Does anyone know why someone would put mismatch springs on the front of a car? While tearing down the front suspension on my 64 this is what i found. The longer one was in the passenger side.

 

Well, that's special.

 

Maybe because 1 broke they performed a hasty repair. Its hard to tell what goes on with these old cars over the years and what they were thinking when they did it.

 

trying to combat the A body lean ?

 

Agree - Maybe broke a spring at some point in time and just threw a single junkyard spring into it.

 

I vote This, I have seen that done before.

 

Wouldn't it have been easier just to throw a spacer in the lower side then throw another spring in there with a spacer?

 

I'm thinking the car used to race tight ovals. The passenger spring has 12 coil turns, the driver spring has 8 coil turns. In a constant left-hand turn oval track running 100+ mph that coil spring setup would most likely provide better handling dynamics.

 

Or there was a very heavy person on one side of the car...

 

That was my next suggestion...

 

It was a COPO heavy duty suspension one side only...very rare.

Seriously though did it sit level? Is the frame racked or bent?

 

It did not have the engine in it when i got it. No sign of damage anywhere.

 

Originally Posted by Fun71 View Post
I had considered that possibility early on, as well....Mamma liked her beer and ate pizzas by the dozen.

 

The cheapest and easiest way to raise the rear is put in air shocks. Adjust to the height you want.

 

No it's not, that's the worst way to raise the rear. The upper shock mounting point will not survive the sky jacker route. The easiest and most inexpensive is a spacer under the springs, the correct way is to use the proper springs.

 

I agree. My experience is air shocks give a stiff, bumpy ride. The more air (higher lift), the stiffer the ride. The right springs give a smooth, comfortable ride.

 

looks like they may have been the same and part of one broke off?

 

That original post is from 2 1/2 years ago. In any case, look again. They are not the same. The upper spring in the photo has more coils per inch than the lower spring, which means that the upper spring is somewhat softer. I bet they had close to the same ride height.

 

Was the 64 in question a factory airconditioning car?