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71 Dodge Dart Demon question about suspension #1577044
02/11/14 12:55 AM
02/11/14 12:55 AM
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 7,512
Lebanon ,PA in the Susquehanna...
70Challengerse Offline OP
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70Challengerse  Offline OP
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Lebanon ,PA in the Susquehanna...
Looking at the rear sides of the cars is the tire closer to the quarter on the right rear side... been staring at my Demon and the drivers side is back further than the pass side.... driving me nuts...

Re: 71 Dodge Dart Demon question about suspension [Re: 70Challengerse] #1577045
02/11/14 01:41 AM
02/11/14 01:41 AM
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 18,493
Granite Bay CA
Kern Dog Offline
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Granite Bay CA
AR engineering sells spacer plates to reposition the rear axle. They fit between the spring hanger and the body.

Re: 71 Dodge Dart Demon question about suspension [Re: 70Challengerse] #1577046
02/11/14 02:49 AM
02/11/14 02:49 AM
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 16,844
Phoenix - surface of the sun
nomore65BelvJim Offline
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Quote:

Looking at the rear sides of the cars is the tire closer to the quarter on the right rear side... been staring at my Demon and the drivers side is back further than the pass side.... driving me nuts...




Its a unibody, it happens.

Factory tolerances can stack up and make the variations more visible. Take some measurements and see how far off it is.

.

Re: 71 Dodge Dart Demon question about suspension [Re: 70Challengerse] #1577047
02/11/14 10:44 AM
02/11/14 10:44 AM
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 245
Western PA
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OldMoparMan Offline
enthusiast
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Joined: Nov 2007
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Western PA
When I removed the factory installed rear axle in me 74 Dart Sport I found it was never right from the factory when they tightened the U bolts they pulled the location pin into the plate about 3/4 to 1 inch off off of the locating hole.

Take a look at the ends of the U bolts and see if they look like about the same amount of thread is sticking down past the nuts, if the length is off this might be the problem.



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Re: 71 Dodge Dart Demon question about suspension [Re: OldMoparMan] #1577048
02/12/14 04:00 AM
02/12/14 04:00 AM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 214
Colo Springs, CO
DconD100 Offline
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Colo Springs, CO
Every mopar I have ever owned has the rear diff offset to the right...including my truck. I always run a 1/4 inch spacer on the left side. I was told many years ago by an old timer that it was done in conjunction with the additional leaf springs on the right rear to help the cars launch straighter under hard acceleration.


Pump Gas Small Blocks Rock! 11.53 @ 116mph E85 408 at 8500 ft da, 3605 pound truck, 3.91s, street driven
Re: 71 Dodge Dart Demon question about suspension [Re: DconD100] #1577049
02/12/14 06:47 AM
02/12/14 06:47 AM
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 20,185
Park Forest, IL
slantzilla Offline
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Park Forest, IL
The drivetrain is offset to the right side to give more room for the driver.


"Everybody funny, now you funny too."
Re: 71 Dodge Dart Demon question about suspension [Re: slantzilla] #1577050
02/12/14 12:19 PM
02/12/14 12:19 PM
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 5,107
Western Md.
skicker Offline
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Western Md.
When I was racing and we needed to square up the tracking of a car the best way was to:
1) Jack the car up level on jackstands.
2) mark the location of the grease fittings in the lower ball joints (L and R) on the floor. (a self leveling point laser works best for this)
3) This is the center point for a 6' diameter circle to be drawn out on the floor.
4) Connect a straight line under the car from the intersection of the two radius's at the front and the back running it back past the location of the rearend.
5) Run a square line off of that line at the leaf spring center pin locations. If you are not using SS springs you can check this dimension from where the spring hangers connect to the unibody. There is a very slight difference left to right with SS springs due to the difference in the arch.

There are several variables to take into consideration when doing this. If the car was ever wrecked the ball joint locations could be different. Locating and transferring lines has to be dead accurate otherwise the centerline will trail left or right. This is a huge PITA to do but doesn't take very long.
You can also measure from the grease fitting in the lower ball joint directly back to the leaf spring mounting pad. but if for whatever reason the b/joint locations are incorrect the rear will also be.


Since these are production vehicles and are supposed to be much better aligned there is no reason why you could not use the center of the front and rear frame ( maybe the bumper) and locate that line to the floor using it to check the square of the rear. A plumb bob from the center of the bumper would work fine.


...FAFO...
Re: 71 Dodge Dart Demon question about suspension [Re: skicker] #1577051
02/12/14 01:22 PM
02/12/14 01:22 PM
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 583
NJ
R
rth Offline
mopar
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NJ
Make sure both leafs are the same length. Measure centerbolt to front spring eye. Also check front hangers. Offset left to right is normal, but tracking should be straight.

Re: 71 Dodge Dart Demon question about suspension [Re: rth] #1577052
02/13/14 12:51 AM
02/13/14 12:51 AM
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 7,512
Lebanon ,PA in the Susquehanna...
70Challengerse Offline OP
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70Challengerse  Offline OP
master

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Posts: 7,512
Lebanon ,PA in the Susquehanna...
Figured it out, there was 3/4 0f an inch different between sides, did all the measurements and everything was panning out, bumpers,frames,supports nothing was replaced ,org quarters finally measured off the rocker panels and there it was...split the different 3/8 set it up , put it back down, bounced the car multiple times, perfect measurements and now it looks normal...but why all the headaches....

Re: 71 Dodge Dart Demon question about suspension [Re: 70Challengerse] #1577053
02/13/14 01:16 AM
02/13/14 01:16 AM
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 14,889
up yours
Supercuda Offline
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up yours
Quote:

Figured it out, there was 3/4 0f an inch different between sides, did all the measurements and everything was panning out, bumpers,frames,supports nothing was replaced ,org quarters finally measured off the rocker panels and there it was...split the different 3/8 set it up , put it back down, bounced the car multiple times, perfect measurements and now it looks normal...but why all the headaches....




Because back then human welders didn't care too much about precision. With the stock skinny tires it didn't matter either. Nowadays robots weld the bodies in precision jigs that are probably more precise than the factory machine work done to your original engine.


They say there are no such thing as a stupid question.
They say there is always the exception that proves the rule.
Don't be the exception.
Re: 71 Dodge Dart Demon question about suspension [Re: Supercuda] #1577054
02/13/14 01:27 AM
02/13/14 01:27 AM
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 16,844
Phoenix - surface of the sun
nomore65BelvJim Offline
I Live Here
nomore65BelvJim  Offline
I Live Here

Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 16,844
Phoenix - surface of the sun
Quote:

Quote:

Figured it out, there was 3/4 0f an inch different between sides, did all the measurements and everything was panning out, bumpers,frames,supports nothing was replaced ,org quarters finally measured off the rocker panels and there it was...split the different 3/8 set it up , put it back down, bounced the car multiple times, perfect measurements and now it looks normal...but why all the headaches....




Because back then human welders didn't care too much about precision. With the stock skinny tires it didn't matter either. Nowadays robots weld the bodies in precision jigs that are probably more precise than the factory machine work done to your original engine.




Exactly. 40 years have seen a lot of advancements in auto assembly line precision.

Glad you got it sorted Ric

.







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