Ok, I'm done. You're makin this so much more difficult than it ever needed to be.
Leaf spring help
- Thread starter mopower440
- Start date
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mopower440
Well-Known Member
Look at these springs that general spring offers for the A-body..several with 5/8 eye and one with the 1/2 eye. Pete said the 1/2 was stock on A-bodies and i think aftermarket sizing is 5/8?
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mopower440
Well-Known Member
cmon man, what do you mean? ?Look at the kit, it has special flat headed bolts on that front hanger to get it close to the frame..I dont think i can find that same thing in 5/8 as he makes these kits..
Then do what everybody else did before the fancy flat headed bolts. Mark the frame rail and drill a hole in it for the bolt head. People have been doin it for decades. Oh and General Spring has TWO part numbers with 5/8 front bolts.
mopower440
Well-Known Member
ok, i didnt realize thats what has been done in the past..first time doing this so please bare with me..without yalls help i wouldnt be doing it..I know general spring has the 2 part numbers for the 5/8 springs, thats what im probably going to get is their 2.5 added height spring and if its too high, use the second set of holes on that mount.
mopowers
Well-Known Member
With a little creativity and old fashioned hotrodding, you can do almost everything that $500 kit does for free.
..and if you don't want to do that, then take a hacksaw and cut the bolt heads thinner. Heck, do I gotta come drink your coffee for you too? LOL
Yeah and certainly in no way shape form or fashion am I knocking anything Bergman has, but IMO, he doesn't need all the spring slider stuff.
mopowers
Well-Known Member
I get that some people like bolt-in options. But to install that kit, you still have to doing some cutting and welding. At that point, few re-drilled holes and you can re-use the stock front and rear hangers and damn near be $500 ahead - minus a set of axle saddles. To each their own I guess.
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mopower440
Well-Known Member
If you were closer and came to help, i would give you all the coffee you could drink..lol
I wish I was closer. I'd come help you out in a second.
mopower440
Well-Known Member
well explain..lol..Either way, i have to cut the perches off , move them over and weld them..
mopowers
Well-Known Member
Exactly. If you're looking to relocate your springs inward against the frame rail, re-drill the front hanger bolt holes inward. If you want to flip them to lower the ride height a little, be sure to account for the difference in bolt spacing on the hangers. For the rears, the bolt holes are offset. If I recall, you flip them and swap sides (or something like that), then you can reuse one the the stock holes. You just need to drill one hole and get a nut behind it, and voila - cheap way to gain a little tire clearance. Dr. Diff actually told my of that trick when he was out of his kits. In fact, he recommended it instead of waiting for his kits to come in. Of course some will say it's "hacking" the car up. To me, it's just hotrodding. Good luck.
abodyjoe
Well-Known Member
i think slant 6 were 1/2" and maybe 318 cars. i know when i ordered the 6 leaf V8 (what i'd ask for) from espo they were the 5/8 and the eatons i got from pete years ago were 5/8. I'm pretty sure those brackets use the 5/8. but let pete tell you for sure. he usually gets back to you quickly. @BergmanAutoCraft
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mopower440
Well-Known Member
I really appreciate that! You help me more than you know answering all these questions!!
Why? Now we're gettin to the meat and taters. First, how much power do you plan on?
mopower440
Well-Known Member
around 500 hp. 440 so lots of torque too
Ok. So fair enough. Then let me ask this. That's gonna require a LOT of tire. Why not just do the 3" relocation and mini tub it?
mopower440
Well-Known Member
Dont want to go that far into it. I have some 255/60/15 i put on today and its quite a bit more tire..looks much better also. The right side barely..BARELY scrubbed the inside of the tire against the leaf spring a few times..probably in a hard turn. It may or may not ever be enough to hurt anything but im pulling it apart anyways to install new leaf springs so may as well do the offset kit. I got some 1/4 spacers for that one side but i dont feel right about using them..not enough lug left sticking out for my liking..
I gotchya. Then here's what I recommend. CALL Peter Begrman. He is a GREAT guy! Tell him what you want to do and what you want your eventual outcome to be. He'll tell you his recommendation.
mopower440
Well-Known Member
RRR you got me to thinking hard on this..why am i going to bother to do the offset kit when im only having the slightest rubbing issue against the leaf spring 'sometimes' on that one side..literally another 1/16" would probably stop it from ever happening..the axle may slide over that little bit on the new springs when i install them. the other side had more clearance anyways..
Now you're usin your noggin. I'm not tryin to talk you out of something. Do whatever you want. If you really want to hook that much power, I honestly think you can do it in the stock wheelwells with everything in the stock position. They make some really badass drag radials these days that really bite hard. You can make some measurements and figure out what the best backspacing and width to use. You can get this tool and find out exactly how big a tire and wheel you can fit.
Wheel Fitment Tool Lite
The Wheel Fitment Tool Lite helps you visualize how different wheel diameters, widths, and offsets will align with your car’s fender by indicating the outer wheel lip. Since fender fitment is the most critical and challenging aspect of wheel selection, this tool makes it easy to get it right the...
claytonramstead.com
Swinger 340
Well-Known Member
Yes, I have SS springs on my 69 340 Dart Swinger, and it has a nice look and better control for hooking up and on turns.
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