35olds

When restoring the chassis & drive line on my '70 W30 I replaced the front & rear springs as the originals had sagged. I bought MOOG's after spending an hour trying to work out what was the correct ones for the car to match OEM ride height - as their range of options was quite significant. The result is I've clearly selected the wrong ones and now with the drive train together & body on its exactly 2 inches too heigh. Yes, the suspension wasn't tightened up until all the weight was on.
I have seen posts on Facebook previously on this topic where there were comments that the ILT springs deliver the right ride height so before I order another set I'm keen to hear if anyone has used the ILT springs or knows who else does make them. Factory ride height is what I'm looking for. Appreciate your thoughts. Thanks

scrappie

Eaton Springs advertises stock ride height for both front and rear along with lower and higher options.
Im looking to order some myself and was looking for advice, recommendations or experiences with this also.

35olds

Good timing for us both. I just looked at the ILT catalog and they list the rears but don't seem to have the front's. I'll look into the Eaton springs. Thanks for the tip.

68442

Forget about MOOG absolute trash!!! I have not had a good experience with a moog spring in years if not decades. Eaton Or UMI Performance both have the factory specs for exactly what you need and both manufacture there own products. UMI is a little cheaper to purchase. I have used both.

35olds

Thanks so much for your feedback 68442. I'll get onto their websites and make contact. My car went to the panel shop today for surgery on the fenders so I'll have a month by it gets back here to get things sorted and new springs ordered. Changing them over will be a good task for winter here in Australia. Cheers Rohan

35olds

How did you go with your spring selection Scrappie ??? I put a set of rears from UMI in but they were still still too high and ended up putting a set of rears from ILT in which I believe are MOOG springs and they were the perfect correct height. I'm still looking for a solution on the front springs. I looked at Eaton but their shipping charge to Australia is something like $280 so thats a real killer. Please let me know how you went on your selection when you get a moment. Thanks.

Fun71

Do you know what part number springs you have front and rear? With the part numbers we can look up the specs then determine which spring would give a lower ride height than the ones you have.

35olds

The original front springs for a '70 442 W30 Auto with A/C show in the Assembly Manual and the '74 Parts Book as 400333. Very few of the manufacturers show springs for this combination - most available from MOOG and others indicate Non A/C or they use the same spring for both (Like Eaton Detroit).

If you have a comparison guide that might get something very close then that would be awesome. Really appreciate any guidance here. Thanks. Cheers Rohan

Fun71

Let me ask again. Do you know what springs are presently on the car that cause it to sit too high? With that info, it should be possible to look up the spring specs, then find a different spring that has a shorter installed height.

35olds

Sorry Kenneth I mis read your previous message. At the moment I've got MOOG 5450 in the car and it currently sits about 2 1/2" too high at the front according to the ride height in the Service Manual. I took this comparison photo of the originals and the MOOG 5450 before they were installed as I had concern at that stage because of the coil count (turns) being greater even though the free length and wire diameter were the same.
Before going too much further on ordering another set of springs I'm going to pull the MOOG's out and try a set of UMI front springs I've borrowed from a friend with a Buick GSX as they have a much closer coil count. However I'll add the (currently missing) additional weight of the bumper, radiator and other bits. I'll just weight them and hang some matching weights off the front of the frame.
I'll let you know by next weekend how that pans out. Thanks. Cheers Rohan

scrappie

Rohan,
Sorry to hear about that. I went with UMI front springs but have yet to install. I gave them a quick visual comparison to the originals and they match in length but Ill have to take a closer look at coil count and wire diameter. I have yet to get a pair of rear springs because I have a couple pair I want to try first since they are easily removed and replaced unlike the front. Ill get some pics and post later.

Fun71

Wow, 2 1/2" is a lot. I am surprised it sits that high with those springs. The Moog catalog info I have shows two springs for the 1970 442: 5536 without AC and 5450 with AC. The specs show the installed height is only 1" different between the two.

Below are the specs that I have on file for those two springs:

> 5450
> small block - AC - heavy duty, big block - no AC - heavy duty, -442 big block - AC - heavy duty
> wire diameter = 0.690"
> load height = 12.000"
> load = 1642 pounds
> rate per inch = 454 pounds
> free height = 15.616"
>
> 5536
> 442 small block - AC - heavy duty, 442 big block - no AC - heavy duty
> wire diameter = 0.690"
> load height = 11.000"
> load = 1984 pounds
> rate per inch = 488 pounds
> free height = 15.063"

I have the 5536s in my car (small block with AC) and the front ride height measured 8 1/2" with 245-60-14 tires. This is a bit shorter than the factory spec of 9 5/8" for the FE2 and 442; it's likely due to the the difference in height between my BFGs and the factory tires.

Here's what the new 5536s looked like compared to the originals. Interestingly, the front sat the same height with the new springs as it did with the 40 year old sagging originals.

scrappie

Here is a picture of my springs from UMI compared to the original springs. My car is a 70 w-30 no ac so they may be a bit different? They seem to match length and coil turns but the wire is definitely heavier gauge.
Im trying to show some pics but it just doesn't work?
The UMI number is UMI4049F

ELY442

That is correct. Cars with a/c gets a heavy duty springs because the freon is heavier than air. I use Moog springs with my Cutlass with no problems. The reason his car is sitting up high is because it needs to settle down. You cannot judge an old spring next to the new ones. The new ones is more a better design from the old one.Give the springs some time to settle down. Drive the car more often and drive through bumps and do some zig zag down the street or a parking lot. "Break in" the springs and you will see it will settle down.

35olds

Thanks for everyones feedback. Tonight my brother & I pulled out the MOOG 5450 and fitted a pair of the UMI "Factory ride height" springs for now. I'll put the panels back on and load the missing weight this weekend but dimensionally the UMI seems very close to the originals so hopefully that solves the problem that you'll see in the first picture at the top of this thread. Cheers Rohan