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Mono/Multi Leaf spring perch/saddle question

11K views 16 replies 8 participants last post by  sbc1320 
#1 ·
OK, this may be a stupid question but I'm still learning. My 65 has multi leafs on the back that need to be replaced. Now, I know most of the cars came equipped with mono leafs and to convert to multi you need spacers etc. Before I buy something I don't need, can someone look at these pics and tell me if these are mono or multi leaf perches/saddles? The reason I ask is because I've had to go back and fix many, many things that were not done right the first time by the previous owner. The car is an original V-8 car, so it might have come stock with multi leafs?? Any help would be great.

Cory



 
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#3 ·
With the gap I see those are stock mono leaf perches. You can use them with multi leaf springs the only thing I would do is add some aluminum spacers in the gaps like this




The first pic is on my dads 72 and the second is on my 62 both are in stock mono leaf perches
 
#4 ·
zz572,
Thank you sir! When I order my new multi leaf springs, I'll order the kit that includes the u bolts with spacers.

Thanks again,
Cory
 
#5 ·
Hey Cory no problem but the U bolts we picked up at the local parts store and the spacers we made out of square stock aluminum:yes: Only thing after market on these are the springs
 
#7 ·
I went from worn out monos to new multis, except for the return to stock height I could not feel a difference between them going down the road. You could go back to stack and not have to worry about spacers and u-bolts.
 
#8 ·
I should think you can run the multi leaf in a mono leaf perch and eliminate the rubber isolaters. You should be back close to the material thickness of the mono with the isolaters. Also, it looks like you lower mount plate is distorted pretty badly. You probably should fix or replace that so you can torque everything down adequately.
 
#11 ·
I bought a mono leaf 68 Camaro rear end for a swap in my 54 bel air they say it’s a bolt in swap with 2 inch lowering blocks for pin relocations with a multi leaf rear end my question is will it work the same way with a mono leaf rear end sorry to hijack the thread it’s seems you guys know a lot tho and is the pinion angle the same I’m a totally new to this type of stuff but willing to learn please help if you can
 
#15 ·
In a word “yes” I can be done that way but there are problems with this method.

1. The mono leaf springs in our Nova’s have a locating pin that “only” shoots down to locate off of the lower mounting plate. The top side of the spring is smooth and there is no locating pin or hole in the axle mount.

2. You can stack the spring and lowering block up and cinch it all together but personally I don’t like not having all the components together without locating provisions indexing it all together top to bottom. If this is a show car that doesn’t see street use then it is probably not a problem but with that said I would look to different ways to achieve your goal.

A leaf spring rear suspension serves two purposes:
1. Support the vehicle.
2. Locate the rear axle.

You compromise the locating aspect by loosing the locating pin and increasing the moment leverage with a lowering block.

I faced this dilemma with my 64 Nova. I had baught a 2” lowering block kit to drop the rear of my car before I had disassembled the rear suspension and realized what was going on. My solution was to have the springs de-arched by a local spring shop. It cost $100 to rework my mono leafs. Everything bolts back together the way it came originally and “no” increas in moment leverage added to the rear axle.
 
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