Which rear leave springs would you get?

The stock rear springs on my 70 Cuda are sagging and pretty well played out. I run Cal-Tracs on them, and the car is street with an occasional strip shoot-out. It runs 6.9s with a 1.5 60' when I strap on the drag radials. I normally run street tires on the street.

I think I will put new rear springs on it. So would you put the Cal-trac monos on or would you put some stock multi-leaves on? If I go multis, I would use a light 318 style of spring like it has now so that they wouldn't work against the Cal-tracs.

I would appreciate your thoughts.
Thanks!

Dave it sounds like you were pretty well satisfied with your old ones until they started sagging. If so you may want to simply have them rebuilt. St.Louis Spring & Brake can do them for a reasonable price and they aren't all that far away for you. The last # I have for them is 314-533-2132.

For a normal (non drag) app there's been alot of good reviews of ESPO springs picking the ones for your vehicle with 1" addit'l ride height over stock.

I thought about that, too. The last time I had springs re-arched, it was about $100 a spring. Does that still sound about right? I just wasn't sure how long 40+ year old springs would retain their new arch.

ESPO's are OK, in fact I have a set on my car now. That said, IMO they aren't as well made as the factory springs and they do sag over time just as any steel spring will. I am seriously considering getting my old original 340 springs rebuilt and putting them back on.

For $200 I think I'd dissassemble em myself with 2 clamps & have the main leaf rearched or just add some leafs as is but 2 bills ain't terribly out of line. No exp how long they last & they may very well last forever. All I can add is I bought a 74 duster from a guy in Iowa who used it to haul blocks etc across country to swap meets & it had at least 8 added leafs per side (I ain't kidding) & it was several inches above normal height & every time I hit a pebble my head hit the dome light so they had to go (I still have em). Not sure if he rearched just the main leaf or some of the leafs or no rearching & just added em (my guess he just added leafs)

I am not sure about the price Dave. I think I'll call tomorrow and find out what they get now. I had them do a set of "A" body springs about 20 years ago and they seemed to hold the new arch about as well as new springs. I remember that they did reheat treat them FWIW. I'll let you know about the price.

IMHO...I'd run a set of ESPO or AFCO's in the 160 lb range (seeing you want a light spring rate) with the front bushing either aluminum or nylon...I prefer the aluminum bushing, esp if the car is split between street/track use

The Cal trac monos would save you some weight.

You don't need the strong front segment for axle control.

Those are the two primary reasons that the monos were on the list. They are more money, I don't know what the ride would be like compared to the stock springs, and I don't know what the long term durability will be like.

I am going to shop them this weekend at Indy. Then I think I will price new springs from Eaton. And I am considering a rebuild of my current springs.

Not sure which is the best route, just to be honest. Performance vs. longevity vs. cost.

All will work, just which is the best combo of the above criteria.

Decisions, decisions.

If you want the best strip performance then I would go with the mono as thats what Cal Trac recomends to work the best. Ron

Valid point. I just wonder what their long term durability is? I guess it will be some time before we really know, but are there any settling issues with them yet?

Oh, and they are expensive.

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Valid point. I just wonder what their long term durability is? I guess it will be some time before we really know, but are there any settling issues with them yet?

Oh, and they are expensive.

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You might ask over in the race section as I know alot of them run the Cal Tracs and mono spring on their street/strip cars and they could tell you how they work on the street for them. Myself I just use SS springs on my 63. One day I might try Cal Tracs but I will go with the mono spring if I ever do try the Cal Tracs. Ron