Leaf spring recommendations

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Howard1784

Howard1784

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73 Duster 360, Ford 9 in. 39k miles. Rear Tires 225 60 15 15x8 rims. Qa 1 adjutable shocks all around. Front same tires with 15x7 rims. 5 leafs ea. side Anytime I hit a bump the rear tires hit the body and it makes me nuts. See pics..
What advice can you give? I'm torn between SS 3400 LB Springs (car weighs 3400) or
ESPO 6 leaf. If possible I would like to keep the QA1s. Will they be long enough? Or smaller rear tire? The 1 in ruler is of the pass. side. Also, I tried rolling the inner fenders but dont want damage the paint so I stopped as the inner lip is large. Any recommendations would be appreciated. Thank you

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Just for sh*ts & giggles, before you go too crazy with suspension mods, try running your front wheels & tires on the rear, since they're the same size tire but with a narrower rim... it could gain you the necessary clearance right there. Then you'd know if all you need is to go 7" on the rear as well... much less work and $$.
If you do go with the SS springs, the cheap & easy way out is to use shock extensions (1 1/2" I believe) to keep your existing QA1s. Just know that with the extra height of the SS springs, those 225s might look kind of dinky in your wheelwells... Just sayin'.
 
225-60x15 on 8" tires easily fit those wheelwells. You might consider getting new wheels with more offset and sell the ones you have. Then you coukd keel the shocks. Obviously your 9" is wider than an A-body rear. Check the clearance between the rear springs and the inside of the tires. That will show you how much to change the offset.Try to center the tire in the wheel well.
Another thing is if you get the rear end higher with SS springs, you need to check your shock extension to make sure they don't extend to the limit and unload the tires. SS springs when done correctly cause the rear of the body to rise on launch.
 
On my first Duster a main leaf or the one below it was taken off a station wagon and installed on each side. This was a quick and easy fix and the tires never rubbed again. Now that was a a couple of decades ago when a station wagon was a dime a dozen. Today on newer builds I like the SS springs but many do not. Best of luck.
 
Thanks a ton guys. The thought did cross my mind that maybe the 9 in was longer. I do not know myself the differences in lengths. Since the front rims are 15x 7 I'll give that a shot and rotate them to the back as stated above. I'm also considering 14 rims on the front with 15 on the rear.
I learned that the previous rims on the car were 14x5.5 all around , unknown tire size. All said and done, I think what I'll need is a tread length less than 8 in. And getting the proper offset.
 
UPDATE:
I rotated the 15x7 225 60 15 to the rear and put 205 70 14 on the front.
After a test drive I didn't feel or hear any rubbing. The rim width from 15x8 to 15x7 made the difference.
 
As KosmicCuda said, the problem isn’t your springs, it’s that the backspace on your rear rims is wrong for your rear axle.

With a Duster and the leaf springs in the stock location you can fit a 275/60/15 without rubbing if the backspace on the rim is correct and the wheel is centered in the tub. A 225 should practically disappear inside the stock wheel tubs.
 
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