Flat Leafies

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SGGDuster

SGGDuster

Dreaming of Burnt Rubber
Joined
Jul 9, 2005
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Charleston, SC
I'll go ahead an apologize for posting yet another leaf spring question, but I didn't really get the info I needed from the other threads, so here we go. I have a 74 Duster and the stock leafs would be good for a level but not necessarily for springs. I'm tired of the poor gal looking like she's always trying to lay an egg and I'm afraid of exhaust clearance problems now. I guess basically what I want is to raise the rear so there's a little bit of noticable rake and a tighter feel, but I don't know the best route; money's a constraint, as I'm funding the car with summer jobs and the occasional holiday gift. Thanks.
 
all i can think of is 4 options:
1. New leafs
2. Slightly used leafs
3. The ever popular "air shock" for the stance
4. Old school shackles, be careful on this one though, undue pinion bearing and u joint wear

i would opt for new or slightly used leafs if it were me
 
how about some new Super Stock leaf springs... your going to need to do this sooner or later, might as well do it right and get the S/S springs
 
There are helper springs from jcwhipme for less than $50, it'll get you by...

-Daty
 
So with Super Stock leafs, will I need new shocks? Or do stock shocks have enough travel for them?
 
stay away from airshocks they will kill the way your car handles and the traction will just disaper...
 
Go with the SS springs, they can't hurt. And you'll need new shocks, they'll have to be longer.

I had the same "flat spring" problem, here's my car with the old (original) springs:

newspringsbefore1.jpg


newspringsbefore2.jpg


And here it is with the Mancini Pro-Stock (similar to Mopar SS) springs & new shocks:

newspringsafter2.jpg
 
To get an idea of what the SS or Pro-Stock springs will do, here's a picture of a launch in my car with the old springs. Notice how the rear is squatting:

Englishtown_Small.sized.jpg


And here's a launch with the new springs, the front end is up but the rear stays pretty much the same as it always is - no squat:

DSC_0041.jpg
 
Well I ordered them, should be here by Friday. I'll post before and after pictures for the enjoyment of the community.
 
sorry to jump in your thread sggduster, hope you don't mind...

i'm curious to find out how the SS springs handle on the street? they seem to be very stiff so i'm wondering if the ride gets pretty bumpy? also, how much longer than stock would the new shcocks need to be?
 
yes fastback, that question just burned on my tongue ;)

He Nickelback, ups MikelBeck ( ;) ), thats a huge difference shown in your pics. Did you measured before and after?
 
Buschi340 said:
He Nickelback, ups MikelBeck ( ;) ), thats a huge difference shown in your pics. Did you measured before and after?
Click to expand...

No Nidvjo45-, I didn't measure. The new springs were supposed to give 2" clearance over stock (I think), and since my stock springs were almost flat, I'm gonna guess it raised the rear of the car a little more than that.
 
Well, it's kind of hard to say.

On 5/30/04 I changed the broken sure-grip in the rear and ran a best of 12.387 @ 110 MPH, 1.873 60' with open headers.

On 6/27/04 I installed the new springs & shocks, installed a set of mufflers and ran a best of 12.59 @ 107 MPH, 1.873 60'.

Then I realized I had the springs on the wrong sides and swapped them.

On 7/25/04 I ran a best of 12.976 @ 105 MPH, 1.983 60', but I found a broken pushrod, so that day's runs were worthless.

The rest of 2004 went pretty much the same way, things breaking here and there.

5/29/05, after changing the torque converter and fixing a few other miscellaneous things I ran a best of 12.492 @ 106 MPH, 1.755 60', still through the mufflers.

On 6/26/05, I removed the 1" spacer under the carb, ran a 12.628 @ 105 MPH, but had my best 60' ever - 1.747.

I haven't run yet this year with open headers.
 
Mikel car looks good with that setup at lanuch.

i got the ss springs in the swinger but need shocks what are you using?

thanks
 
Those are the Mopar "extended length" shocks. You can get them from Mancini.
 
When SS Springs are working right the car will raise in the back. There are also alot of other things that have to happen to make the springs work as well.
 
Well life hit me last week, so I never got around to posting the pictures, the springs are installed, but it's still quite a bit lopsided. I need to give the front end some loving to, and by that I mean I need stiffer suspension up there, it's floaty. So what advice can I get on the front? I'll post pictures tomorrow, I promise.
 
SGGDuster said:
Well life hit me last week, so I never got around to posting the pictures, the springs are installed, but it's still quite a bit lopsided. I need to give the front end some loving to, and by that I mean I need stiffer suspension up there, it's floaty. So what advice can I get on the front? I'll post pictures tomorrow, I promise.
Click to expand...
I do beleive it should be lopsided. As in the right rear should sit higher due to spring design.
 
And passenger side (the better side)
passengerfender.jpg

passengerrear.jpg

rear.jpg

I tried to go out and get a picture of the whole car in a side view (since I stupidly forgot to do that earlier) but alas, good lighting is hard to come by at 1:15 in the morning.
 
thats not to badly leaning over, my car leans more to the right than your does to the left;) nice looking car!
 
SGGDuster said:
And passenger side (the better side)
passengerfender.jpg

passengerrear.jpg






there's lotsa room in the rear now...what size wheel/tire is that in the rear?

as far as the front end, is that stock? was there that much lift up front simply by changing the springs out back?
Click to expand...
 
fastback68cuda said:
there's lotsa room in the rear now...what size wheel/tire is that in the rear?

as far as the front end, is that stock? was there that much lift up front simply by changing the springs out back?
Click to expand...

The wheels are all 15x7 with a 4 1/4 backspacing and all the tires are just BF Goodrich 215/60 R15. Amazingly enough, the new springs lifted the front a few more centimeters as well, we haven't done anything to the fron since we got the car. I'm about to go with 15x8 4.5 back spacing, but I don't know wht size tires. The front wheels fill the wells pretty nicely in my opinion.
 
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