Leveling my Duster

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gunmetal72

gunmetal72

Life is a dark ride
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I recently changed the wheels from 14" to 15". I want to fill the wheel house by lowering the rear of he car and I would like it to sit level. When sitting on level ground the rear of the car sits about 1" higher on the right side and I believe this is the way it came from the factory to allow for the crown of the road. So, my question is, can I put in a 1" leveling block on the left side and a 2" block on the right side? My hope is by dropping the body, the wheels will sit higher in the wheel house and the car will sit level. Is this doable or am I asking for trouble?
Thoughts?
 
The car should sit level from the factory. Having one side in the back sit higher than the other usually means there's Super Stock springs installed on the car. Since it's the passenger side that sits high, that's exactly what I would suspect. Do the springs have the same number of leafs on the right and the left?
 
It's possible that the torsion bars are not adjusted equally. Seems to me if you lower the right front, or raise the left front, it should drop the right rear.
 
My Duster has the same problem. Passenger sid is a bit higher. Been trying to level it out with the torsion bars bit of a pain.
 
this one has 14'' , but smalls up front and bigs in the rear , used one inch blocks on the rears springs on the duster , but the dart has big tall 15'' on the rear and littles 14'' up front .

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72bluNblu said:
The car should sit level from the factory. Having one side in the back sit higher than the other usually means there's Super Stock springs installed on the car. Since it's the passenger side that sits high, that's exactly what I would suspect. Do the springs have the same number of leafs on the right and the left?
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Yes the car has the same amount of leaf springs on both sides. I have been told that these cars come with the passenger side a little higher from the factory to allow for the crown of the road, not sure if that is correct. The springs are new.
 
don't know of that crowned road deal , but has super stock springs have more on the passenger side , thats for the lunch , and the different twisting of the chassi and rearend . even in a street stock car the weight get applied to the passenger side rear , and ark that spring down to drive that tire down , and the driverside up , and the body is climbing the ring gear with the pinion gear . drivers front lifts and front passenger dips . so durning the twisting on the car . is lucky it goes straight , but a proper set up car needs only two fingers on one hand on the steering wheel . would figger the factory did the similar thing , even a /6 3 spd car . :)
 
Nope, it should sit level if it's not running super stock springs. The crown of the road deal is usually taken care of with a small amount of cross caster, not by raising the passenger side.

Check to make sure one of the shackles isn't over-rotated, and then check adjust the torsion bars so the car is level. Once you've done that you can worry about lowering it in the rear. How old are the springs? What springs are they?
 
If I wanted my street car to be level, this is what I would do;EDIT;I would air-up all the tires.
I would park it on a flat level cement pad. I would determine the exact center of the front K-member. I would drill a small hole there, about 1/8th inch.I would put a dab of grease on that hole and stick a big ball bearing on it.I would roll in my floor jack with a steel hockey puck in the saddle, and raise the car until the wheels come off the ground.Then I would stick my body-weight worth of sandbags on the driver's seat. Next I would go around to the back and measure up from the floor to the rear most spring anchor in the frame.Then I would fix the springs until the measurement was as good as the same on each side.That's what I would do. Oh wait, that's what I DID.
The front is easy to level once the back is done.
Street cars, driven on the street, without traction aiders, can't get enough traction to bite hard enough to twist jello, so a preloaded chassis just makes the car look tired. You bet I would fix it.
I don't think you can use the wheel openings to check heights.(at least I couldn't) After nearly 50 years from the assembly line, there's no telling where they might be. Even using frame points can be a challenge.
 
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AJ/FormS said:
If I wanted my street car to be level, this is what I would do;
I would park it on a flat level cement pad. I would determine the exact center of the front K-member. I would drill a small hole there, about 1/8th inch.I would put a dab of grease on that hole and stick a big ball bearing on it.I would roll in my floor jack with a steel hockey puck in the saddle, and raise the car until the wheels come off the ground.Then I would stick my body-weight worth of sandbags on the driver's seat. Next I would go around to the back and measure up from the floor to the rear most spring anchor in the frame.Then I would fix the springs until the measurement was as good as the same on each side.That's what I would do. Oh wait, that's what I DID.
The front is easy to level once the back is done.
Street cars, driven on the street, without traction aiders, can't get enough traction to bite hard enough to twist jello, so a preloaded chassis just makes the car look tired. You bet I would fix it.
I don't think you can use the wheel openings to check heights.(at least I couldn't) After nearly 50 years from the assembly line, there's no telling where they might be. Even using frame points can be a challenge.
Click to expand...

What exactly do you mean by fix the springs?
 
Fixing the springs
Well, if by my set up, i would have seen different heights from side to side, assuming the mounts are ok, and the frame is structurally sound, it can only be because the two springs are not matched. Some springs are like this by design. Streeters don't want or need that type.So I would remove the springs, disassemble them, find the guilty partys and take them to a spring shop for matching. You can either re-arch them to the taller one or the lower one whichever suits your fancy.
Don't forget the sandbags.
If the main-springs are really close, I might try mounting the tall one on the drivers side.If one of the bundles has an extra, short-spring, it should go on the passenger side.
The assembled springpacks are under a fair bit of pressure. You will need large C-clamps to safely work on them.I think I used 6 inchers.
Well I just thought of something; I think the front hangers are reverseable,and that would affect the ride height. Make sure both sides are the same
 
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What springs are they? Where did you get them? If they're the same number of leafs side to side and a matched set they should sit the car level, or at least they should be closer than 1". Before I set about fixing anything, I would check to make sure that the shackles have the same angle, that the shocks aren't maxed out, collapsed, stuck or bent, and that nothing appears to be damaged with the spring and shackle mounts, and even the frame rails. Could be any number of things, if one of the shocks is maxed out it will be keeping the spring from fully unloading, which would make that side lower.

The front spring hangers can be flipped, but only if you slot the mounting holes. It's not something you can do accidentally.

The body isn't a great choice to measure from, I only use it to get things close. Even the suspension mounting points only had to be +/- a 1/4" from the factory.

Is the front of the car level? How about the torsion bar adjusters, do they look to be adjusted roughly the same (ie, one's not cranked all the way in while the other is hanging out). If the front is off it will effect the rear as well.

Does the car have any sway bars installed?
 
The springs & shocks are new, can't remember where I got the springs but I think they are off shore, the shocks I bought from my local parts store, they are Monroe gas shocks. I measured from the rear frame rails at he same place on both sides, there is a 1/4" difference with the right side being taller. That would make a little difference but still within factory tolerance. All parts on the front end are also new, ball joints, tie rods etc. I had it aligned and it steers good and sits very level. Both torsion bars adjusters look to be about the same side to side. I am starting to think it might be the rear springs.
 
It probably is the springs, but there's still some things to check first.

How exactly did you measure to determine the frame rail difference? If you're measuring from the rail to the ground there could be other things in the mix there. You would have to level the car on jackstands first, and then use a bubble gauge to compare the frame rails to each other.

Just because the shocks are new doesn't mean anything if they're too short. Since you want to lower the car pretty significantly, that means the springs have a pretty good arch to them. If you bought shocks based on the stock specs, they could easily be too short, and if one side maxes out before the other you'll get a height difference. If you jack the car up by the frame does the rear axle hang down lower than at ride height (ie, do the shocks extend further)?
 
TAke a number of pics of both left and right rearsprings (front/center and rear) so we know what's going on on the car.
 
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