Hello gentlemen! Picked up some rear wheels for my valiant over the weekend. 15x8 centerlines with some street slicks, paid $150 for the pair. Anyways I measured the back spacing and appeared to be about 5 inches. I've read on the forums here you need about 4 1/2 of back spacing with an 8 3/4 with bbp axles, so i kinda knew going through with this deal I would more then likely need to use wheel spacers. So I put them on to get an idea of how close they'd be to the leafs, drive side has some space not exactly enough for me to feel comfortable driving with. So then I put on the passenger side and it's touching the passenger side leaf spring. So my question is being that I put this rear end in this car was that something I did wrong when installing it? Or was it common for the leaf spring purchases to be a little off on one side?
8 3/4 leaf spring purchases
- Thread starter Sam_318
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Very common to see those kind of differences. The next car will be different still.
Projectile Dart
Well-Known Member
The tolerances of these cars is wild from the factory.
I think it was here that I saw a post where someone was the 2nd owner of their A body and had bought it low miles like 2 or 3 years old in the late 60s/early 70s and had never been in an accident. They had never had issues driving it or aligning it but only recently did they decide to measure the wheelbase on each side of the car and they found that one side was over an inch longer than the other. It's just how it is on these cars unfortunately
I think it was here that I saw a post where someone was the 2nd owner of their A body and had bought it low miles like 2 or 3 years old in the late 60s/early 70s and had never been in an accident. They had never had issues driving it or aligning it but only recently did they decide to measure the wheelbase on each side of the car and they found that one side was over an inch longer than the other. It's just how it is on these cars unfortunately
Good to hear! Bit worried it was something I did lol
I seriously doubt it. Although some advice. IF you replace the spring perches, DO NOT use the Mopar Performance perches. As stupid as it sounds, the locating holes in them are too big. They are the wrong size. They should be 1/2" but they are either 5/8" or 3/4".....I cannot remember which, but they are wrong.
So my next question roughly how much room would I gain if I was to install one of those kits that brings the leafs in? Not to fawn of the idea of using wheel spacers , not that i think this car is too fast for them to be an issue. But I would like to fit a wider wheel on this car eventually so I'm kinda debating if that would be worth more of the investment.
I'll keep that in mind thanks.
doug 371
Well-Known Member
Those look like 7" to me...there is no 8 they are 8.5
I wouldn't doubt it, the guy I bought them from said that they were 15x8 but he also didn't know what bolt pattern they were and the bs.
doug 371
Well-Known Member
Still very nice and great price
doug 371
Well-Known Member
What kind of axles and brakes do you have?
The axles i got from Dr diff and the rear brakes are a cheap disc conversion from speedway.
Locomotion
Well-Known Member
5/8" - I have a new set.
Did original SS springs come with a bigger bolt/nut combo or special locating pin?
That's a good question and point and one that I don't know the answer to. I've always wondered why. I know the MP SS springs and other variants have the 1/2" bolt. But I don't know about the original versions.
Locomotion
Well-Known Member
I think you meant 1/2" diameter "nut"?
No, the nut is on the bottom of the spring. The end of the bolt on top is what locates the perches on the springs. If I remember right, the threaded part is 3/8" and the nut size is 9/16", but the "post" end is what locates the perches.
Myron, it just now hit me you probably thought I was talkin about the threaded part of the bolt bein 1/2". lol I meant the post end that goes into the perches.
Locomotion
Well-Known Member
Yea, picture is worth a thousand words. I was visualizing the rounded "post/dowel" end but was too unsure if it was correct or how it all fit together. I think I replaced a broken one a long time ago and used a conventional bolt/nut, which clouded my memory even more......and caused a loose fit issue.
Bud, I can totally relate to "clouded memory" the older I get. LOL
doug 371
Well-Known Member
half inch per side
JDMopar
Well-Known Member
The sad part about that is, the MP perches are stronger than the Mickey Mouse perches you can buy elsewhere, and much cheaper. Why they made the hugemongous hole is beyond me. It looks like they would have made it standard size. It's a whole lot easier to drill one out bigger than it is to make a bushing and weld it in to make it smaller.
LST46
Well-Known Member
If you decide to move the springs inward to gain clearance the only way to correctly do it is to completely disassemble the rearend and use a rearend jig while you weld on the new perches because the heat from welding will warp the rearend. I wouldn’t have thought it could affect something so rigid as a rearend housing until I actually witnessed it but welding can warp a housing a lot
Good to know, looks like I'll be getting 1/2 inch spacers for the time being. Or seeing if they will fit my 73 d100.
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