Dartsun
Mopar Dude
I'm looking for suggestions to purchase some new rear leaf springs for my 1969 dart will have a mild 340 auto. Not looking to raise the back end or do any drag racing. But lowering it I would consider. Thanks Dustin
Looking for new rear leaf springs
- Thread starter Dartsun
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I have Afco springs on my Duster. They have a full range of arch's and spring rates. I'm using 20231M's, which have a 121 lb/in rate. Stock XHD leaf springs were in the 110 lb/in range, so they don't ride stiff at all. I have Hotchkis Fox shocks paired up with them though. The Afco's do have a reinforced front section for better wrap control, but its not as aggressive as the SS's and they are the same side to side. I've been really happy with mine, they've sagged very little since I got them and are about perfect on the spring rate with my Hellwig rear sway bar. I've got the front end set up pretty stiff though, with stock sized torsion bars they'd be fine without the rear bar or with factory bars if your car has them.
The only thing about them is that they have 1" rear eyes, so you need to use a bushing like Energy Suspensions 2-2117G, which goes from 1" down to the 1/2" A body shackles.
Here's a link to the 20231m's that I have. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/afc-20231m/overview/
The only thing about them is that they have 1" rear eyes, so you need to use a bushing like Energy Suspensions 2-2117G, which goes from 1" down to the 1/2" A body shackles.
Here's a link to the 20231m's that I have. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/afc-20231m/overview/
Dartsun
Mopar Dude
Thanks for the responses. Leaning more towards the afco springs 20231mhd like a stiff ride. Really like your duster build 72bluNblu. Thanks Dustin
I don't think I'd run that much spring rate. That's on par with the heaviest SS springs. From a handling perspective, you'll almost certainly be in oversteer. And they will likely raise the back end of the car.
If you like a firm, solid ride, increase the size of the torsion bars up front and go with a good shock like Bilsteins or the Hotchkis Fox shocks. Go with the 20230 springs, that will put the rate at 142, but with the slightly lower arch you should still sit at stock ride height, or maybe just a little lower.
With 1.12" torsion bars up front on my car and the 121 lb springs out back things are surprisingly pretty well matched, the rear sway bar is still adjusted at its lowest setting. And the ride is pretty firm.
The 20231M's sit with almost zero arch on my Duster. That's probably a little lower than stock from the factory, but its pretty close to where you usually see most cars with sagged stock springs sitting now.
This is how its sitting at the moment. The top of the front wheel arch is at 25", the rear arch is just over 26". The rear tires are spec'd at 26.1" tall, they're a little shorter as they sit. So it does have a small rake front to back, but it's fairly minimal. End goal is to lower the front another 1/4", and the back about a 1/2" when I install spring sliders in the rear and use them to set the height a bit lower.
Dartsun
Mopar Dude
Thanks for the great advice. I do plan on upgrading my shocks to bilsteins at some point and add a rear away bar. Im running kyb shocks now. thanks Dustin
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