Wagon leaf/coil spring question

[oscarmaier]

I have a 71 wagon that the previous owner cut the stock front springs and heated the rear leaf springs to lower the car. Are there any interchangeable front coil and rear leaf springs from any other vehicle or do I need to find some stock springs? There is a 620 and some early 90's Frontiers at my local yard, would either of those work for the rears?

[okayfine]

Front coils are just a matter of diameter, length, and spring rate. If you're looking to go back to factory stock, you'll need to determine which length of strut you have. There were three from the factory, and they are determined by year, but there's no telling you have the original struts on your car unless you're the original owner.

See:

DQ Volume 11 Issue 4 - Tech How-To: Strut Swap Guide — Found a later Datsun or 80's Nissan in the junkyard? Here's a guide to brake and strut specifications so you can decide if the parts are an upgrade for your 510, or if they'll bolt on at all.

For rear springs, none of your candidates will swap over. We have some rear spring info in DQ 9.1: Volume 9 Issue 1 - Tech How-To: Lowering Wagons - There are different options to lower a wagon’s live rear axle. From lowering blocks and their limitations to re-arching the leaf springs and their expense, Chad Smith shares his experiences. Kelvin Dietz and Dan Heil show you how to re-arch your own springs.

DQ's found here: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id= ... E0MGY3NTA1

[oscarmaier]

Thanks for the info. I wish he had only re-arched the rear springs, but he did this.....

[okayfine]

There's information in that article about donor spring packs, a company that has experience working on 510 spring packs, etc. If people on The Realm link you to information based on your post, you could probably give it a read before dismissing it.

Quick search will also turn up composite leaf springs:
http://community.ratsun.net/topic/40112 ... gon/page-2

[oscarmaier]

I'm sorry if you felt like I was dismissing the info that you gave me, that was not my intension. I was heading out the door for work when I got that last post and only glanced at the DQ article. I will read through it when I have a moment. I am very grateful for any help and even the constructive criticism. Thank you.