Rear spring shackles and hardware

[mbflemingkf]

I'm replacing the rear springs on my car (54 Kaiser) and was contemplating using a pair of NOS rear spring shackles.  The rubber appears to be fine, still flexible, etc.  Someone suggested I go with polyurethane bushings instead.  Has anyone recently replaced rear spring shackles with these and if so, where did you get them and part number please if available?  I did buy a set from Bob Drake (per reference in the new KF Parts List being sold) but they were too small. 

Thoughts on using the NOS rubber bushings or reusing the "U-Bolts" I took off the car?  Any issues...should be OK, etc.

Thanks, Mike

[dpledger]

I just replaced the rear springs on my 53 Manhattan, using NOS shackle and bushing sets I acquired from a dealer in antiquity. The rubber appear to be in new condition, and I could see no reason not to use them. Not sure one is going to find polyurethane in exactly the right shape/size. I also ended up re-using the  U bolts (actually had some from a parts car too, and took the 4 best.) Was able to restore the threads with a die, and, again, could see no reason not to reuse. Seems that if they hadn't cracked after 200.000+ miles they probably didn't have any flaws. Thus far haven't seen any problems

[mbflemingkf]

Good info thanks.  How much difference if any did you see in the ride?  Car sit higher?  Did you buy the spring set from the outfit in IL that Ken Lindsey posted in the bulletin a few months back?  That's what I bought.  My car has only 66K original miles and I was amazed (just age I guess) how weak and in really poor condition my springs were.  the center bolts on both sides were broken which explains why I was hearing some noise from the rear end...based on the worn bushing things were definitely moving around.  The insulator pads were completely gone except just a small portion on one side of one spring.  I got new insulator (anti squeak) pads from Rudy...they arrived yesterday so you can guess what my weekend project is!

PS...the spring set I got were stamped "St. Louis Spring" on the bottom.  Now if I bought them through a spring company in IL, why the stamp from STL, MO (sly grin)?

[dpledger]

Actually the ones I put on are a bastard set-one is left over from '73 when I bought it from J C Whitney and never for some reason used it. The other I picked up from a club member years ago. The two have the same # stamped on, and when I measured deflections were as close as I could measure. The rear end definitely went up. I had top replace one spring for the first time in '72 when the car had 140K or so. Just lost its camber and the car sagged on that side. Nothing broken. Replaced  the one and balance was restored. Seems I then had to do the other side a couple of years later, same business. I don't recall the ride ever changing when one spring was getting flat. Expect that the broken bolt would be very noticeable. Replaced the second time last year-nothing really amiss but with 220K and a restoration going I decided to start over. Never have seen any parts break wrt rear springs. I expect that loss of camber is a combination of miles driven and age. Even when sitting, they are under stress and steel will tend to deform.

[HJ-ETEX]

Are you familiar with the Tom Hoffman 54 Manhattan? Tom lives in Yucaipa and John Parker lived in Fullerton. He had John rebuild the engine at least twice on that car and Tom complained about the way 54 Kaisers sank down in the back. So John replaced the springs with re-arched units that propped the rear up 2 to 3 inches at the bumper. These were 5 leaf units, not the 7 leaf export/Traveler springs. Ben Walker heard about this and bought replacement springs from John Parker. When installed, the springs did lift up the back on Ben's 54 until they flexed and settled down into the normal posture.
I know where the Tom Hoffman 54 is and it still sits about 2 inches higher at the rear bumper than regular 54 Kaisers - which isn't bad in my opinion. There are 2 points I want to make: 1) you don't need extra leaves/HD springs and 2) if you want your 54 to sit higher in the rear, the stock units should be custom re-arched to give that lift.