Jgro650

Hi

I am looking at several 65-66 mustangs and have ran across 2 now that have leaf springs/shackles exposed below the bumper. When you look online almost all leaf springs and their shackles cannot be seen unless you squat down to see them. 2 of them practically stick out right below the bumper and as far. Can anyone explain this? I cannot find anything online that explains it? Are they not stock???

jwog666

this is due to extended rear spring shackles being installed, this is used to compensate for sagged out rear springs, or oversized tires. seeing as how that car is painted flat black, i would be VERY suspect as to its condition. most cars painted like that and touted as " rare barn finds" are bondo buggy pieces of junk. let the buyer beware

Jgro650

Thank you so much for the response. Compensating would make sense. So basically buy an extended shackle to mount it lower bring the body off the tires without going through the hassle of replacing the sagging leafs. Wonder if the whole thing is covered in bondo. Thank you for the advice, really appreciate it.

69mach1377

Yeah, longer shackles are much cheaper than new springs, so look for other areas that were 'cheaped' out.

jspagna1

Wise advise form 69mach. When I bought my 66 it had a sagging rear and I replaced the leaf springs as the look of shackles in ridiculous!!!!!

barstowpo

Get a spot rot gauge at your local auto parts store or online. It elps when looking for bondo.

BKKSW

If it's truly a barn find and hasn't been touched since say the 70's.. it could just be leftover "cool" from an unfortunate trend. I was in high school in the mid-70's and longer shackles (often with raising the rear end up a couple inches) were all the rage. It was one of the first thing most did to their Mustangs, right after adding glass packs. So keep the era of the find in mind when making evaluations.