Pinto Car Club of America

I swapped the stock leafs with a stiffer, flatter leaf spring set for track racing which lowers the car and allows the 15" rims with a 205\50 low profile sidewall to set within the wheel wells very nicely however this has caused the shackles to rotate to a horizontal position when I lower the car onto the tires. I am thinking I need shorter shackles to minimize the rotation?

snakeriver_man@hotmail.com

Actually what you need is shorter main leafs. When the leafs are flattened, if they start out at stock length, it's as though you hit a hard bump. In a normal situation with stock springs, this would cause the shackle to deflect to the rear. With the leaves already flattened on the springs you have, it forces the shackles back as though you had hit a bump and caused the leafs to deflect. You may want to check with the spring supplier and see if he has a slightly shorter mainleaf spring or check to determine if the leafs you received are the correct ones.

Hey there, been there done that .
All the aftermarket springs are of the 74-80 variety. They are longer than the 71-73 leafs. To make them work temporarily you can turn the hangers around to extend the shackle mounting point, BUT the shackles will rub the valence and ruin it. I tried to shave my shackles down to clear, but they still ended up rubbing and putting creases into my valence. ALSO I noticed that the wheel wasn't centered in the wheel-well anymore it was shifted back about 3/8". So I went back to my 71 springs.
If you want some new springs for your 71 then you need to take them to a spring shop for re-arching or look on-line for shops that make springs up from scratch for proper fitting springs.
Good luck man.

Hey 71hotrodpinto,
Thanks for that input! I learned something myself in the process. Not having messed with any Pintos earlier than '77, I didn't realize that the early rear springs were shorter and could be part of the issue. Thank you!

why not take the main out of the old ones and put it the new ones