A standard length steel transverse leaf spring for the 63-82 Corvette is 49″ long across the top of the arch as shown above. This is the most accurate way to measure the rear spring for 63-82 Corvettes.

If you have a composite spring that you want to replace, and not sure of the length, the best way to ensure you get another at the same length is to remove the spring entirely and measure it across the top of the arch, tip to tip. Most springs will be 48″ long but a 1″ shortened spring at 47″ long was very common for those with offset trailing arms and wide 15″ wheels on C2 & C3 models.

Narrowed chassis cars typically run a 47″ long spring but have seen them as short as 45.5″ when tubbing the rear chassis of a Corvette. If you are running an unmodified frame, 47″ is the shortest you should need to go.

Van Steel composite springs are only produced in two sizes but can be modified to be even shorter for custom applications for an additional cost. Our standard spring is 48″ (considered half inch shorter than factory) which there are no adverse affects for factory t-arm Covettes and also works with those running offsets and wide 18″ wheels. For those running 17″ or smaller wheels, our half inch shorten spring at 47″ (considered 1″ shorter than factory) may be needed for plenty of tire clearance.

When running a 47″ spring you will see some adjuster bolt to spring contact due to the extra angle on the bolt from the t-arm to the spring. These will wear on the spring to a certain point and stop. This is unavoidable for these style springs but will not affect the spring rate or longevity of your composite spring.

If you are unsure of the spring you need to order, or have a custom setup you need assistance with, just give us a call (800-418-5397), or email us (salesteam@vansteel.com).

For composite springs, they are an easy way to update your stock style chassis with a better riding AND handling Corvette. The composite achieves this by being able to flex equally in both compression and rebound. A steel spring is always fighting against itself when rebounding back up and therefore has rebound built in. With that, most factory replacement shocks have compression and little to no rebound valving in the shock to maintain as good a ride quality as possible. Factory steel leaf springs ran from 180lbs to 330 lbs with higher rates available for track usage.

A 330 lb composite spring will hold up the rear of the Corvette much better under cornering and hard acceleration than the 9 leaf 180lb steel spring, yet ride much better. A 360 composite spring is the advanced street, drag setup, high horsepower and light track spring rate. This rate will ride better than a 7 leaf 330lb steel spring, plus give you much better performance. When looking at a 300lb composite spring, this will be for smooth riding and a mild increase in handling. Shortened composite springs are only for wheel and tire clearances. No matter how you use your Corvette, when not wanting to change your trailing arms, a composite spring is a quick and easy way to upgrade the rear suspension.

For rear coilovers, these are a great option when wanting or needing to replace your rear trailing arms. Coilovers allow for wider wheel and tire options when not using a rear sway bar or using a Van Steel offset rear sway bar. With rear coilovers you don’t have to worry about spring clearances at all. Our small block spring rates are ideal for the street and are tuned for excellent ride quality. For high horsepower Vette, spirited driving, track or drag race usage, the big block spring rates are a must. The 600 lb rear springs reduce squat under hard acceleration or cornering keeping the car planted and moving forward quickly. With proper tuning, they are still quite enjoyable on the street although they are a firm ride quality.

Both systems allow for approximately 1-1.5″ drop in the rear. The coilover kit applies a better spring rate right at the wheel. A coilover kit is much easier to change spring rate if you change how you drive your car. We’ve had many a customer order a small block spring rate and find themselves auto crossing or going to the track. Then the big block spring rates are a much better setup. A quick and easy spring swap and you’ve upgraded your suspension again. For a composite spring, you’d have to replace your entire spring or at least upgrade the shocks.

So it all comes down to how far do you want to go with your rear suspension and how much do you want to spend. A coilover kit provides a modern approach to spring rates, ride quality and upgraded trailing arms. A composite spring is a quicker, easier and cheaper way to make your corvette ride or handle better when matched with proper shocks.

Slide reinforcement bracket over OE bracket

Tap all the way on to line up the shock mount hole.

Weld bracket to frame along the outside frame rail. 

Weld the short side bracket to frame

Drill out the factory 7/16 hole to 1/2 for new coilover hardware. 

Working on your frame but not ready to buy the rear coilover kit. You can order the rear brackets separately so you can have all your frame work done and ready for when your parts arrive.

For composite springs, Van Steel can build a springs ranging from 300lbs for easy cruising to well over 400lbs for racing applications. Each composite spring is a low arch style that allows for factory ride height to around 1 1/2″ lower. A composite spring must be controlled by a quality shock to get the best handling or ride quality out of your Corvette. For this simple fact, the composite spring out handles and rides much better than a steel transverse leaf spring. The composite spring allows the shock to do the tuning for ride or handling and the spring is just holding the car up. The higher the spring rate, the more the spring can hold the car up with higher forces for cornering or hard launching.

