Front Spring Spacers

[Avanti 79]

I was wondering if the spring spacers on the Avant II were on the top or the bottom of the spring? I have also heard that there was a rubber grommet both on the top and the bottom of the springs. I can’t seem to find a picture or specs about either the spacers or the rubber grommet. If anyone has any information about this, I would appreciate any insight and help. The spacers on my car have been removed to give the car the original Avanti Rake look. Additionally, when I bought the car it came with 245-60-15 tires in the rear and 215-60-15 in the front adding to the rake. My issue is the car sits so low that getting into and out of a normal driveway can be challenging without the car scraping. I’m wondering if I put the spacers back in, will it still have a bit of a rake but better clearance? Thanks in advance for any help. By the way if you haven’t noticed the car is a 1979. 

Edited May 17, 2023 by Avanti 79

[64studeavanti]

My 78 has two aluminum spacers on the bottom of the springs. They are about 1/2". I did not have any rubber spacers. I do not know for sure if this is factory.

[Avanti 79]

Thank you so much for your help. When you say two, do you mean one on each side, or two on each side? I’m told that the spacers go on top, however, I’m not sure that is accurate information. 

[64studeavanti]

One on each side. I have a spare set. I will post pictures later this morning.

[Avanti 79]

Thank you,  that would be great. I’m reasonably new at this and appreciate all the help I can get. 

[64studeavanti]

Pictures of 78 Avanti Spring spacer. The Studebaker Spring coils are flattened on the ends. IIRC, the 78 coils were round.

[Avanti 79]

Thank you so much. This is really helpful. At least now I have an idea of what I’m dealing with. I’m almost certain I’m going to put the spacers back in. For one, it’s really annoying to constantly be scraping the bottom of the car. Additionally, I don’t like the look of the small tire in the front, just a personal preference. From what I understand, apparently the 1983 anniversary model came with 245-60-15 in the rear and 215-60-15 in the front. Which is what is on my car now. While I have no direct knowledge, I’m guessing they still used the spacers in the front springs, and the car sat a bit higher avoiding the scratching. Or perhaps, the cars were equipped with different springs altogether. I’m hoping to put a suitable tire on the front which should give me a little more ground clearance. The original tire height is about 27”, while the 215-60-15 is 25.2”, as you can see it’s almost a 2” smaller tire. Between the lack of the spacer and the small tire the car sits very low in the front. I like many others, appreciate the original Avanti Rake, but not at the loss of enjoyable driving. This of course, is in my hombre opinion. Thanks again for your help. It is greatly appreciated. 

[Gunslinger]

Spacers were standard on cars with a/c due to added weight of the compressor.  Avanti coil springs also have a tendency to compress with age and miles…contributing to the front suspension bottoming out and tires rubbing against the fiberglass.

If the spacers are going to be reinstalled I would suggest new coil springs at the same time unless you know for sure they’re recent and not sagging.  

[Zedman]

Having pulled out the front suspension, I found the Aluminium Spacer AND a stack of two 1/8" annular discs under each of the Springs. The Steel discs were found at the very bottom of the Control arm spring seat and were quite rusty. The Ally Spacer went on top of these. Under the Spring, I found no rubber insulator like the one positioned at the top but I'm going to trial one glued to the Aluminium Spacer to see if it's quieter.

[Avanti 79]

Thanks so much for the information and the pictures. That helps a lot. I was not aware of the additional steel discs under the aluminum spacers. These discs could potentially raise the car another 1/4”.  I’ll have to look carefully again to see, if in fact, there are rubber isolators at the top of my springs, and of course, install new ones. This is the first time I’ve been made aware of the additional discs. I’m now wondering what the purpose the additional discs serve? The car only has 15,000 miles on it, so hard to tell if there is any spring sag or not. Of course, age is certainly a factor. I’m not apposed to putting in new springs if necessary, but I’d like to see if the spacers and slightly larger tires take care of the problem. Thanks again for all the information and the help. 

Edited May 19, 2023 by Avanti 79

[Zedman]

The annular 1/8" Spacers are listed with Studebaker International as 526830 Front coil lining spacer 1/8" thick. I am having my doubts about what I quoted about the positioning of these- they may well have gone on top of the Ally Spacer (I was positive I had a photo...) 🙄

 

[Avanti 79]

Hi, I found a picture of the spring assembly from what appears to be out of an original shop manual.  It does list the part number 526830 as a spacer 3/16” (w/air cond.). I’ll see if I can find those in addition to the 1/2” spacers part number 1560408 listed on the same diagram. In any case, thanks for your continued help, it is greatly appreciated.