Cheapest way to get an inch or 2...

Cheapest way to get an inch or 2....rear lift...

  • New springs

    Votes: 49 38.6%

  • Re-arched old springs

    Votes: 19 15.0%

  • Air shocks

    Votes: 59 46.5%
  • Total voters
    127
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I know you don't want to concider longer shackles, but I had mine made for just a few dollars, they're still not below the body line, and gave me that "inch or 2" I needed on my Duster.

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65Val said:
To all the nay-sayers... If you had read the OP's message, he said he was looking for an inch or 2 lift, so that's hardly the weight of the whole car on the shock mounts.

Just for the record, I have Monroe air shocks on my Dart as we speak, and with less than 40lbs of air,they give me the inch or 2 lift I want, and ride great!!

Yes, I will agree if you put 300lbs of air in them, the cars' gonna ride like a stagecoach.
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I keep 45lbs in mine and they will work till I can find a GOOD place to buy new springs... not SS!! I want what should be on a 66 Valiant..
I have well over 3 years on my Monroe American made air shocks, I pumped them up to 90lbs and slowly let the air out to keep the car at a level ride height and not send extra lbs to the front end.
Has there been a good supplier posted here yet for springs for ower needs ?
 
66plyValiant said:
okay let me rephrase that; if you put 40 or so PSI in the shocks and it lifts the car a couple inches you don't think there is 300-400 pounds or more riding on the upper shock mounts? cars that were made to handle weight on the upper shock mounts had big mounts on the top and something called a strut
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Ok, how about coil-over shocks people use to get the extra lift?...don't they put the same "stress" on the upper mounts?

shocks help with rebound; struts hold weight on a car like A bodies shocks shouldn't be used to lift a car any
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How about tightly valved rally shocks...they also put extra "stress" on the mounts.

air shocks cost what? $100? for that price you can get 2 add a leafs and the U bolts and put an extra leaf in either side
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Extra leafs will surely make it ride rougher.

I guess we'll just have to "agree to disagree"
 
Air shocks put a lot of loading to the crossmember and it was not designed for that my best friend broke his in half on his roadrunner back in the day . It also unloads the leafsprings causing wheelhop ...but if you run less then 30 psi there ok
 
65Val said:
Extra leafs will surely make it ride rougher.
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Actually it doesn't unless you over do it because it is helping the weak springs that are on the car. Isn't that what the issue is that the issue causing you to ask about modifications? I have done that modification all my life on all cars that had leaf springs with great success. Even MaMopar offered different amounts of leafs on the same car depending on what you ordered.
 
65Val said:
Extra leafs will surely make it ride rougher.
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Most of these old girls could use some stiffening. I can't wait to get the "new front end" under mine because I scored a set of 1" bars awhile back. The rear of mine is just about exactly what I want.
 
Guess I'm just OLD school, I like the look of the longer shackles. Guess it brings me back. I don't mind air shocks either, just don't air em' up too much.
 
I found a set of used SS Springs for my Duster, they raised me more than 2 inches but then again my old standard duty springs were probably sagging a bit. Search for super stock springs on here and there is a thread that shows a bunch of A-bodies with them to give you an idea of how high the rear will get.

I ran air shocks in a 79 Malibu for 25 yrs and towed a boat with them with far more than 60lbs of air in them, ran them at 25lbs when not loaded. Never had a problem, car road great. Duster actually had them for a short time early in it's life when it towed an aluma-craft in the 70's, never had a problem. There are horror stories of broken shock mounts but keep in mind those areas see a fair amount of load when they are being loaded by standard shocks on a rough road. Air shocks never fully support the load of the vehicle. Many luxury cars with them as standard fair (load levelers).

Helper springs might be the easiest, cheapest route if you do not want to search for used stuff. Never used them, but they will raise the rear of your vehicle JC Whitney style.

I think looking for a good pair of used heavy duty or SS springs would be the most cost effective and permanent fix.

Had extended shackles on a 69 Camaro, made it handle like it had two flat tires.
 
New SS springs 294 plus tax delivered to what was Ensign Motors here in Victoria , half the price of what WestShore will charge to add a leaf and re arch
 
d5667 said:
Take two leaves out of a 72-80 dodge truck,put them in the a body spring pack.Probably raise it more than two,but they do look good.
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Yea, what he said.
I used Diplomat springs.
Head's up. I'm sure I read in Shepherd's chasis book that to get the best handling Chrysler designed springs to be flat at ride load.
(AARs and T/As excepted. They had a slight arch to clear the side pipes.)
Some day, I'm going to go through the book again and be sure I haven't made this up.
Also, If you make your rear end stiffer you will increase tendency to oversteer.
 
