[DeTomaso] Front Shock Question

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

In a message dated 3/21/10 12:18:51 PM, rob at dumoulins.net writes:

> My car still has the stock spring spacers.  When I pull those out, do I 
> need to get poly bushings.  Do the stock spring spacers sit atop the 
> bushings?
> 
Nope- the shocks sit on their bushings attached to the a-arm mounts, but 
the springs sit on large steel washers welded to the shock bodies.

Its pretty easy to check your suspension-spring strength while you're 
removing the springs and headlight spacers. If you have a hydraulic press, you 
put a bathroom scales on the press bed, put a thick piece of metal or wood, 
plastic etc on the scales (so the thin scales top doesn't bend), and add the 
spring on top. Use another plate on top of the spring, zero the stack and 
measure the stack height with a tape. Then load the assembly such that the 
spring measurement decreases by 1/2". The scales reading, multiplied by 2 will 
give you your current spring strength in lbs/inch of compression. 
With some extra trouble, a drill press can also be used but due to the 
short handle on the drill press, you might only be able to comfortably press 
down 1/4". In that case, multiply the scale results by 4. Reason for checking 
this is because the front & rear springs are different strengths, so you (or 
a previous owner) won't mix them up, and because over 39 years, the stock 
strength has undoubtably decreased. Then you have a starting point if you ever 
decide to change springs. Good luck- J DeRyke