8 1/4 Install Questions

I appreciate any guidance you can give. The 7 1/4 has been removed and the 8 1/4 installed with new u-bolts, thick washers, and barrel nuts. I have 2 questions (well, maybe 3 or 4). In trying to remove the shocks the top nuts are both well frozen. Can I use my 36” breaker bar or is there a danger of snapping them off? Is the mount welded to the floor pan or is there another nut I can access from in the trunk? This car (67 barracuda conv) has been sitting since the 70’s. Next question is I noticed a broken leaf, and the spring bushings look like Hell. Is it just as easy to drop the springs with the rear installed or should I remove the rear and work on them 1 at a time? Any tricks I should know about in replacing the springs? Like I said, any and all guidance is appreciated.

The shock studs have a nut inside the trunk and can be removed that way. Soak the other end with PB Blaster or equivalent. The studs are strong. I just usually hit old ones with the impact.

No issue changing springs with the rear end installed. Just support the body with one pair of stands and the axle with another pair. Probably a good idea at this point to put new springs on.

Remove the rear end and springs together. Front spring mount has 4 nuts and rear there's a shackle. Roll the whole thing out as an assembly. Should try an impact on the shock bolts if you have one, if not use the breaker bar. Shock washers are cupped, use the proper washers. 65'

I would follow post 2. Remove one spring at a time. Also while replacing the springs I would replace the rear shackle bushings also.

When I replaced the 7 1/4 in mine with a 8 1/4, I also replaced the springs. The original 33 year springs only had 70k miles on them but they were tired. Swapping in as a unit was quite straightforward.

Removing and installing the rear with the leaf springs attached is real easy. Be careful, those studs will break off but the top ones usually dont. It might be easier to remove the inner nuts and work on the other nuts after removing from the car.