Listers,
My experience with the bolt-on type bars was that if the bolts were tightened
too much, it seriously limited the rear springs ability to work properly. Just
as Steve Laifman said, it severely hampered the rear leafs ability to compress
through its intended path of travel. When I switched to a set of Dales rear
springs a couple of years ago, I couldn't have put the stock bars back on
without having to trim a significant amount of material from the forward
spring mount, so I never put them back on the car. I recently built a set of
bars to fit with the lowered ride height springs. The design has a separate
bracket to hold them against the springs loosely so it doesn't hamper the
action of the leaf spring. I also lined the clamping bracket with small sheets
of rubber to prevent any rattling. One other feature of the new bar design was
the addition of adjustable spherical rod ends so I can set the length for
sensitivity. With the clamps tightened just enough to keep them located in
position, the ride quality hasn't suffered the way it did when I had the stock
type bolt-ons clamped down tight.
MS
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