I bought a 72 malibu with very large rear springs that lift the back pretty high. The car also has air shocks that look like they are stretched to their limits. I just added about 110 psi to each one and that tightened up the back end a little bit, but on any type of bump the car seems to jump up. What can i do?

First off, I would suggest throwing away the tall springs and the air shocks if you do not haul anything. The tall springs and air shocks inflated to such a high PSI are killing your 'off the line' traction and the air shocks are putting a much unneeded strain on their mounting locations. Air shocks are designed for one use, to compensate for heavy loads. Now, lots of people have been using air shocks to raise the rear of their vehicle to stuff in bigger tires and to created a rake look to their vehicle. If you ask around on this site, you'll find some of the horror stories about cracked frame mounts and such from running air shocks with too much PSI. With 110psi in each and those tall springs, I would agree with you, at every bump the rear end is going to feel like it's going to come out of there it's bouncing so much. My suggestion to you would be to replace your current springs with a set of replacement springs of your liking (Moog, TRW, Hotchkis, etc) and a set of heavy duty gas shocks such as KYB Gas-A-Just (about $30 each from Summit Racing).

It's always fun to undo a previous owners handy work, fortunantly springs and shocks shouldn't be too bad. Either way, I hope this helps, I'm sure some more people will post as well and maybe they'll be able to give you some recommendations and exactly what springs to run and such. good luck. graemlins/beers.gif

Thanks. The only thing im worried about is the quarters to tire clearance in the back with 275 60R15's. I hope that im not now stuck with these springs after getting brand new tires!

Let me know if you want to sell me those large rear coil springs! Thanks, Pat

I got my car from the shop and the guy told me that with the car being as high as it is i should remove the no hop traction bar. Can some one explain to me why this is? Wouldn't that help out even if the car sits high. the rear is a 12 bolt posi.