Has anyone ever installed those helper leaf springs like the Load-Plus ones or something similar? Specifically I mean the half spring style that installs upon the rear portion of the leaf spring.
How much lift did you get & what effect did they have on the ride and stability in normal driving?
I’m not thinking about this for towing. It’s just that my vehicle sits exactly level and I’d like the rear end to stand up another 2 inches, maybe 1.5 inches. On my last cougar, I installed an entire heavy-duty set of leaf springs, not the helpers. I noticed that with the extra but of tilt, you can easily add another gallon or two of gas in the tank & the fuel gauge will usually get to the full mark much better.
Sure I could just swap out the springs completely, but that’s a major PITA and I’d like something less radical this time around.
Yes I already know you can also get those lowering springs for the front to do the same thing but I already lost a power steering valve to road debris and would like to keep the ground clearance the same in the front of at all possible.
I was thinking of the same trial run for the same reasons as you. If it works out then go for the Detroit Eaton springs. However, I couldn’t find the helper springs. Do you have a contact where to purchase them?
The helper springs I’ve installed on pickups have not increased height- just reduced sag under load. I don’t believe you will gain ride height with helper springs.
If you are looking to raise the height by a 1-2 inches, would extended shackles work on the existing leaf spring set-up? I’ve seen some with about that amount of distance over standard and everything else with the ride should be similar (although you may see some improvement if you use better bushings vs. existing set).
I did this on a 70 XR7 a long time ago and if I remember correctly, the only thing I had to disconnect was the shackle connection (assuming you can press out the leaf spring bushings in place)…
I noticed that with the extra but of tilt, you can easily add another gallon or two of gas in the tank & the fuel gauge will usually get to the full mark much better.
The sender just doesn’t work like that. There is an upper stop to the movement of the float arm. It only goes as high as the limit allows. The float is located toward the center of the tank to minimize the effects of tilt. There is an air space at the top of the tank that is there to allow for expansion. Actual engineers who calculated the amount of pressure created by the expansion of fuel determined the minimum acceptable volume. (For every gallon of gasoline you need to have X amount of compressible air volume to allow for the thermal expansion of the fuel.) When you decrease that space you are asking for gas to be forced out through that tiny hole you drilled in the gas cap. The scary part is that liquid gas is safer than gasoline vapor and that is what is going to be coming through that hole first. I doubt you will blow anything up but the cars were designed based on decades of real world experience.
This is a '70 sender in a '70 cutaway tank with the float arm being held all the way up using an alligator clip.
