What rear springs to use on a Buick Regal w/ 275/60/15's?

[cutluse231]

I am running a 275/60/15 tires on the back of my "82" Regal on stock GN wheels, sitting static and bouncing up and down the tires dont rub anything, but today with my wife in the car and a full tank of gas They did rub but I believe on the inside, over heavy bumps.

This same set up was in my GN and never had a problem, now the rear end the rear control arms and the springs from my GN are now under my Regal.

I like the Full tire well look, in the rear , but is there a more stiffer spring that will make it stiffer in the rear?

What springs are being used for that wheel and tire combo?

Thanks ahead of time

 

[roadrunner88]

I guess no one knows

I have a similar GS build in an 82...
Engine from a 73 Century GS 350, front and rear clips from an 87 regal, complete interior from a 86 regal...

Tons of work but it has garnered a trophy of two!

1982 GS Prototype

 

[SS_Sean]

Find out where the tire is rubbing first. I have the same tire and rim, and can see the tire is rubbing on the outside of the frame/inside of the tire. springs aren't going to solve that problem as the radials will laterally flex enough to rub even with heavy rear springs.

For me personally I'm going to go with an 1/8" wheel spacer as soon as funds will allow. This will (hopefully) move the tire away from the frame enough so that lateral flex of the tire won't touch the frame.

One thing to watch for is that you have enough purchase on the wheel stud when you tighten up the lug nuts. I haven't done it yet, but may have to put a slightly longer lug nut on there to compensate for the wheels being spaced out 1/8". Make sense?

Hopefully someone who's been through this can chime in and help us out.

 

[phillyturbosix]

Well I run that size Nitto drag radial. I installed new cargo coils, Edelbrock IAS Shocks, air bags (only 8psi in them), and run a small spacer. I have the Gbodyparts stock GN 15x8.5 rim. And from time to time it will just touch the frame on a bump. But for the most part they are fine. That's not rolling the lip or anything. They are a huge tire to tuck under the back but I'll take a 60 over a 50 on the back of these cars anyday!

 

[Red Regal T]

If you have any boneyards in your area where you pull your own parts, many G-body cars in yards have Cargo springs. They are the ones with tight coils on the top and wider in the bottom half. Pick up a couple for $20 or so. When I used to look for them, at least a third of the G-body cars had them. These springs will put your wheel lip about 2-3 inches above the top of the tire. Another thing you could do is buy air bags. Set the ride where you want.

 

[ijames]

With me and the junk I keep in my trunk and back seat (and trailer hitch ), cargo coils sit a little too low for my taste (I forget the front/rear distribution but the last time I weighed the car with me in it it was 4060 lbs going down the track with 2/3 tank of gas). My Nitto 275/50-15's never rubbed but my recollection is that the tire to wheelwell trim was well under an inch vertically so the car sat low in the rear. For a few years I used old sagged springs out of an 85 Caprice - maybe about the same spring constant but at least 2" taller than ours, raised the rear so the tire to wheelwell trim was about 1.5", just a little too high. Rode well, can't really say how they launched compared to the cargo coils. I just put in some 5391 springs from an early 80's Regal station wagon - the springs article at the monte SS website predicted a rise of about 1" over stock springs. I love them so far. Ride doesn't seem any stiffer than I remember the cargo coils and the tire to wheelwell trim is now about 1". Tried one launch so far and the car squatted nicely in the rear and hooked, much better than with the caprice springs (I'm sure there is all kinds of theoretical stuff about the instant center that explains this but I haven't measured anything yet ). I think with some airbag tuning I will finally get some better 60's (for me 1.9 is good). Anyway, I like the 5391's but if your car is light it will sit up at least an inch higher than stock. If you have a killer boom box in the trunk or other weight, give them a try.

 

[chazmat2316]

I have 275-60-15 BFDR's on 15-8,with 4" bs, I had cargo coils, but sat to high for my taste,went to stock coils- rode too soft, so I got a shorter cargo coil from an 84 monte now rides nice & no rubs!

 

[usetaboost]

when I had my 79 regals sport coupe I had 255/50/r16 on 9.5 inch wide wheels andonly had to use a 1/8th spacer. Instead of using longer studs I bought some lugnuts that had extended thread with an acorn seat. Worked pretty slick adn never had prblems. Just make sure you torque them at 100ftlbs 2 or three times to make sure they seat good! By the way, that car looked like it had more than 170 hp with them fat ass tires!

 

[turbofish38]

Just about anything fits up in there as far as springs go. I prefer 3rd/4th gen F-bodies. Most Z/28-T/A springs are rated in the 150/175 pound range. You can cut the coil on the big end to taylor the ride height. As long as the front springs are still stock or close to the stock rates the car will still launch like it did with the stock spring. If it doesn't than you can always try some V-6 springs which are in the 100/130 pound range. The more coil you cut the stiffer it gets more or less. Just make sure you use them with the big rubber donuts on the top of the spring.

 

[Gbody5]

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