I have an 85 SE Bird and want to get the rear end way up, old school like. What would you suggest for springs, shocks etc....

 

On my v6 fourth gen, all I had to do was put v8 moog springs in and it lifted it up. Also, at the same time I put on drag shocks, so that may hold it up some. Or get adjustable springs or spring mounts.

 

1) Try a fourthgen spring isolator. I understand those are good for nearly an inch.

2) Try Moog 5665. Good for another inch or so.

3) Try both the above.

JamesC

 

In my 84 monte back in the day I put what they called cargo coils and they jacked it up a good inch or so before I had them i did the fight with air shocks and lost the cargo coils did the trick I don't know if they make them for F- body's or not. They also have spring rubbers kinda what they use in nascar that you can get an inch out of.

 

Moog CC635. These are cargo coils with variable rate.

JamesC

 

well you can use taller tires in the back and shorter tires in the front. i did that - not to get it to what i got, but i just wanted larger tires. back in the day - late 50's early 60's it was called a "rake".

 

I have moog 5665 cargo coils (stock on many years of these cars), and 28" tall tires in the back.
That jacks it up pretty nice, but not obscenely so.

 

Don't forget to grow out your hair for that favorite hairstyle associated with the car and get some rusted out sidepipes.

 

^ uncalled for man.
what about some coil spring spacers? there relatively cheap and come in different sizes.

 

airshocks is how they did it back in the day.

 

at least 1/2- 2/3 of the tire hast to being sticking out past the wheel well to complete the look

 

Run a drop spring in the front, or cut the spring. Run a 14 inch rim in the front 15 in the back, use the cargo coils as stated above.

 

My car has a raked look but I also have a back halved car and 32" tall tires in the rear. I use a coil over shock system in the rear but I adjust the ride height to control the chassis 4-link hole positions, not for tire clearance. I can change the position of the coil overs to drop the rear right down over the tires if I wanted to but it would screw up the rear suspension geometry plus with the body dropped down that low, it makes it a lot harder to load onto the trailer. As it is now, the exhaust just clears.

The old cars with leaf springs used longer shackles to get more tire clearance. There's a lot of other issues involved when you raise the rear. You change the caster on the front end. If you raise the body at the rear too high by using spring rubbers, longer springs etc, you decrease the amount of shock travel so longer shocks should be used. You also change the rear suspension geometry.

 

they did not have long hair until about 67 or 68 and it did not hit big until 70, way after the 50's and early 60's.
and no one i knew would have rusted anything. we spent as much time polishing and washing as we did driving.
but no it was not airshocks back in my day - maybe gumby's day.
the really cheap way was to take a tourch to the front springs - all you had to do was take the shocks out to heat them up until they lost their height, and a set of 4 inch lifts on the rear leaf springs. yes boys and girls we did not have rear round springs - they were the leaf style, like a buckboard.
those were not the day though. today is the day as far as i am concerned. computers, good fi, no tubes in the tires, today is the best.
except for music - i dont listen to anything made after 1980.

 

Oh, c'mon, tony, my hair started sprouting (and I got thrown out of bars for it) around 64 when the Beatles arrived on our shores.

I heated the front coils on my '54 Chevy around about that time and dropped it enough so that it would darned near knock a Schiltz can down (if you remember Schiltz). Speaking of that, remember "church keys?"

As for music, I have several thousand pieces. I assure you there's some cool stuff out there. Try the Kooks or the Killers and you'll be rockin'! Remember Janis? Try Amy Winehouse or Duffy.

JamesC

 

You crack me up James lol. Good times, bet things were a bit calmer back then.


Hold on, you were a school teacher and went to the bar?!?!? just kidding some teachers are kick *** and i bet you were one of them.

 

The old school method was a shackle lift, traction bars and air shocks.

But only 1 of the 3 will work on his car.

 

Do you think I really care if it was uncalled for? His car is going to look like crap just like all the other ones that are jacked way the hell up in the back.

 

^^^Diff strokes for diff folks man. I know your just trying to help him out (i agree 100%, these cars weren't made to be jacked up) but it's his money and car.

 

Sell your thirdgen to a good home and buy yourself a second gen. The jacked up rear look fits that style better.

Unless you plan on only driving in a straight line I wouldn't do it. You're going to throw off your cars handling ability.

 

jamesc listens to the killers? the room is spinning!

 

Yes, I do, Mr. Wiseguy . If you like the Killers, try the Switches or the Strokes.

JamesC

 

i agree with you, these cars look ******* as f*** like that. but the man asked a question and got flamed for it which is probably why most of the new members never come back. dont take it personally, just my .

 

james - you are a funny man. if you were 21 in 64 that means you were born in 42 or 43.
you are old. lol
you must remember running flat head rails then?
you have to admit that what long hair was in 64 was a lot different than what long hair was in 71. anything longer than a crew cut, or the back of your hair touched the top of the collar, that was long hair. there were a few rockers back then but not nearly as many mods.
when i think of long hair i think of how long mine grew back in 71 after i got out of the army. down to below my shoulders.
the beatle cut did not really get hot until 66.
damn bro we are old. next we will be talking about our operations and how to stay loose. lol
you were not cool unless you had a church key hanging around in your car. they may make a comeback all the tree huggers are complaining about pull tabs.
have a good one old man.

