69 Dart - relocate rear leafs ?

famous bob said:

This is the craziest thing I ever read , DRILLING A HOLE WOULD BE PUTTING THE DAM THING INSIDE THE FRAME
What kind of car are u talking about ??

We need pics -----------

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famous bob said:

This is the craziest thing I ever read , DRILLING A HOLE WOULD BE PUTTING THE DAM THING INSIDE THE FRAME
What kind of car are u talking about ??

We need pics -----------

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AndyF said:

It is a domino effect. Once you start moving stuff around you have to keep moving stuff until it all fits again. Don't start the project unless you know what you're getting into. It took me two years of work to get this A body back up and running after moving everything around.

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mopowers said:

I said drill one hole per side for the shackle mount bracket. Only one new hole is needed per side because if you flip the bracket (or swap sides - I can't remember) one of the factory holes is still usable. This works with all A bodies. Think about it - if you move the bracket over 1/2"-3/4", whatever you want to call it, offset shackles or not needed. I will try to remember to take a picture when I get home today. Again - Dr. Diff recommended this trick. No pricey offset kit necessary!

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mopowers said:

A little creativity goes a long way. There are extra holes already drilled in the frame. Just gotta move the bracket over and make some holes line up.

68 Dart with modified bracket to move the springs inboard 5/8".
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66 Dart for reference. Notice the extra holes from the factory. Ignore the inboard shackles and clearance notch.
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famous bob said:

u still have to move the axle pads and front hangars . Just moving the back isn`t all there is to it .

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jtkaaa07 said:

Depend's on your skill level, my car is far from hacked up or junk! I didn't need to go as narrow as I did with my housing, but did it because I may go with a wider rim and tire setup in the future. In my opinion these car should have all had the mini tub's from factory, that stupid lip in the wheel tub makes no sense. And as far as offset shackles go, your rear end is still the same width, so what are you gaining by going with an offset shackle?? I gaurantee you would never have got any bigger than a 245-255 under my car with the offset I had, the problem is with the axle housing length. If you don't feel that you are capable of doing this, than by all means don't, and try the other options. All I can say a lot of Dart's I see at car shows have the the mini tubs done.

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jtkaaa07 said:

This is a general idea of what any good exhaust guy can do with your tailpipes. We have an A body guy that owns an exhaust shop locally who can do whatever you want. I have dumps on mine, always did, so I never worried about tail pipes.

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mopowers said:

I said drill one hole per side for the shackle mount bracket. Only one new hole is needed per side because if you flip the bracket (or swap sides - I can't remember) one of the factory holes is still usable. This works with all A bodies. Think about it - if you move the bracket over 1/2"-3/4", whatever you want to call it, offset shackles or not needed. I will try to remember to take a picture when I get home today. Again - Dr. Diff recommended this trick. No pricey offset kit necessary!

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mopowers said:

Absolutely. You can move the front brackets over just as easily. No fancy kit needed. In fact, if you use countersunk front spring bolts, you can pretty much butt the front bracket to the frame just by re-drilling a few holes.

The only other thing that needs to be done is moving the spring perches on the axle housing.

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jtkaaa07 said:

I have the USCT spring relocation kit and mini tub kit on my 69 dart and love it! They make high quality products, and yes you can put some major tire on after doing this. Personally I didn’t like the offset shackles, I just think they would possibly bind. I put a 275/60/15 under mine and there is stil a pile of room. Springs are 36” apart and I shorted my housing down to 48” flange to flange

Jeff

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RustyRatRod said:

"I guess" it all depends on how hot the car is and how often it will see the strip. If it will see the strip a good bit, there's no substitute for the slap biggest tire you can stuff under it and that means moving the springs into the frame rails and mini tubs. But if all you're lookin for is more of a look kinda thing with maybe the occasional trip down the strip, then the relocation kit might work for you. They don't make both kits for nuthin.

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