Raising the read suspension

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smrcuda

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I am considering raising the rear on my 68 Cuda. I am having some trouble with it bottoming out.
Looking at Monroe and Gabriel air shocks.
Does anyone out there have any expreience or suggestions they can offer?
Thanks
 
Get new springs. You can get XHD springs from JC Whitney for about $120. Jacking up the rear with air shocks creates handling isues and puts excessive loading on the top shock mount that can result in failure over time.
 
I don't want to raise it more than an inch. Plus I don't want to take the springs out again. I might consider that down the road.
Thanks for the input.
 
You may already know this, but I've heard that if you're going to use air shocks keep the air lines seperate. If you Tee them together and go hard around a corner the shock on the outside of the corner (cus of weight distribution) will push some of its air to the shock on the inside of the turn making the matter worse. I've not sure cause I've hever used them. :burnout:
 
would changing shackles give you enuff
without changing the pinion angle too much.
 
You may not want to change the springs again as you say because even though you only want to raise it an inch but Dave has a very valid point. I ran air shocks on one a long time ago and never raised it much (about 1 to 1-1/2 inches) and it still ripped a upper shock mount loose. Ever try to get up in there to fix one of them??? Real pain in the *** if you know what. I will never ever consider putting air shocks on anything again. No matter what.
 
I wonder if just shocks with helper spring for towing would work?
 
Well that's another idea. Won't hurt anything like air shocks. Easy to install too. I've used them before without any ill effects. They don't raise it much but if you only need a little it might be enough. It'll keep it from bottoming out as easily too.
 
what about flipping the front spring mounts. I had a 71 gtx that i used the long mounts to install super stock springs and they had 2 holes to put the front spring bolt in. Originally I used the lower one but it looked too high. Switched to the upper one and it lowered the car about 1.5". I think if you flip them you also have to switch them side to side to make it work.
 
i am using arishocks on my 71 dart and haven't had really any problems with them..... i think it would more-so depend on the stress you put on the shocks.... if you have bad springs and are relying mainly on the shocks for support then yes you will have problems but you need to change to a newer.... better spring if you are gonna run the airs so as to not put so much on the air shocks... it really does make sense
 
The best way to do it would be using a load leveler shock.
Basicly a coil over system. Had a pair on the back of my Duster
before I installed new springs. Switching the front spring mount
would lower the car. The front mounts on A bodies are offset to
one end. After I put the S/S springs in. I flipped the front
mounts to lower the car. Did not Like the stink bug look. You can
lower the car by about 1 1/2 inch by doing that.
You do have to elonggate the mounting holes to the body .
If you look at the pics of the Duster in the garage pics. You
can see how well it sits with this setup.
 
if your going to go thru the trouble of adding a overload spring, and it sound like you have reently had the springs out, and you figure the cost of the overloads and/or the new shocks, why not just do it right and put in new springs, its not that much more work
 
dazedduster said:
if your going to go thru the trouble of adding a overload spring, and it sound like you have reently had the springs out, and you figure the cost of the overloads and/or the new shocks, why not just do it right and put in new springs, its not that much more work
Click to expand...

I agree 100%. I just put new springs under my 68 Barracuda and it took about an 1 1/2 hours to do. I used XHD 5 leaf springs that replaced the stock heavy duty 6 leaf springs. The car had longer shackles installed by the PO and the new springs with stock shackles raised the car about 1 to 1 1/2" higher than level.

It stopped the bottoming and actually rides better now with a spring that has the proper arch. Plus I have less spring wrap so the car launches with less wheel hop.
 
can i use air shocks in the front to raise the car when i install headers or what is reccomended
 
DusterBoy15 said:
can i use air shocks in the front to raise the car when i install headers or what is reccomended
Click to expand...