 

WOW!!Some of us went on a tangent there for awhile.Hope the dust has settled, and it's not 'angel dust' lol.Anyway, getting back to the subject at hand,DO NOT go with shackles!I found that on my car all I had to do is get a NEW set of STOCK springs, Moog#CC635 and a pair of KYB shocks #KG5562.Total cost was less than $140 at RockAuto.It didn't raise the rear end sky-high,but it made it sit pretty reightous.Air shocks (if available)would certianly do the trick, but I wouldn't do it on a third gen.Remember, this isin't a '67 Impala lol.And also I'm sure you realize that the higher the *** end goes, the lower the front end goes.If you have a spoiler or an air dam be prepared to do some speed bump scrapin' (if you're not already).I plan to take care of that by getting new front springs and struts. This should make it sit 'nice' all the way around without the 4 wheel drive look.Whatever you do bud good luck to you and post some pix!!!

 

My car has the look. I will get a good side view picture of it later and post it. But I wanted the rearend to still be able to squat down when I launch so i have an old set of v-6 springs with spacers I home made, and extensions on the shocks. Just remember if you put the stiff springs in its going to ride really ruff, and what ever you do make sure your shocks are not fully extended or they will do no good they can even cause the rear to lift, you can buy shock extensions at most auto part stores really cheap. I will try to get a picture posted. Also I would go with the ******... LOL

 

already listen to the strokes, haha.

 

this was a fun post and the answer has managed to get out there too.
thre is nothing like memory lane.

 

And the young guns are still thinking, "What's a church key?"

JamesC

 

isn't it just a bottle opener

 

its not "just a bottle opener" its a way of life.
no throw away caps with the cans of beer.
takes off bottle caps too.
but the really kool thing is you can put it on a chain and wear it around you neck.
now that is cool.

and if you can wear a white t-shirt and roll a pack of smokes up in the sleeve [no wife beaters] and then light it with a silver steel zippo lighter - heaven - pure heaven.

 

lol i still wrap my smokes in my sleeve everynow and then and i still got the silver zippo. and im only 18?? yeah i wihs i was born in the old days. it wasnt easier, but it was simpler i only listen to music from 1990 and older as well. but its pure country for me. i must 40 years old in an 18 year old body.

 

your starting out well my friend.
does your zippo have a skull with snakes in it and the words - Death Before Dishonor".
that was late 60's early 70's though.
have fun people im going to play with my camaro.

 

Well if you make it this far. I have 255/60/15s on mine in this pic. Don't remeber what the fronts are. I think they are 25in tall though.
Keep in mind if you go to a wider taller tire you will have more rolling mass so it will slow it down. But if your street driving you will be fine.
Sorry I don't have a better picture.

 

Better be Camels or Pall Malls too--no filters for the real man!

JamesC

 

No that would be Chesterfield non filter and a cold PBR....

 

what a coincidence! im actually smoking my pall mall reds as we speak lol. actually my Zippo has a bowtie on it got it from some place in st. louis a few months ago.

and my car actually has truck tires on it. (they were free and stil had 60% tread) theyre 235/70's, it fills the rear end up nicely but MUCH to big on the front. getting brand new tires before winter hits so ill be good for a few months.

 

or it could have been LSMFT or camel's - no filters back then. but out here is was coors. even back then they said it was like two indians making love in a canoe.
f**ing close to water.

 

I get the church key i have a few but pull tabs that's showing your age guys.and for the raked look if done right it looks awesome. Cargo coils and some huge meats with skinnies up front .

 

What he said

 

AIR SHOCKS Gabriel Hi-Jackers... If you want it like back in the day, when muscle cars were everywhere, Led Zepplin and Aerosmith ruled the airwaves and we didn't have cable TV, Cellphones or Computers...God I am old!!!!

 

it will not look bad if its just an inch or 2, maybe 3 at the most any more and i would have to say it will look good with a little bit of a rake to it, but not much i had 2" in the back with 255/60's and then 215/65 on the front, it looked good, had a slight rake to it but not much you could really only tell if you were next to another 3rd

but that went bye bye when i went back to stock wheels

 

i went the same way. 255 on the front and 275/60 15's on the back. i wanted more rubber to fill the wheel well and it went from 27.99 reat to about 26.00 in the front.

 

Thats the beauty of air shock, you can raise n lower as needed if you spend the extra for an onboard compressor system. So it can be low n normal or itnhe clouds. Similar to air bags but just more room to jack it up for the 45* tilt that makes your front bumper plate scrap the ground and the need for a submarine belt on hard stops.

 

Definitly old school ******* style!

 

How bout this here?

Am I changing a fuel pump, or did I overinflate the air shocks?

 

looks like the front end is going to start hopping soon

 

o yeah lol i have to admit id want to do this to some o
ld beater third gen but on a decent one nah

 

if your doing it for looks like i did on my *** dragging 74 and 75 Camaros its cheap and easier then doing the spring thing, was air shocks, of course your going to loose your cornering abilities and have a stiffer ride, so if your not going out road racing you'll be fine. plus you got the choice of how high you want to be at, put them down for play and up for show. just remember to keep the air lines away from the exhaust dont do like my friend did and let them touch the exhaust or youll be buying new lines. have fun

 

My car has air shocks on it now in the rear and I hate them, imo third gens do not look good with the rear jacked up. When I got the car the rear was up a couple inches so I let the air out of them so it sits level but I'm replacing all 4 shocks so they are coming off and hopefully it will ride a little better too. With jacked up air shocks it felt like there was no rear suspension, so if you go that route prepare to have you teeth rattled out on every little bump.