Opinions on rear spring idea

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needsaresto said:
I swapped in a pair of jy hvy duty shocks with the coil springs on them.I guess thier called overload shocks or something. They brought the rear of my Dart up about an inch or so and also helped the handling. If your really on a budget this is the way I would go.
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Nice tip but the problem I have is the car has dual exhaust & the right tailpipe is too close to the shock (the duals where on the car when I got it). If I can just level the car out it'll give the clearance on the shock to keep the rattle down
 
OldVart said:
dodgefreak, to answer your original question. About 21 years ago I had a pair of 66 Valiant springs re-arched and one leaf per side added, at a McCoy truck spring company in Edmonton. I've driven the snot out of that car with a 318 and 360, lots of heavy loads, pulled trailers, etc., and they are still within an inch of where they were when I installed them after they were re done. Just cut the old U-bolts off, pull the springs and have them re-arched, and put them back in with new U-bolts and lock nuts.
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Thanks this is what I wanted to hear.
 
dodgefreak73 said:
This is a V-8 car with a 318ci ,auto, with factory A/C. I'm not looking for S/S or any other race springs I just want to level the car that is why I'm asking if anybody has done the re-arch idea & will it last. I don't know if an extra leaf will help it to last longer and how much stiffer of a ride ( I don't want it to ride too rough)
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great thanks for the info! never said yours was a slant though, was just stating in general
 
mshred said:
go for it...but it will lift the car about an inch with a leaf added...not to sure if your in for some performance stuff too, but i had the spring shop add a leaf to each of mine as well as put 5 clamps on the front segment and one on the rear segment...i doubt they'll charge you extra for that too
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Had mine done by adding a leaf, it did not raise it an inch.
 
pntastar69 said:
Had mine done by adding a leaf, it did not raise it an inch.
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well mine did raise an inch, and the spring guy told me it would before i did it as well...i guess it depends on where you add the leaf? he may have only put a half leaf in the front segment (the rear segment is what dictates ride height as far as i know)
 
pettybludart said:
I purchased new XHD springs from the local dealer for $300 for the pair.Just a thought if your gonna spend $100-$150 for a quick fix.
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y can get those same springs from mancinni for 210 w/ shackles or u bolts!

thats where i got mine.
 
needsaresto said:
I swapped in a pair of jy hvy duty shocks with the coil springs on them.I guess thier called overload shocks or something. They brought the rear of my Dart up about an inch or so and also helped the handling. If your really on a budget this is the way I would go.
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NOOOO!!! ever hear of air shocks breaking upper shock mounts on chryslers??? those will do the some thing! seen them plenty of times! get the right springs and shocks
 
mshred said:
well mine did raise an inch, and the spring guy told me it would before i did it as well...i guess it depends on where you add the leaf? he may have only put a half leaf in the front segment (the rear segment is what dictates ride height as far as i know)
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I was just clarifying for everyone in general as to the drivetrain. If I do put an extra leaf in I was thinking about a longer leaf near the top/main leaf, thinking that this would give more support but not sure what it will do for the ride.
 
dodgefreak73 said:
I was just clarifying for everyone in general as to the drivetrain. If I do put an extra leaf in I was thinking about a longer leaf near the top/main leaf, thinking that this would give more support but not sure what it will do for the ride.
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i do think adding a leaf will stiffen up the ride some, especially one near the top...in fact, coming to think of it, maybe you should just do a rearch? i havent driven mine yet, but my dad has stock springs with a leaf added in the rear and it doesnt ride the smoothest over bumps (although its not super rough either)
 
I just went to the local salvage yard and got a pair of springs from another car. If i remember correctly it was a diplomat. I took mine out of my duster and made a set from the 2 sets my original mains and an asortment of the rest of the 2 sets. 6leafs on both sides. Fixed my pinion angle problems{vibrations} and also my wheel hop. The rear clears my 255x60x15's nicely. cost was 20$ and some time. I did have to make longer center bolts. Used a grade 8 bolt with the head rounded a little to locate properly.

duster.jpg
 
mod5v said:
I just went to the local salvage yard and got a pair of springs from another car. If i remember correctly it was a diplomat. I took mine out of my duster and made a set from the 2 sets my original mains and an asortment of the rest of the 2 sets. 6leafs on both sides. Fixed my pinion angle problems{vibrations} and also my wheel hop. The rear clears my 255x60x15's nicely. cost was 20$ and some time. I did have to make longer center bolts. Used a grade 8 bolt with the head rounded a little to locate properly.
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Nice tip I may consider this as I have access to a cheap U-Pull wreckers here so I may have to pay them a visit.
 
I was under the impression that the F/M/J springs were 57" long as opposed to the A-body's 55 inch. Even a tired set ought to pick up the rear a bit.

Using a suggestion from another thread, I went to McVeigh for a set of springs for my 73 /6 4-door. It is a five leaf unit that should lift the rear about an inch. They ran $219 delivered to my door.
 
Snake said:
That sounds like a way to add lift,have you done anything to it yet?
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No I haven't had the time or $$$ yet to takle it, I've been too busy trying to keep my two daily drivers running been having problems with them lately. I'm haoping to soon get at it though8)
 
I just added 2 leafs to my scamp, I took apart some junk springs and used the longest two besides the main leaf. It picked up the rear about 2 in. I just bought new locating bolts from bumper to bumper, I think it was $2.50 each and reused the factory u bolts. I havent driven it yet because of snow but I don't think It will be bad. I did this on my charger years ago and don't remember bad riding.
 
dodgefreak73 said:
I'm just looking to get the back of the car of the ground it's just a 4 door so I'm not really looking for the performance just ground & exhaust clearance. The car has dual exhaust but whoever bent the right tailpipe did a poor job and with the rear sagging the pipe is rubbing on the shock. I've adjusted the pipe as much as possible not it still hits but looking at where it hits if the back of the car was up higher it would be well away from the shock. The pipes came on the car when I got it & are in too good of shape to replace so I'm looking at the springs for the clearance that I need. I've already had to replace the one shock when I bought the car 6 months ago when I bought it because the pipe had rubbed through it and it's already rubbing into the new one. Here's a pic of the car just want it level or slightly higher on the rear.
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I finally got the springs done today,it sits a little higher than I want but I'm sure it'll settle once I drive it. The attached post shows the before pic. the pic's shown are just after taking the car off the stands and backing it out of the shop, I still haven't driven it yet. I hope it drops down some after driving it, I'm sure it will come down to where I want it. The next step is to get some tires so I can put the rallye wheels on it
 
you can just add a leaf. I did it to a dart. I found a ADD A LEAF in jegs or summit that was for a small pickup. It was the correct width (2 1/2 inches I think) and the length worked out to be in the middle with 2 leafs above and 2 below. It gave the car 1 1/2 to 2 inches lift.
 
was there a measurement for "stock" ride height (68'barracuda) at the wheelwells? or is this hit and miss? eyeball? what looks good? syndrome.
put the 8-3/4 in the barracuda and it seems to be a tad lower in the rear now. maybe it was before and I didn't notice it.
 
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