So, how do you choose the spring needed for your Corvette chassis? There are a few factors we take into consideration. First is the weight of the car, mainly for cars that have been lightened or it’s a different model with a Corvette chassis swap. Second is horsepower, this is why most spring setups are called small block and big block. And lastly, how and where are you going to drive your car.

For weight, if it’s a lightened C2 Vette, the 300 and 330 lb springs are most common. This allows for shocks with light valving and will give you great ride quality along with minor handling gains over a 9-leaf steel spring. We typically pair these two springs with QA-1s standard non-adjustable shocks for excellent ride quality. If the car is heavier than original, whether it’s under a Chevy Nomad or you have a huge sound system in the back, a stiffer spring rate will help you get the car up to a proper ride height. These are more typically your 360lbs springs but can even be 400lbs if there is a lot of added weight over a factory Corvette.

Next up is your horsepower or projected horsepower rating. With more power and grip, the more the rear of the Vette wants to dip or squat under heavy throttle. This isn’t great for a lot of your rear end components on a IRS setup, plus it’s wasted motion. With high horsepower small blocks or even standard big blocks, anyone over 400hp typically should go with a 360 lb spring. The 360 spring gets just enough weight transfer to give proper grip to your tires, then the motion of your Corvette goes forward instead of down. Drag only and some road course applications run 400-500lb spring rates.

Then, how do you plan to drive your Corvette? Is it just a weekend cruiser just waiting for a parade to join in on, or do you like to carve up the mountain roads? Do you have the tendency to want to get a jump on that car next to you at a red light and just itching for the light to turn green? These are all things we ask to dial in your ideal composite spring.

On a final note, we also have shortened composite springs. These are for one thing and one thing only, tire clearance. Just a half inch off per side can be enough to give ample clearance from your wheel and tires. For those running 15″ wheels, we generally recommend going a full 1″ off per side, just note there can be some minor wear on the spring from the increased angle on the ride height adjustment bolts. For 16-17″ tires it’ll depend on how wide you go and your tire size, but generally 1/2″ off is enough. For 18″ and larger, you typically do not need a shortened composite, but depending on your width and backspacing, you could have some minor contact at full droop, but then it’ll clear once back on the ground.

For any further questions on composite springs, you can message us on Facebook, @vansteelcorvettes, give us a call at the shop 800-418-5397, or email us, salesteam@vansteel.com.

What is in a Van Steel t-arm rebuild? First off, all our assemblies whether new or used are built the same. It’s all starts with properly prepared parts. Our used assemblies are completely torn down to bare metal. All races, seals, bushings, and paint is removed. We fully inspect these parts in their raw form for accuracy.

Bearing assemblies are checked for cracks, weld repairs, straightness, and for spun races. Spindles are checked for their bearing surface diameter for the inner and outer bearings. The threads are checked for mushrooming and if they are stripping out. Finally the spindles are checked for a run out on the face of spindle for less than .005. This ensures proper pad contact on the rear brakes due to the Corvette’s fixed caliper setup.

The Trailing arms are also completely stripped down to inspect for cracked welds and internal rusting. They are also jigged to insure they are straight and are visually inspected that they are not twisted. These last two measure are for extended bushing life and for proper alignment.

Finally, the caliper mounting bracket is inspected that it is free of cracks, is not bent (typically from the car bottoming out), and that the threads are clean and straight.

If any parts fail QC, we revise your quote with the new parts for you to review and approve. The parts then go to paint and powder coating. The bearing support, caliper mounting bracket and spindle are all primed and painted with epoxy paint. The trailing arm is powder coated gloss black.

All the freshly painted piece then go into assembly. We only use the highest quality parts available. These consist of Timken bearings and races plus SKF seals. The bearing support is then loaded and built to Van Steel spec, much tighter than GM specs. This is the heart of the Van Steel rebuild and our lifetime guarantee for your bearing assembly.

From here we mount the bearing support to the trailing arm, install the caliper mounting bracket, install the parking brake shoe retaining pins in the backing plate and install the backing plate. The parking brake retaining block and bolt are installed along with the shoes and hardware. We then bolt down the trailing arm to secure the assembly. The spindle is pressed in next to nearly complete the process.

The final step is also very critical. We mount the rotor and preform a final rotor run out. The parking brake adjust holes on the rotor and spindle are aligned to make your parking brake adjustments easier once you receive the trailing arms. If the rotor run out is under .005, we mark the spindle and rotor so the rotor is always installed matching this mark if ever removed for maintenance.

If a spindle flange is included, it is also inspected for excessive wear and that the bolt hole are straight and clean. The flange is then torqued down to a minimum of 100 ft lbs. If the cotter pin holes don’t line up, it’s torqued down further until they do.