The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop Ride Height Needed

My 56 3100 has a 79 Camaro Z-28 front clip and tired rear springs. I added helper springs on the rear, but it still sits low. I would like to raise the truck by 2-4 inches in the front and rear. I was thinking of using the lift blocks from my FLAPS on the rear. It has a 79 Camaro rearend mounted under the springs. Should I just bite the bullet and buy new leaf springs instead? On the front, my new JC Whitney catalog lists MM852183 Extra High Lift Front Coil Springs that are supposed to raise the Camaro frontend by 3-4 inches. Any suggestions,please?

Clint you can probably get ahold of a set of big block coil springs for either a trans am or camaro. That will raise the frt quite a bit over the wore out small block coils.

Thanks Tom:

How big of a hassle is it to change the front coil springs out?

Not hard, jack the truck up in the front, put jack stands under the subframe, put a good floor jack under the a arm and take some of the pressure off the lower a arm,then use a ball joint splitter to seperate the joint from the arm , lower the a arm some then remove the shock and then finish lowering the a arm till the spring is free

Or, borrow a spring compressor from your FLAP (what is that, anyway?!) to remove the old springs and also to install your new springs. It might be easier....and certainly safer in my opinion.

Flaps-Freindly Local Auto Parts Store. either method will work, and is safe if you keep in mind that you are dealing with a potentially dangerous operation.
Keep in mind that if you raise the front end up, it will change the camber and toe settings, potentially dramatically. The camber will go in at the top, and it will also toe in. make sure to hit that alignment shop after you reset the ride hight.

SOunds like the rear springs are just worn out. If you put in the 3 to 4 inch lift kit blocks you will have done the job but still have worn out springs. It will feel like driving a wet sponge and will give you quite a bit of body roll when cornering.

check with your local front end guy before you add springs. lifting up the suspension will affect the camber adjustment. i have gone through this with a 50' chevy truck with a 74' nova clip installed where truck sat to low and last owner installed taller springs to raise up truck causing too much + camber. adding taller springs causes the same effect as lifting your truck by front crossmember with a floor jack, pulling tops of upper a-arms outward and you can only remove so many shims to get back the adjustment.

Clint ,
A set of air shocks for the rear may be what ya need till ya replace the rear springs , an you can adjust your height to what ya want .
Just a suggestion
Tim