No. No such gremlin that I am aware of. If your concerned about damaging headers, you have to adjust the torsion bars by cranking the adjusters up. You should have a competent alignment shop that has experience with older mopars do this though because if you turn them up too far you will cause serious drivability issues, and you have to align it after making any adjustments to the torsion bars anyway. There is a proper ride height recommended for each mopar body style, that uses torsion bars, but I do know that you can turn them up slightly more than that recommendation to help prevent header damage without adversely affecting the handling or alignment. The reason I know this is I have done it to 3 of my cars to accommodate headers. I have Heddman B body headers in my 73 Dart you see pictured here and have never even had them scrape the ground slightly. Not saying it will guarantee they wont hit, but would decrease the chances.
 
I might be out to lunch here but I would never use shocks to raise or lower any thing its simply not what they are designed to do, thats why the are are called a shock absorber not a shock lifter. shackles will do what you want, if you want a 1" lift above stock height then you need 2"s longer shackle. But if its bottoming out and there is no extra weight riding around in the car then your springs are pooched. If it bounces alot after you hit a bump then maybe your shocks are hooped that too might cause it to bottom out but it would have to be a nasty bump.As for the headers you can buy headers that don't hang down like the "traditional" kind, they cost a bit more(schumaker) but hey,,thats the price we pay. Good luck
 
air shocks are NOT meant to raise a car..its a mickey mouse way to do it

buy new, re arch, or maybe your current shocks are done and allowing it to bottom out>?
 
DusterBoy15 said:
can i use air shocks in the front to raise the car when i install headers or what is recommended
Click to expand...

I wouldn't install air shocks on anything! The ride quality of air shocks is pretty awful if you ask me. I rode in a 70 Duster that had air shocks on the rear and I couldn't wait to get out of that car. I thought I was on a trampoline. I didn't want to hurt my friends feelings so I didn't say anything. There is way better alternatives to achieve the ride you are looking for than air shocks.
 
smrcuda said:
I wonder if just shocks with helper spring for towing would work?
Click to expand...

Instead of helper springs why not just fab up some solid metal blocks of your desire thickness (to achieve the ride height you want) between the leaf springs and the axle. That is really what you are doing with helper springs. They aren't going to be used for their intended purpose but they will become spacers. I removed the helper springs from my 03 Dodge Ram along with installing a 2" drop kit to "level" my truck. Because I needed to drop 3/4" to get it level. I know that longer shackles would do the trick but I just don't like the shackled up look if you know what I mean.
 
i have a pair of gabrial air shocks on the back of my duster. It gives it a nice stance. I like the raised back end look. The onlt problem i found is that when it gets cold outside the seals tend not to seal up right and they leak out all the air. right now it has the stock slant six springs. but i just bought some new rear leafs from espo.com with a 2 inch raised arch to help take some of the stress off the air shocks. I have no complaints about the ride. when the shocks are up the suspension is very stiff i think.
 
It's not the shocks that you have to worry about being stressed, it’s the mounting points, top and bottom, that were NOT designed to carry the weight of the vehicle. A shock absorbers purpose is just that, to absorb shock and dampen/slow spring oscillations. The leaf springs are what are designed to carry the weight. Depending on air shocks to keep the rear quarters from rubbing your fancy wide tires in back is just begging for trouble (Go ahead, ask me how I know).

Lift blocks between the spring and axle housing are also another BAD thing. They increase the likelihood of wheel hop and spring wrap.

Extended shackles, again, not the way to raise a car or truck. Of all of these though, the right kind of heavy duty reinforced shackle, 1 or 2 inches over stock (remember, you gain only half, of the shackle length increase, in actual lift) would be the only thing I would ever consider for raising the rear a little.

The only true, correct, safest, and best working way to raise a vehicle is to get the proper arched springs. They are not that expensive and I would venture to say everyone here spends even more, than the cost of new leaf springs, just on tires for their vehicles, don't you think it's worth the few extra bucks to make the dang thing RIGHT?

If your into mopars, and are scared to open your wallet a little to fix it up correctly, your involved the wrong name brand for this hobby
:shaking2:
 
I am running air bags all around and works nice for me. Air shocks are a bad option. If you go to the air bags on the front you will need tubular uppers for clearance.
 
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