Barracuda spring sag in rear.

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jamesromeos

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Looking to put larger tires on my barracuda, the rear of the car appears to be sagging, wondering if there was an affordable means of either replacing the springs, or an add a leaf? I don't know.
 
I added a second long leaf from eye to eye on a 73 Dart I once had. It was a bit cheaper than other solutions.Didnt make much difference in ride height. But it didnt sag much either with hundreds of pounds of tools in there.
If its ride height you need, Im thinking theres only 2 solutions; 1) SS springs, or 2) a re-arch of the current springs.
But those 68 Bcuda wheelhouses are really big. I fit 325/50-15s in mine, at near stock ride height. 295s are easy.
 
Adding an extra leaf is proably the quickest, easiest, & cheapest way to help lift a corner of a vehicle or prevent sag. Re-arching will help as well, but it's going to be unpredictably temporary depending on the condition of the springs. Try to find a set of springs off a similar car and take the 2nd or 3rd leaf out and add it to yours. It should help an will last the longest, tying you over until you're ready to buy some new ones.
 
mine is a 65 Barracuda and I want to get more lift for bigger tires looking for cheap way as well . really don't like air shocks so looking at some rancho"s tommoro. don't know if recurving would been enough if any 1 has done this please write me pm. hide a custom shackle , get a recurve or just stay small wich I need more taller tire
 
jcuda said:
Re-arching will help as well, but it's going to be unpredictably temporary depending on the condition of the springs.
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Not so. I had a reputable spring shop add a 6th leaf and re-arch the original springs some 10 years ago and the stance remains the same.
 
Gabriel makes a nice shock with a spring raped around out side of it.maybe called a load leveling shock it will raise your car a minimum of 1".You can get set on ebay for around $80 bucks.
 
My '66 was sagging terribly, with huge shackles even, so I went with a new set from ESPO Springs N Things. +1" ride height. I wish I would have done the +2". I have 15" wheels on my '66. I gained 2.5" over the sagging height, and got rid of the shackles. They custom build you a set based on your car specs.
 
IMO, most of the suggestions here are band-aids. My recommendation is to replace the springs. Yes, it's not the cheapest option, but it is the most secure. There are plenty of vendors out there. I went to McVeigh Truck Springs for the set I put in the 73 on the recommendation of another FABO member. It solved the sagging problem and did not adversely affect ride quality.

My reservations about add-a-leaf and coil-over shocks are these. Both stiffen the rear suspension which makes the car understeer more. The coil-overs place more stress on the upper shock mount than they were designed to take which could lead to failure.

How big a tire can be mounted may depend on whether or not you move the spring inboard and how long the axle is hub-to-hub. I run 15x7 with 4¼" BS. The most I could get under the wheel wells on a 72 BBP disk brake Demon was a 235/60-15. It's very close to the outside edge of the wheel well in front and close to the spring in the back.
 
2 Darts said:
IMO, most of the suggestions here are band-aids. My recommendation is to replace the springs. Yes, it's not the cheapest option, but it is the most secure. There are plenty of vendors out there. I went to McVeigh Truck Springs for the set I put in the 73 on the recommendation of another FABO member. It solved the sagging problem and did not adversely affect ride quality.

My reservations about add-a-leaf and coil-over shocks are these. Both stiffen the rear suspension which makes the car understeer more. The coil-overs place more stress on the upper shock mount than they were designed to take which could lead to failure.

How big a tire can be mounted may depend on whether or not you move the spring inboard and how long the axle is hub-to-hub. I run 15x7 with 4¼" BS. The most I could get under the wheel wells on a 72 BBP disk brake Demon was a 235/60-15. It's very close to the outside edge of the wheel well in front and close to the spring in the back.
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Exactly. Buy the right springs. Everything else is a band aid. Yes, you may do ok having the springs re-arched, but that varies with the quality of the springs. Sometimes it works very well, other times they just sag back to where they were. Take a look at getting a new set of XHD's, or go to a set of ESPO springs and specify a +1" lift. They do 2"+ also, but keep in mind your current altitude is probably lower than stock- ie, even a +1 spring will lift your car more than 1". Anything related to shocks that lifts the back end of the car is asking for broken shock mounts. The shock mounts were not intended to support the weight of the car, just the force from the shocks.

Next on the list is- buy the right rims. Often times people jack up the back of the car to clear rims/tires that are either- 1. Too big for the stock spring location, so the tires have to hang out past the quarter and have the rear end of the car lifted, or 2. Have the wrong backspace.

Like that Demon, for example. With a 15" rim you can't do any better than 4.5" of backspace in the front, which means you're pretty well stuck with a 235. I'm kinda surprised you got anything bigger than a 225 to clear with a 4.25" backspace, it had to be close! But in the back, a 15x8" rim with 4.75" of backspace will allow you to run 275/60/15's. No problemo, been there, done that. No cutting, offsetting, or relocating necessary.
 
Ditto on the ESPO springs. they are cheap, come with a new pressed in front bushing and let the suspension work the way it is supposed to.

If you are taking the springs out, why not get the Mopar performance kit, take the housing to a shop and have the perches moved in 3/4 of an inch on both sides (kit comes with new perches). This gives you more clearance with no radical change. I'm still using 14 inch wheels, but it let me use 7" ralleys that I had made to mimic the stock wheel offset on the outside so all the new width is inside and the wheels look stock.
 
Wow, those are cheap. Dodge71demon how much are you asking? I assume shipping would kill me $ wise.
 
I put Espo springs in 10 years ago when I first got my car. One of the best investments I've done with a new gas tank and lines running a close second. If you're on a budget there's certain things you need to save for and do right. tmm
 

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Another vote for Espo put a pair in a previous duster stance was nice...have the Mopar xhd in my current duster(the ones that were made here not Mexico)..shocks wrapped with springs or air shocks are just a "band-aid"..put the new leaf spings in it:D:D
 
I am just going to order a set. They look really affordable, I thought I would be looking at 425 at least.
 
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