Can anyone ID this suspension setup?

[idahovette]

Low traction usually ended up with wheels spinning uncontrollably , dictated by the right foot. Not a lot of wheel hop until the tires grabbed a little traction then bite, hop, bite, hop......til you either lifted or broke something. My 70 SS Chevelle was fine until I raised the rear with a coil block....then it AXLE hopped terribly. Finally dropped it back down some and installed urethane bushings.....seems good now Last time I ran it a Firebird in Boise...13.75 & 103?

 

[bucket]

Low traction usually ended up with wheels spinning uncontrollably , dictated by the right foot. Not a lot of wheel hop until the tires grabbed a little traction then bite, hop, bite, hop......til you either lifted or broke something. My 70 SS Chevelle was fine until I raised the rear with a coil block....then it AXLE hopped terribly. Finally dropped it back down some and installed urethane bushings.....seems good now Last time I ran it a Firebird in Boise...13.75 & 103?

Maybe "low traction" was a poor choice of words. How about "unfavorable traction to power ratio", lol.

Stuff with leaf springs can benefit from staggered shocks, but I can't think of a single coil sprung vehicle that has staggered shocks.

@idahovette Perry when you installed those coil spacers, it must have changed the angle on those short upper arms enough to aggravate your wheel hop situation. It would have raised the instant center too much. I think. I don't really know what the he!! I'm talking about really. When it comes to suspension design and theory, I barely know enough to be dangerous.

But I know that even stock height cars can experience bad wheel hop. A specific '70 SS comes to mind, at a Super Chevy Show burnout competition I saw as a kid. That car hopped BAD and he wasn't letting off. It was very hard to watch.

They used to sell those big, beefy traction bars for the A-body. Maybe still do?

 

[idahovette]

Changed a few angles and really EFed up the launch. Finally went to Moog coils to get the stance that I wanted. SS Chevelles, particularly the 70 models seemed to have the "Pontiac" sagging rear appearance, when new. After the Moog coils and the urethane bushings, all seems right with the world??? Side note ....when I was working at the Chev/Cad store, we had a guy come in with a 69 SS396 Chevelle that had a split Muncie case in it. "Just driving down the road".....yeah right....saw him doing a huge burnout the night before right down town, BAD AXLE HOP, in front of about 20 people, and THAT'S when it "broke". We warrantied it and I did NOT rat him out, but I told him he owed me one!

 

[Chevrolado]

There you go. I always wondered that too.
Sounds like this wheel hop traction issue will have already been solved on my truck.. Now the big question remains though, will it actually run and drive to even verify that this suspension is functional? haha Only time will tell.

Feel free to follow along here for the rest of the fun. https://www.gmsquarebody.com/threads/77-chevy-k10-silverado-build.5404/page-9

Thanks for the help on the suspension ID and suspension information everyone! Good insight.

 

[FBJR]

I had shocks where those traction bars are on my 77. No pics though.

 

[Chevrolado]

Interesting...
So it cushioned the axle wrap as it was happening. The wheel hop must have felt more comfortable, then.

 

[TotalyHucked]

To add in, Mustang's in the '60s only got staggered shocks with the Hi-Po motors, regular 289 and 6cyl cars did not have staggered shocks. Seems like the Camaro was the same way for '68? And then they all got staggered shocks in '69? Can't remember

 

[bucket]

To add in, Mustang's in the '60s only got staggered shocks with the Hi-Po motors, regular 289 and 6cyl cars did not have staggered shocks. Seems like the Camaro was the same way for '68? And then they all got staggered shocks in '69? Can't remember

I believe all '68 Camaros got staggered shocks. But that's just off of memory.

 

[vr1967]

To add in, Mustang's in the '60s only got staggered shocks with the Hi-Po motors, regular 289 and 6cyl cars did not have staggered shocks. Seems like the Camaro was the same way for '68? And then they all got staggered shocks in '69? Can't remember

I believe all '68 Camaros got staggered shocks. But that's just off of memory.

Staggered shocks became standard on the 1968 F body (Camaro/Firebird) In late 66 early 67 the high power cars got radius rod(s) to help control wheel hop. The Camaros got a right side bar, either round or square depending on power ratings. Firebirds got one or two bars (second one on the left side of rear axle) depending on horsepower and transmission.

Also in 68, higher hp cars got multileaf springs instead of the 67 (and later lo po cars) monoleaf rear springs

 

[mtbadbob]

Are you sure that front end is original? My thoughts are that the front end is actually off a Blazer that had factory dual shocks, and PO added those secondary shock brackets on the frame.

 

[mtbadbob]

I see now that the front diff could just be a single set-up, and the dual shocks were obtained by a special spacer/shock bolt.