I have decided to change the rear springs on the car. I originally installed a set of Eaton 1" drop springs with the stock rate. Unfortunately, I was never quite happy with how the car sat. It was low, and wasn't quite even. However, I attribute some of that to the Polyurethane bushings I also installed. I don't think I installed it all correctly.

So, I called up Global West, and I discovered their "CAT5" system. I have used some of their components on a 4th Gen Camaro before, and I really liked them a lot. The CAT5 springs use some of the same technology. Instead of a robber or polyurethane bushing in the spring eyes, GW installs their spherical rod ends. The benefit is supposedly a completely no bind system. Once the springs are installed, you can literally swing them in an arc with the rod ends being free to rotate! And the frame mount uses their Del-A-Lum bushing to securely locate the rear shackles.

This page shows the install process that I went through to install the springs. Enjoy!

Below are a few pictures showing the GW spring next to the Eaton spring. If you look closely, you can see that the GW spring is much heavier duty. And the weight is obvious as well (the GW spring is a good bit heavier).

Here is a picture of the shackle kit that comes with the GW CAT5 springs. The blue is the Del-A-Lum bushing. The white is the plastic insert. The shackles themselves are VERY heavy duty! About 1/4" thick, and the bolts are welded to the plates.

This next shot shows the first step (after removing the original springs, obviously!:). You have to install the Del-A-Lum bushing into the frame rail. Here, I have just pushed it in by hand.

You can't push the bushing in by hand, so I used a threaded rod and the original shackle plates to 'pull' it in. Worked great! Just make certain the frame rail hole is clean. You can only pull it so far, though, as shown here.

At this point, you need to use something to pull the bushing into. I happened to have a 2" holesaw, and it worked perfectly. Here you can see that the left side (outside) is pulled in flush.

And voila! There it is in place! :)

Now the plastic sleeve goes in. Be sure to grease it first! :)

The next step is to get ready to install the spring. (oh yeah, I screwed the grease fitting in too! :). This shot shows the upper shackle in place, ready for the spring.

Now stick the other shackle through the bushings in the rod end of the rear of the spring. You can't quite see the rod end, but you can at least see the bushings.

And after much contorting (installing them by yourself SUCKS! get some help!!!), here's how the rear shackles look once they are started in place.

Here's a shot of the front mount after the bushing is installed in place. I obviously attached the mount off the car, then screwed the 3 bolts into the body.

Remember I said how you could rotate the spring in an arc once it's mounted? Here are two shots to prove it! :)

And finally, let's tighten it all up! 70 ft-lb on the lower bolt, and just snug on the upper one. And it's all ready to set the axle back in place!