Just the Details....Date Codes on Mustang Rear Leaf Springs

Mustang Leaf Spring Date Code Stamping Location on a 1965 Mustang

We have received a few recent inquiries about where to find and how to decode date codes on Mustang rear leaf springs.  Here are a few examples from a 1965 Mustang.

The first picture shows the location of the Ford engineering number and date code stamping.  The date coding uses a Julian Date, which is the day of the year.  For example:  In the picture below, the "123E5" stamping represents the 123rd day of 1965.  That is May 3, 1965.  

Here are two handy links for a calendar and Julian Date chart:

http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/?year=1965

http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/partners/fepp/julian-calendar.pdf

1965 Mustang Rear Leaf Spring Stamping

The spring shown above has the number for a K Code / High Performance Fastback or Convertible model.

By the way, we have had very good luck with the rear leaf springs that we handle.  We have sold hundreds of sets, and they even have the correct tapered and rounded leaves like the originals, unlike many replacement ones on the market.  The ride height works out very well on all models too.

Mustang Rear Spring / Shock Mounting Plates

1965 and 1966 Rear Shock Mounting Plate.
www.VirginiaClassicMustang.com

We have seen so many of the Mustang rear leaf spring / rear shock mounting plates that are heavily pitted, bent, or cut.  We have great looking reproductions of these plates for both the 65-66 model Mustangs and the 67-70 Mustangs.

They are very heavy stamped steel parts like the originals.  Here are the part numbers with links:

ER-241L  1965-66 Mustang LH Rear Shock Mounting Plate

ER-241R  1965-66 Mustang RH Rear Shock Mounting Plate

ER-52L    1967-70 Mustang LH Rear Shock Mounting Plate

ER-52R   1967-70 Mustang RH Rear Shock Mounting Plate

1967-70 Rear Shock Mounting Plate.
www.VirginiaClassicMustang.com

Mustang Rear End U-Bolts with Nuts

We now have the Exact Rear Axle U-Bolts listed in our new 2009 Catalog. These U-Bolts are sold as a set of 4 (enough for one car) and include the correctly plated, flange style lock nuts for the particular application. Again, these bolts are exactly like the originals and include the flattened areas along the inside and outside of the curved part.

The following applications are available:

SU501 65-66 Mustang

SU502 67 Mustang

SU503 68-69 Mustang

SU504 70-73 Mustang

Please note that we still have the generic style bolts that work fine and include flange style lock nuts.

Mustang Rear Leaf Spring Anti-Squeak Pad

This is a really small part, but it is rather unique. It's the pad that goes between the leafs of the rear spring. This is a "must have" part if you are restoring, rather than replacing your springs. They are made exactly like the originals. They are made from black nylon which is more durable than the originals. These pads have not been available from Ford for a while now. There are 4 of them required per spring (8 per car.)

Order part number SU49.

Rear Leaf Spring Centering Bolts

These Rear Leaf Spring Centering Bolts are certainly very unique parts. It is almost impossible to find used ones in good condition. They are now in stock, and they are exactly like the originals. Our leaf springs come with very similar bolts already installed, but the heads on the bolts are not as tall as the original ones.

This picture shows the bolts in our leaf springs (head is not as tall as original.)

Now, the question is exactly what do these bolts do? Well, they obviously hold the leaves of the springs together, but they are really centering bolts. They just "center" the leaf springs to the pad on the rear end housing (see picture with arrow.) This "centering" is just that-they just center or "line up" the leaf spring assembly. They serve no major purpose in holding the springs in the Mustang. The front bolts, rear shackle kits and U-bolts do this job.



Click here to order the bolts.