OEM HD Springs vs. AFCO XHD Springs - '72 B

Like the others say...tighten everything up while
its at curb height... also the thing with HD springs
is, it seems like all they do is put more arch in them
instead of making them with a higher pounds per inch
of travel

Be careful on some of the "advice" given here on moparts. Please consult the factory service manual as to the proper procedure to tighten the rear suspension bolts.

MP HD springs are made in mexico and have quality issues.

You can effectively and safely lower the car by flipping the front spring hanger or better yet buying an adjustable one from Firm Feel. Do not use lowering blocks!

You may have too much spring rate with the xhd springs but that is a technicality at this point as i have no clue how big your wallet is.

Agree its worth putting a couple hundred miles on the new springs. They will "settle" a little. I double checked the FSM and as several have posted, the spring bolts should be torqued with the weight of the vehicle on the springs.

I am runing the MOPAR XHD's. By design they are kinda low plus they seem like they drop more (sag) over time. Unless they have been improved, better to work with the ones you have. After some breakin if they are too high, consider taking them to a spring shop to get de-arched a little.

These are AFCO 20231XHD. I drove it in with a used set of springs I bought off a board member. I may put those back on until I sort this out. I went with the AFCO XHDs when I read a post saying the MP repro OEM springs were Mexican junk and read a post by Dayclona recommending the AFCOs.

Later on I can consider messing with stuff like flipping the hangars or de-archuing the AFCOs. I think Jegs said they had a 5" arch. Can anyone confirm that?

You can't flip the front spring hanger, they only fit the car one way. The top studs are closer together then the bottom.

Be careful about some of the "advice" you get from board members.

If they are still too high after setteling, find a local spring shop to de-arch them.

People do flip them by slotting the holes. I don't like it. I don't recommend it without reinforcing etc but people do it. AR makes multiposition front hangers and others have custom made their own.

It would be amusing if it wasn't so sad what the aftermarket sells as replacement parts. A look at the factory parts manual shows that Chrysler had many rear spring variations to match the various vehicles and option packages. For mass produced replacement springs, my experience has been with Triangle and Stanley Parts. The latter made a very good quality copy of the later FSJ springs. Number of leafs, lengths, thicknessess all correct with heavy formed clamps. Came through a regular supplyhouse. I have not yet followed up to see what they may have for our cars. I had Triangle's springs on the 'cuda. Nothing special replacement springs.

I am using circle track springs right now, but I also weighed the car front and rear, measured the old spring rates and ride heights and then did the calculations to get what I wanted. Not really what i would do for a street driver or restoration.

Eric, do you have the measurements (eye to center, eye to eye) for my AFCO springs? Thanks.

No problem. The spring measurements are as follows: center of eye to eye is 52 7/8". To measure from front eye to pin, we need to pull a string from center of eye to eye, then meausure from center of front eye along the string directly above the pin-don't follow the arch. This will give us our true measurements.