rear suspension lift

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The only caveat to AJ's info is raising the front end causes the upper A arm ball joint to move forward
diminishing caster which is already difficult to obtain on our old A bodies.
The factory settings were optimal for handling and steering so watch out and watch it.
 
Thanks. I don't know exactly what you're seeing but the after is about three inches higher. I'm hoping for some settlement after I drive it for a few hundred miles.

Can you tell us what size tires you're running on front?
I'm actually seeing it now on the after photo but it also looks as if the front is sitting higher too now. Look good in both pics though. My fronts are 215/70R15, Rears are 275/60R15
 
The factory tires on 340 cars were E70-14s
The E is code for 7.35 inch tread NOT a a section-width.
7.35 inches equals 186.69mm
On the factory 5.5 inch wheels the section width mightabin plus 2 inches .
Equals about 51mm
This would then total 187 + 51= 238, rounds up to 235mm.
However, the checking wheel for a 235 is 6.5", rounds to 7 inches, so on a 5.5 is gonna be maybe an inch and a half less. Let's call it a 195
This only matters when we go to calculate the tire height.
Thus the tire becomes 195
If the 195 is accurate, then at 70% the sidewall will be 5.37 inches. and that, doubled plus 14 equals 24.75 inches tall.
And that, friend, is pretty close , if a lil tall, to being correct.

the standard tires for a early Duster, were D78-14s, even a tic lower and were mounted on 5s
The front tires on your car, do not look to be in the window of 24 to 24.5
They look to be closer to 27, to me.
At the right tire height, using the 340 ride-height spec, the front of the rockers will be closer to IIRC, 7 inches at the pinch-weld.

Your front ride height, can be set anywhere you want it to be. However, the alignment has to be set after the ride-height is established. The cons of a mon-factory height are.;
1) that if the ride height gets to be too low, the lower bumpstops will pound out; and
2) your camber change may become exaggerated, which causes an exaggerated toe-change, with suspension travel, which leads to wandering in a straight-line. The only way to see exactly where you are is to have your alignment guy map it out. Once you have the map, you can generate a ride-height window, and set it anywhere in or close to, the center of the window. Thus you will have wander-free cruising, hopefully ...... depending how loosey-goosey the rest of the suspension and steering are.

The point is this,
To me, the rear ride height looks fine.
To me, the front looks wonky.
A lot of good info there, AJ. I do know from all I've read is the height of E70's was a C-hair under 26". These 215's are supposed to be 26.7". The Rears, 28.1. I was pretty surprised by how much things were altered by other adjustments and I was an alignment mechanic 45 years ago. Coincidently, the tires I replace were D78/14's from way back then.
 
ANother vote for ESPO. They have standard springs and over lift springs available as well as all the necessary hardware. You could add a leaf but it's a lot of work and you still have 50 year old springs. Here's a before and after on my 66. My Espo standard springs. are now 19 years old.

View attachment 1716240958

View attachment 1716240959
That's a nice Dart Mike. I always liked that year body styling. Those rims are perfect for the paint and trim on that particiular car. Is that your place in the background? It looks like Crescent City Illinois. LOL I always enjoy waking up to an ice cold mountain dew and walking out back to see how the corn or beans are doing.
 
That's a nice Dart Mike. I always liked that year body styling. Those rims are perfect for the paint and trim on that particiular car. Is that your place in the background? It looks like Crescent City Illinois. LOL I always enjoy waking up to an ice cold mountain dew and walking out back to see how the corn or beans are doing.
I'll try to make the story short. Back when I turned 50 I decided to get back in the car hobby. My first car was a 65 Dart but I really liked the look of the 64's. This 66 came up on E bay and it was only 40 min. from my house. Except for the year, it checked all the boxes. HP273, 4 speed, 8 3/4 SG, Buckets, console. I bought it, made it road worthy, rebuilt the 273, and have been driving it ever since. It has been a great car. The house you see in the background was out on the farm where I bought it. It was a true barn find.

randailia dart live004.jpg
 
I'll try to make the story short. Back when I turned 50 I decided to get back in the car hobby. My first car was a 65 Dart but I really liked the look of the 64's. This 66 came up on E bay and it was only 40 min. from my house. Except for the year, it checked all the boxes. HP273, 4 speed, 8 3/4 SG, Buckets, console. I bought it, made it road worthy, rebuilt the 273, and have been driving it ever since. It has been a great car. The house you see in the background was out on the farm where I bought it. It was a true barn find.

View attachment 1716241417
Long stories are O.K. 66 is a great year. I always get caught up in that psycho babble of what you see first or own first but it's true. I like the 67 Barracuda the best but it may not be...it's just the first year I owned...a 66 273 4 gear 40 miles from home...I say you struck gold. Thanks for sharing that short story.
 
it also looks as if the front is sitting higher too now.
I think it is too. I've bounced it for a couple of weeks every time I go out there. I think the stronger leaf springs may be lifting the whole car?
 
could be, although I would have expected the taller rear springs to lower the front slightly by shifting the CG of the car forward ever so slightly....
 
Was just messaging with Laura over at ESPO. She gave me some options and prices. Says they are 3 month out for leafs though. I'm going to get my T' bars set closer first and make a decision from that point.
 
I don't think anyone has brought up this option. The recommendation I received when deciding what to do with my sagging 50 year springs. Through my own research I found that 340's came stock with 6 leaves over 5. So with that information I contacted my local spring shop & was recommended DO NOT REPLACE, rearch the old springs. Because the new crap is just that crap, compared to the OEM. So now I still have good american made steel with only one chinesium leaf in each spring.
 
I put one new spring leaf in next to the main leafs and had the spring shop put plenty of arch in I used a big c-clamp to get it together to put the center bolt in. It brought the back up nicely
 
I had springs re-arched and they held up...but that only works if they are made of good quality spring steel. The same goes for new springs. I bought Espo springs. Some say theirs sagged over time but mine never did. If you get yours
re-arched they will try to do them one at a time to extend their hourly rate. I insisted they arch mine assembled one side first and then the other side to match it. Took about a half hour.
 
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