Rear leaf springs, new or rebuild old ones?

[dale_z28]

I'm at the point I need to decide whether to rebuild my old rear springs or replace them. I have no broken leafs, and I can buy all the parts to rebuild them. My painter is ready to disassemble them for blasting so I'd like to hear from the "experts" on the pros and cons.

[69Z28-RS]

I always prefer rebuilding original parts over buying aftermarket or reproduction or replacement parts....   but that's just ME.. 

[HawkX66]

I'm with Gary.

[dale_z28]

That's my feeling, too, but I was concerned about the springs being weaker/sagging from their age plus I'm having a hard time finding the material that separates the springs right in the center over the axle. Looked at Heartbeat and Classic, now I'm heading to YearOne...

[HawkX66]

I'm seeing some heavy pitting in those. Is it just the pic? Sometimes you need to replace unfortunately.

[dale_z28]

They've been blasted on the edges only, I'll evaluate them when we get them apart

[BillOhio]

mine where pitted and had one broke so I got a new set from camaro specialties. looked very similar to stock and he might be supplying the other dealers

[X33RS]

I'm with the other guys, I'm a fan of rebuilding and reusing originals.  I've replaced a lot of springs in different types of cars and used a few different suppliers, I've never been completely satisfied with ride height when done, even after letting them settle a while, so I generally end up going back to the original springs.  Sometimes new springs hit it right on the money but 80% of the time I haven't been that lucky.
   If you go the new route, I'd research here what others have used to obtain a correct stock ride height, if that is in fact what you're after.  It's a pain to go back and do it over again.

[BULLITT65]

I was pretty Sure Jerry M. had a source that replaced springs and the replacement was spot on.

[68camaroz28]

I was pretty Sure Jerry M. had a source that replaced springs and the replacement was spot on.

Don't know for sure but could safely assume he's obtaining thru Camaro Specialties. I went thru this with our restoration as I wanted to save as much content as possible but with one main leaf cracked and then having to come up with an original looking finish that looked correct (paint) we ended up obtaining a new looking correct set. For anyone going this route it is common (talk to restoration shops) when first installed the car sits too high. I placed 3 Home Depot 5 gallon buckets of sand in the trunk and over a few months it dropped down just over 4 inches. I wish we could have saved ours but the new ones look fresh and most importantly correct.

[janobyte]

Read somewhere, probably here, CHP commented about Camaro Specialties being spot on.

Good reading also:https://www.eatondetroitspring.com/

[dale_z28]

My springs look bad in the clamp area right over the axle, probably from all the rubber surrounding the pack. I'll stick with these for now and see how it sits. The mechanic or body shop put new front coils under it and I'm concerned how level it will be. Time will tell!

[ban617]

Another thing you could do while they are apart is take them to a leaf spring builder & have them rearched to the stock dimension....

[BULLITT65]

My original springs look great, but I did have a clamp break. Is it possible to just replace a clamp?

[dale_z28]

I'm buying clamps and pads as a kit, with rivets. $30 at heartbeat