long adjustable ones that would drag on speed bumps when I drove over them.

[68 RT]

When my 68 was making noise it was the shocks. If yours are old I would replace them.

[rikubot]

Any preferences or recommendations?