Super Stock or Stock Style Leaf Springs for my 69 Barracuda.

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TimS

TimS

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Getting ready to order some new leaf springs for my 69 Barracuda Fastback 383 4 speed car. Some of you may be aware of my posting in other forums concerning my hard shake at take off sitting till in 1st gear. I know the super stock springs will raise the rear of the car a bit, which I need for the P295 50 15's I have on the rear. Looking for opinions on the best way to go. According to Summit and Jegs I won't need to change the front hangers on this car for the super stock springs. I will need some longer rear shocks though. The super stockers have 8 leafs, the stock ones 5, which is less than the original ones on the car now that have 6. My concerns with the super stock springs has to do with a real stiff ride and the ride height being too high.

Anyone have experience with these and a preference one way or the other? Thanks !

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if it were my car i'd go with a set of 383 abody springs from eaton. you can call pete at Bergman Auto Craft - Home of the Modern Muscle Car for the finer details about those springs. i have a stock height on our dart and they are nice. i believe you can get them higher then stock if you want also.. most don't like them because they are aren't cheap.

at the very least i'd put a set of espo 6 leaf springs on it. you can get those in +1" or +2" heights if you wanted higher then stock.

unless its going to be raced a lot i see no need to put S/S springs on it. but hey thats my opinion.
 
I put the 002 and 003 Super Stock springs on my Dart Sport and i love them.
But then again, i'm old school and love the jacked up look on the back end, plus they aren't as harsh riding as most claim......firm, but not harsh.
I did buy the longer shocks from MP as well.
One side (passenger side) sits higher than the other out of the box, but you can adjust the torsion bars to make up for that if desired.
The spring hanger on the front had to be drilled out to 5/8'' from 1/2'' and 2 new bolts had to be bought, other than that, they bolted right in.
I bought mine from Jeg's, and they were pretty cheap.
They work well too i may add, but they aren't for cornering, that's for sure......
JMHO.
Tom.
 
I put Hotchkis springs on mine, it's my profile so you can see the rake, changed front hangers because they send new hangers with the springs but more than likely you have to remove your originals anyway to get the front spring hanger bolt out, they are in backwards from the factory so if the nut loosens up the bolt won't fall out causing a wreck. Espo was two weeks to make the springs and weren't very helpful so that's why I went with Hotchkis, glad I did, the car rides nice and it's not too low or high, plus they came with all new hardware and bushings. Will post a pic, my driveway is sloped so it makes the car look level but on flat ground it is raked.

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Carnut76 said:
I put Hotchkis springs on mine, it's my profile so you can see the rake, changed front hangers because they send new hangers with the springs but more than likely you have to remove your originals anyway to get the front spring hanger bolt out, they are in backwards from the factory so if the nut loosens up the bolt won't fall out causing a wreck. Espo was two weeks to make the springs and weren't very helpful so that's why I went with Hotchkis, glad I did, the car rides nice and it's not too low or high, plus they came with all new hardware and bushings. Will post a pic, my driveway is sloped so it makes the car look level but on flat ground it is raked.

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good looking cars! PM sent
 
I run two left SS springs so it sits level. It doesn't sit high, but it is a heavy convertible (3700 Lbs). The ride is firm but OK. It matches up well with Firm Feels 1.06 torsion bars.
 
I run 002 & 003 with the longer MP shocks and don't have any problem with the ride. and don't notice any ride height difference but they have been on the car for 15 years now

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If you're still getting the "hard shake" (likely wheel-hop) on hard launches, get the stiffest shocks you can - 9-way Rancho or Cal-Tracs. The harder a car launches, the stiffer the shocks need to be to control spring wrap-up & un-wrap. You will likely still spin, but it will be smooth.
 
If you think the shake is from the springs, just C-clamp or F-clamp them; 2 on the front , 2 or 3 on the back.You know, carpenters clamps. That should lock the springs up pretty tight. Maybe get a helper to put eyes on it while you take off.
-Of all the Mopars I have had, I have yet to experience wheel-hop.Even cars with 6 cylinder springs and healthy teeners with sticks.Or even my 420hp-360 and worn out and sagged 318 springs. I currently still have those teener springs with a nearly full main leaf added, eye to eye. They're a 2.2 60ft, but sweet street springs.
-I just hate to see you spend money where it might not be needed.Or maybe they don't solve the problem.That would be a downer.
 
AJ/FormS said:
If you think the shake is from the springs, just C-clamp or F-clamp them; 2 on the front , 2 or 3 on the back.You know, carpenters clamps. That should lock the springs up pretty tight. Maybe get a helper to put eyes on it while you take off.
-Of all the Mopars I have had, I have yet to experience wheel-hop.Even cars with 6 cylinder springs and healthy teeners with sticks.Or even my 420hp-360 and worn out and sagged 318 springs. I currently still have those teener springs with a nearly full main leaf added, eye to eye. They're a 2.2 60ft, but sweet street springs.
-I just hate to see you spend money where it might not be needed.Or maybe they don't solve the problem.That would be a downer.
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What I did to narrow my issue down is totally disassemble and inspect the new Mcleod clutch setup from Brewers. I also resurfaced the flywheel again and measured it for flatness. All was good but I resurfaced anyway. Also replaced the front bearing in the transmission. Still shook. I then borrowed a set of traction bars from a good friend of mine and placed those on the car with the snubbers contacting the springs. No shake at all after doing that. 1st time in the 10 months I've had the car. I then removed them to prove I could turn this on and off. Shook after removal.