Very interesting thread. My Scamp needs at least a few inches in the rear just to get things level.

Are air bags really a good, safe option? Anybody know how expensive something like this would run?

My ultimate goal is to have a nice aggressive stance.....and I'm a long way from that. I am on a limited budget, so I admit that air shocks might be my only option.
 
d5667 said:
Take two leaves out of a 72-80 dodge truck,put them in the a body spring pack.Probably raise it more than two,but they do look good.
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Sorry, but in my opinion, air shocks have no place on a performance car. One main problem is that if they are used to allow the use of wider tires, if the air line fails, the car becomes undriveable. I once had air shocks on a Dart because the wheels I used stuck outside the wheelwell. Hey, I was 17 at the time and thought it looked cool. The air line rested against the exhaust and the car sunk down atop the tires. I had to get 2 spare tires to drive the car home.

Replacing individual leafs would work, but you will need to be careful there too. The main leaf in most A bodies isn't very thick. The second leaf only extends to within 7-8 inches from the shackle. If you use stiff truck springs in your spring pack, try to use a leaf that extends further rearward to the shackle. The 7-8" of unsupported main leaf can and will bend if the rest of the spring section is too stiff. SOMEthing has to give.
 
65Val said:
Discussion on another list.....

Cheapest/easiest way to get an inch or 2 rear lift...

1. New springs

2. Re-arched old springs

3. Air shocks

Don't forget...all I'm asking is for an inch or 2 rear-end lift, not a foot!

( I purposely omitted longer shackles as they look terrible.)

OK...Have At'r!
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Reinsert the bottom with Durango/Dakota leafs that what I did to my 66 70 for the leafs at the junk yard took about 1/2 day that was installing the new rear end too gave me about 2"
 
I have to admit I have not read the entire thread but I don't recall you saying how you planned on using the car, street or strip. If you are looking for a performance boost and no it's not the cheapest, but hey you've been looking for 6 months you might try Calvert Mono-Split from http://calvertracing.com/ . They are available in stock ride height -1 inch and +1 inch. If it's performance your after you might want to re-think cheap, if it's ride height and the cool factor their are cheaper way's to go. They do need to paired up with the right shocks. Pretty good thread here http://www.bigblockdart.com/forum/showthread.php?20760-Caltracs-or-Mopar-Super-Stock Good luck how ever you go and show us pics.
 
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6pk2goDemon said:
Here is one more option for you. These are still available from Monroe, but are special order at most part supply houses. The price shown is for a pair, so not really too expensive.

They will raise the rear of your car about an inch or so (if it is sagging due to weak leaf springs) and ride much better than air shocks.

Just another idea to consider. They can also be returned if you are not happy with them. I would order them thru your local parts house so that shipping or returns are not an issue.

http://www.shockwarehouse.com/site/product.cfm?id=18124
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This one has them due to the tow package, when I chanced them to new ones they lifted the back a few inches.
 

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When I got my Demon it had the air shocks on them and I actually like them to raise the rear just an inch or two using around 30 pounds of air. The springs are stock and not worn out and the air shocks just add a little stance to it.
 

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6pk2goDemon said:
Here is one more option for you. These are still available from Monroe, but are special order at most part supply houses. The price shown is for a pair, so not really too expensive.

They will raise the rear of your car about an inch or so (if it is sagging due to weak leaf springs) and ride much better than air shocks.

Just another idea to consider. They can also be returned if you are not happy with them. I would order them thru your local parts house so that shipping or returns are not an issue.

http://www.shockwarehouse.com/site/product.cfm?id=18124
Click to expand...

Make sure there is plenty of clearance between the coils and the gas tank lip. My first car was a 65 Dart. I pulled the tank out from under the car @ 55mph after a set of railroad tracks. Not good but I kept going to get out of it's way. I was lucky it didn't explode behind me. tmm
 
cannucky said:
Great link thanks I've been thinking of adding a little bit to the back of my car , mainly for when I make the long road trips with the trunk full of tools and extra fuel
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LOL. I was thinking the cheapest way would be to take some weight off it.
 
I took some middle leaves out of a set of B body springs, that worked really well for me.
 
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