I admit I like the 70's raised back end look, but I don't want to achieve it at a large sacrifice to handling. Usually I see this accomplished through really tall spring hangars and air shocks. I just did a spring relocation and a mini tub, and put in the MP XHD springs. Unfortunately, the springs sit way lower than I had hoped. With a 15x10 wheels, and a mild 500ish hp 440, I don't want to much tire for the engine, so I think I should stick with 28's for now. What I'm getting at is the back end doesn't sit as high as I like. Is there any way to get it higher without changing the springs? I'd like to stay away from pump up air shocks

i don't think there is any other way except to re-arch your springs. longer shackles maybe but they look goofy

My springs were flat so I ordered the new ones with an extra leaf & a +2.5" lift.

Air shocks are hard on the shock mounts which are not made to take the extra load. Replacing a damaged shock cross member is very invasive and costly. It is really good to avoid air shocks.

I think choices you have are 1) Re-arch current springs 2) add a full leaf to current springs for ~ + 1" 3) combination of 1 and 2 4) New springs with desired lift.

Adding a leaf will increase both spring rate and height... kinda like air shocks. May or may not be good for your situation. Adding a leaf to my sagged MP XHD springs at a local shop cost ~$100 which I thought was reasonable... plus I wanted the higher rate.

I'd suggest you talk to a spring shop or two nearby and get their recommendation and plan accordingly.

this might be a stretch but would it be feasable to lower the front 4 hole and the rear 2 hole rear mounting points with some welded stock? I think that would at least keep the rate the same. However which way you achieve your goal I would check the ujoint angles when done. for sure no air shocks

Air shocks get a bad rap... and probably for good reason in Mopar circles. They work just fine in most cases but Mopars just don't have upper shock mounts strong enough to handle the extra stress. Especially when the metal is 50+ years old.

I'm building a 426 Street Wedge recreation and back in the day the owner would have used air shocks or shocks with helper springs to get the stance he wanted. To solve this weakness problem, I added a piece of 2"x 2"x .120 wall square tubing as an integrated crossmember to supplement the stock shock mounts. Admittedly it would have been a difficult job if the car hadn't been on a rotisserie. Bottom line: this will add enough strength to the mounts that I won't have to worry about ripping them out with air shocks.

Nice mod centerline. Now that you guys mention it, I remember being bewildered when we had the rear out to do the mini tub. I couldn't believe how flimsy the shock mounts were, it was like floor pan thickness at most. I did weld on some thick washers to the mount holes which had become elongated

Yea, the mounts themselves are made of pretty thick material but they're spot welded to maybe 18 ga. sheet metal. When I did my mod I perimeter welded each mount to the square stock just to make sure they wouldn't pull away.

You've already compromised the handling by moving the springs inboard, raising like we did back then is only going to make the handling worse ...

Good luck in your quest.

The only legitimate way is springs with an increased arch. I too have used longer shackles but they have several bad effects. I was younger and dumber back then.

A set of custom springs isn't that expensive. You can pick the spring rate you desire.

Adding a leaf to your existing springs will increase the spring rate meaning the rear end will ride harsher. IMHO it's just another crutch, unless you regularly carry moonshine!

Whatever you end up doing, try to keep the front and rear pivot points at the same relative height from the ground. Change the relationship too much and you get into self-steering effects. For example, my '64Dog rear was set up, stock, so that when the vehicle tilts one way, the rear end steers in the same direction. It isn't much when unloaded, but I do a lot of mountain driving and having the rear start steering itself towards the outside of a curve is kind of spooky.

R.

You will get better gas mileage going "downhill" all the time...

Dogdays, can you elaborate for me, I'm not fully understanding the pivot points. Do you mean the the height off the ground the front and rear of the springs attaches to the frame?

he's referring to the areas where suspension meets frame and suspension meets wheels in a front to back plane. when the back is elevated it wants to whip around when cornering. i too love the raised back end 70's look and know exactly what he means.

Super Stock Springs.

Redrill the front mount to lower the bolt hole, that will raise the the rear of the car up. The lower the hole to the bottom of the mount the higher the rear of the car will be raised You can test that by using a block of wood as a spacer between the top of spring eye and the inside of the mount with the bolt removed

I built my own front spring mounts when I narrowed the rear on my '68 Coronet bracket car. They were boxes that I welded into the subframe with four sets of holes for the front spring mount. I had planned to use the SuperStock springs so the front sets were for the stock length springs and the rear sets were for the shorter SS springs. I drilled each pair with a lower and an upper mount. Actually the car hooked so well that I stuck with the stock springs. The Ramcharger is going to get rollers in the back to keep it low.

On the subject of ride height, I went for a ride yesterday with a friend in his '36 Plymouth street rod that is low and far from slow. It handled like a go-kart on steroids, that was fun!!

Just put the 3800# SS springs on the back

Gus

Rearched stock springs. The rear tire is 28" and more than completely clears the rear wheel well lips in terms of height. Ride is much firmer than stock, however I like it.

I agree with re aching your springs,it is the best scenario in my opinion and watch your pinion angle.

There is no "correct way" to raise your back end.

Because raising the back end is never optimal in a car.

It shifts the weight forward, lessening traction and braking.

It raises the CG, making handling worse.

When I see a car with it's rear jacked up it tells me musclecar equivalent of a ricer.