Installed SS Springs, now the car sits uneven

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71_Demon

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I installed the 002 and 003 SS leaf springs form summit and now my rearend does not sit evenly. If you look at the car from the rear it appears that the passenger side is about 1" higher than the drivers side. I verified that the springs were on the correct side (003 is the drivers side spring, and 002 should be the passengers side).

My shackle angle is also not helping. The shackles are extended forward (towards the front of the car).

Anyone else experience this?
 
Yes. First the springs will settle a little bit. They come down. Also, when you sit in the car, the added weight of yourself will help even out the rear since your on that side. Also remember that the springs are biased.
Is your battery in the trunk on the passenger side? That would be more weight on the drooping side.

The rear shackles? Your saying the top of the shackles are pointing towards the front of the car?
That would be Good. Or normal. If they were straight up and down, that would be OK. If the tops were pointing towards the rear, that would be bad.

Once you drive this around some and break in the springs first made stiuffness, everything will change slightly.
 
To clarify...the car is sitting higher on the passenger side. And to clarify my shackles are pointing forward, meaning the bottom of the shackle (spring eyelet side) is forward of the top of the shackle (frame mount)...

Thanks...
 
71_Demon said:
To clarify...the car is sitting higher on the passenger side. And to clarify my shackles are pointing forward, meaning the bottom of the shackle (spring eyelet side) is forward of the top of the shackle (frame mount)...

Thanks...
Click to expand...

Those shackles should be the other way.....you need to shim out the mount so the top of the shackle is forward of the bottom of the shackle. That is normal for SS springs to make the car look like it is leaning......Are you sure you don't have the springs on the wrong sides? I thought the left side was supposed to sit higher?
 
Some of the springs have a preload on the right side to compensate for engine torque, does the right side have one more leaf than the left?
 
I will check the spring count when I get home. I did verify the springs were on the correct sides 003 - drivers (left), 002 - passengers (right). I guess it would make sense to have one preloaded more than the other to account for engine torque.. the right side (high side) is the drive wheel.. I have had them on for about a month, however due to engine issues.. I have only put about 5 miles on the springs.
 
UGH! I hate that. 5 miles. Best of luck in getting the car up and in order. I've never delt with the shackles in that position. How is it shimmed out dusteb?
 
Counted the leafs and it appears that both sides have 4 leafs. The passenger side has the smaller bottom leafs offset farther forward I assume this is to counter axle wrap? I guess I will just wait and see how the leafs settle after putting some more miles on them.
 
I have made blocks to shim them out......these are the blocks a friend made to show me how to do it:

shacle_blocks.jpg
 
Hey, if you read your Mopar Performance catalog on both the SS springs and the XHD's it will tell you that the rear will sit higher on the right. All of the Hi-Po's from the factory sat that way also. (At least the specialty package cars.) The right spring should have at least an extra half leaf in it. And it is supposed to counter the torque of the motor.

Revhendo
 
The right spring is arched slightly tighter with the lower leafs a bit further forward. This makes the pass side sit up a couple inches higher and offsets the driveline torque tending to pull down the pass side harder, which helps keep the car straight and level on launch.

Not sure why your shackles didn't come in right, though. Supposed to be a straight bolt-on. Didn't some years around that time have a long wheelbase option with certain drivetrain combos? That woudl explain it.

Anyway, if I were in this situation I'd look at shimming it out up front. Depending on your fabrication skills and resources, you could weld in custom front spring hanger/torque boxes and beef up the front spring mounts where it really counts. You'd also probably want a longer driveshaft to go along with it. A more costly time-consuming option, but definitely worth it if you ever plan on making serious power.

Have you checked to see how the existing driveshaft mates up yet? I guess my point is, it looks like you might otherwise end up having a long wheelbase car riding on a short wheelbase with these springs. Probably not a good thing.

Just a few observations, could be completely offbase...
 
If he put these on a Demon as his name suggests it should be a 108" WB car.....but you brought up a very good point about the driveshaft......Did you check the pinion angle after you installed the springs?
 
Mine is the same way... I put these springs in 2 years ago, and they've only settled a little bit.

1000829_G.jpg
 
I havn't measured the pinion angle, but just from looking at it it seems fine. I have done a bit of work with Jeep drivelines and suspension fab, I assume a-bodys are similar. You would want the pinion to be positive about 5 degrees so when it is under load the pinion will rotate downwards and line up with the driveline?

I will probably end up fabbing some spacers for the rear shackle mount so that my shackles are setup right. I don't really want to spring for a new driveline now if I don't have to... This setup should be adequate for the time-being because I only have a mildly modified 318 in this car.

As far as the rear being un-even I can live with this as long as I know this is how it is supposed to be :)

Thanks everyone for your help.
 
I am in the process of installing the same springs right now. I also have run into the same problems. Does anyone have an idea of how much spacer you need to install? Any frabrication ideas? Just for reference I'm installing these on my 68 Dart. Thanks Jeff
 
No, you want the pinion negative - it climbs, or goes up under torque. How much depends on the rest of your setup, but with SS Springs 5 degrees "negative" (Down) should be more than enough.
 
We put the SS 002 and 003 springs on my boys Dart early last year and it sits higher but it didn't sit as high as I thought it might. This is his car with SS springs and no spacers on it. Ron

96473376.jpg
 
383man you are right. The 68 Darts don't need spacers on the shackles. Thanks for the help. Jeff
 
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