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#1
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Rear Leaf Spring Selection For Street
I have a '67 Coronet that has the stock (non-HD) rear leaf springs, which are in dire need of replacement. Since I'm also in the process of building a hotter 440 to put in the car (est. 470-500 hp & 500 ft lb tq) , I was wondering if the MP XHD springs would be adequate, or if going with the MP SS springs with MP long rear shocks would be best. The car has an auto trans & 8 3/4 rear w/ 3.91 gear. The car is driven everyday on the street in town, but may see a couple trips out of town to the strip. A slightly harsh ride is of no concern to me.
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#2
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Either heavy duty's with spring clamps or ss springs.
The long shocks are only like $40 |
#3
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My vote goes to MP SS springs with long shocks. The HD's won't give you the launch you want and the rear of the car will look like it's sagging. I believe you may need the extended front hangers with the SS springs?
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#4
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My vote would either be the HD/RT springs or a quality set from Springs N Things.
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#5
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#6
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thanks for the suggestions all. I think I'll give ESPO a ring this week & see what they have to offer before I make a decision then. Anyone here that has them on their car? Comments? Thanks!
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#7
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SS Springs, Rancho Schocks and Caltracs.
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#8
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I spoke to the guy who founded Caltracs. He does not recommend them for the street. Also, I bought Mopar heavy duty leafs for my Cuda 10 years ago. They sagged bad. May have been made in Mexico. Watch out for Mopar junk.
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#9
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The Guy Who Founded Caltracs who would that be? i thought John Calvert Founded it and still runs it today.
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#10
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I run s/s springs with long shocks and love them! They launch great.
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#11
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I've heard pros & cons of running Cal Tracs on the street, but for me I won't be using them due to the added expense if anything. The MP XHD springs are around $200 for the pair, and the MP SS springs are about the same for the springs, but an additional $50 or so for the longer hangers for B body & another $80 for the pair of MP long shocks. If it turns out the SS springs are the way to go I think I can scrounge up the extra $130 or so for them rather than what I would pay for the CalTracs set up. I'm still gonna look into ESPO & see what they have to offer as well as how much their springs will cost. Should be close to the MP XHD springs I'm thinking...
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#12
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That would be him. I spoke with him on the phone, over concerns about running their monoleafs and caltracs. They had one monoleaf break once. If that happens to you on the street, you and your car are probably toast. But I recall he said he also does not recommend Caltracs for the street.
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#13
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Quote:
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#14
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I started off replacing the stock springs on my '67 Belvedere II with a pair of XHD springs. As someone else said, they leave the back end looking saggy. Next a set of S/S springs, for a 3800lb B-body. Yep, had to get the front hangers and yep, wound up later getting longer shocks. The car already had longer Monroes installed, but not as long as the MP specific-application longer ones.
The front hangers have two sets of mounting holes. In the higher set, the car sat the same as with the XHDs. In the lower set of holes, the car gained an inch---this all measured at the same screw hole in the wheelwell trim. No problems with tire clearances so far, and another inch of height wouldn't make much of a difference that I could see, but the car could be another inch or so higher in the back without making it look bad. As far as balance, I finally saw that my car was not sitting straight. Turned out, one of the torsion bars was cranked lower than the other, as measured from the ground to the K-frame bolt heads. BII |
#15
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Belvedere II, thanx for the input. This is the kinda info I was interested in as far as what to expect with the SS springs on a similar car to my own. BTW, what rear wheel dimentions & tire size are you running, assuming stock wheel housings? I'm running 15x7 w/ 4.25 backspace stock steel wheels off an (of all things) 85' Gran Fury, with 255 60 15 tires.
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#16
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About the same wheels, 15x7 taken from vans at the local U-Pull-It, backspacing is about 4.5". Tires are General XP2000 in the same size as yours, 255 60 15, and the slicks for track use are 26.5x8.5x15 mounted on two more of those 15x7's. The 255/60/15 tire is a little taller than the slicks, I'm hoping a 29"x9" slick would work. There seems to be room, about 1" at max, to grow on the inside compared to the 255/60/15's position, so when I have to replace the slicks I think I'll look for an 8" rim with 5" of backspace.
I don't have a good photo of how the car sits but you can see it a little here with the shorter slicks on it. Right now the back sits just a little higher than the front, but I plan on swapping in some 440 torsion bars and setting it to level. With the 318 bars up there, the weight of the 440 is a bit much (with the battery now in the trunk that should help, though). BTW, when I was trying the XHD then S/S springs, the local Dodge dealer sold a lot of performance parts and the manager let me bring back the XHD's since they weren't marked or scuffed for the week or so I had them on. Here's another dim picture of the car that shows how it sits...kinda. |
#17
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Nice pics! What's your e.t.'s look like & engine combo? Street driven much? Just curious.
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#18
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V64, just look up old posts by me. Many words, some information therein, but at the end of the year it ran 8.1 in the 1/8th mile. Here's one.
http://www.moparchat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=111705 |
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