On the rear I had added a MP adjustable snubber and clamped the springs at the front. Still shook. I didn't clamp at the back though. It just appears the springs are weak and wrap too easily. It even shakes on light take off.
 
Locomotion said:
If you're still getting the "hard shake" (likely wheel-hop) on hard launches, get the stiffest shocks you can - 9-way Rancho or Cal-Tracs. The harder a car launches, the stiffer the shocks need to be to control spring wrap-up & un-wrap. You will likely still spin, but it will be smooth.
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I'm getting shake on light take off as well. It's just real radical on hard launches.
 
TimS said:
I'm getting shake on light take off as well. It's just real radical on hard launches.
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I really didn't think it was the rear till I tried the traction bar test. This car still has the original 6 leaves on each side as well.
 
If you go the SS route buy Mancini racings springs. Better quality than MP.
 
AJ/FormS said:
Looks like you've done your due-diligence then.Good work.
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Kudos to the A body community as well for all the help and ideas just talking thru all the possibilities. This old fella has learned more about clutches and suspensions during this ordeal. Brewers Performance and Dr Diff in Montana as well.

My plan at this point is to get two Drivers side SS springs with the 6 leaves. Just to make sure the rear is at the same level after install.
 
Jegs does sell shocks.
After yours are installed, measure the pin to pin length, at ride height. Then shop for a shock that puts that measurement close to the center of the shocks range of travel. For instance; say your pin to pin comes in at 18.5 inches, and you find a shock that is 15 compressed and 22 extended. That 18.5 puts you dead center of that shock's travel.Then you probably want an adjustable shock, cuz you drive mostly street, but want to occasionally drag-race it. These are normally two different shocks; but one adjustable one, may cover both bases.
I think 72bluNblu talked about this, in a different, recent thread.
I have some 40 year old 3-way Munroe-matics, that do neither very well, but they just won't wear out; and I hate to retire them until they do. If I had a teener, I woulda had to swap them out decades ago. But with 420 hp, they are kindof fun, and I'm not sad about the 2.2- 60fts.
 
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I see. I wondered if I could just find a B or a C body shock that might do the trick as well.

I also wish someone made a non expensive setup similar to a Mustang or Camaro you could buy that would bolt in place of the shock plate and extend with a snubber to the front of the leaf spring. Like the Caltrac units. They are just so darn expensive though a person my as well buy new springs. I only shake at takeoff. The rest of the time all is good.

Jegs has blemished universal traction bars for 20 bucks but I can't run my 295 50 15's with em. The mounting bracket areas are too wide. I would have to cut about half of the rear mount vertically and redrill the inner side hole to make them work. They hang pretty low in the rear area too.
 
Dartnut said:
I put the 002 and 003 Super Stock springs on my Dart Sport and i love them.
But then again, i'm old school and love the jacked up look on the back end, plus they aren't as harsh riding as most claim......firm, but not harsh.
I did buy the longer shocks from MP as well.
One side (passenger side) sits higher than the other out of the box, but you can adjust the torsion bars to make up for that if desired.
The spring hanger on the front had to be drilled out to 5/8'' from 1/2'' and 2 new bolts had to be bought, other than that, they bolted right in.
I bought mine from Jeg's, and they were pretty cheap.
They work well too i may add, but they aren't for cornering, that's for sure......
JMHO.
Tom.
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Tom, Thanks for the info. Did you only have to drill out the front hangers and not the rears as well? Did adjusting the torsion bars up to compensate for the offset rear height on the RH side affect the car ride any? I haven't ordered yet. I'm trying to decide if I want to go with 2 of the 003's with 6 leaves or do as you did.
 
Another 002/003 guy here. 70 dart, dead even ride height with zero torsion bar tweaking. Ride quality is great, not harsh at all. Running the longer Mopar shocks to match, jegs has them.... drilled front hanger to 5/8" and used B-body bolts ...
 
65-440 said:
Another 002/003 guy here. 70 dart, dead even ride height with zero torsion bar tweaking. Ride quality is great, not harsh at all. Running the longer Mopar shocks to match, jegs has them.... drilled front hanger to 5/8" and used B-body bolts ...
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Got my 003 springs today. Was planning to run these on both sides. I notice they have 5 leaves. I thought they would have 6. Is the 5 correct. How many does the 002 spring have?
 
TimS said:
Got my 003 springs today. Was planning to run these on both sides. I notice they have 5 leaves. I thought they would have 6. Is the 5 correct. How many does the 002 spring have?
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Make sure that the bushings for the front of the spring are centered. We recently got a set where the bushing was not pushed in all the way. It's a press fit from the manufacturer, and we couldn't get it to move ourselves without special equipment...
 
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