Need more rear spring

I put the mopar street Hemi replacement springs on my car about 10 years ago when I did it up. The rear sat a good inch higher than stock, which was perfect for my setup; fit the tires nicely, and gave the car the rake I wanted.

After 5 years or so they did sag, and with a lot of complaints about those springs, I did some research here on the site, and chose one company to buy new springs from, who shall remain nameless, (rhymes with Eaton).

I got the stock height, knowing that it may or may not give me what I want. I talked with them about it and they simply said if that doesn't do it you will need to have there re-arched.

Once I put them on, it sat lower than what I wanted, to I had them re-arched at a very reputable, long standing truck center.

That was a little over 2 years ago, and they have sagged down that inch. Unfortunately, that doesn't work for my tire clearance, so I need that extra inch.

I really didn't expect these springs to sag after 2 years, manufacturer said "sorry".

The truck guy said re-arching them is not the best idea, probably won't stick, add a leaf.

So, where do I get single leafs from? I've never done it, but it doesn't sound like it's a big deal to disassemble the springs and add one more leaf.

Also, if I only want an extra inch, how do I know what size leaf to add?

why not have that spring shop that re-arched them add a leaf to the pack?

When dad and I were getting his 73 Challenger back on the road in the 90's, we had a shop add an extra leaf. They added a "used" main leaf that had the eyelets cut off. The extra leaf was installed directly under the original main leaf and extended from eyelet to eyelet.



Probably trial and error.

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I had a set done for my Duster and they added a leaf to each side.

So, you may find it very difficult to get an accurate 1” by adding leaves. On a bodies you can flip the front spring mount which would give you about an inch, not sure on b body. I have seen people put an extra long spring on and cut it down a little at a time in the back section to adjust the rear spring rate. Cut it with cut off wheel. Also you could buy an adjustable front spring mount and set it for the right hieght with your settled springs

One of my 1970 B-bodies had sagged, a pal with a 1971 Challenger had given me her old springs.

I disassembled my spring packs & then hers & I added the longest leaf under the top one from each side of the the donor set to my set.

It went from sagging to a bit taller than stock within a few minutes, maybe a bit more than an inch from how it was.

Next time go with board sponsor ESPO.

Flipping the front hangar LOWERS the car.

I have also done the "main leaf with the eyes cut off" thing. Works great.

Yep. Been there, done that. After fighting this issue for years on different cars, I finally bought some Hellwig helper leaf springs. I mounted them on top of the rear segment instead of under as they were supposed to be mounted.

That way they are completely out of sight. And I can adjust them to get the height that I want. If anything ever sags, in just a few minutes, I have the car right back where I want it.

No guess work, saves a lot of time, money, and aggravation. And nobody knows they are there.

Nothing to add, but you are the world travel writer, correct?

Anything forthcoming?

I know I am gonna catch Heck for suggesting this BUT, I would put Monroe air shocks on it, 30,40 psi will raise it about an inch & that little bit of pressure will NOT hurt the ride or the upper shock x member.

He was pretty dubious about it, basically said bent metal is bent metal. If they sagged once when arched, he would expect it to do it again.

I still may gamble and give it a shot, but I'm tempted to take his word for it.

Nothing new, but this is what I'm up to...

Mick,
We did the add a leaf to the Outlaw DennisH's car, and it worked great and has been consistent ride-heigth wise.

It was from summit and originally intended for a 4wd truck. As I recall, it was about 18" long.

Either that, or I have several sets of passenger side SS springs you can try, which is what I run on both my cars. They both weigh 3700 lbs, but I found that the 3200 lbs passenger side springs work best for my needs. I did have to add a modified set of slapper bars to both cars, as the power was wrapping the front segments. They now ride and hook better than anything else I've tried.

i have the 3400lb SS springs on my 67 coronet, they are quite stiff, the arch was similar to the factory springs but the ride is higher so the rate must be higher.
they are cheap, you could always give them a shot...

Agree with what csk said. For around $100 bucks Monroe Air Shocks will fix your problem. I ran them for a number of years on the back of my 69 Dart without any issues as did most guys back in those days. Raised my rear end up and gave my car a nice rake in the rear. Trick is not to blow them up to 100 lbs and use them like that all the time. I use to fill mine to about 60 or 70 lbs. Or order a new set of spring from ESPO Springs and Things with a +2 inch lift.

Do you remember which Hellwig's you used? EZ-550 maybe? How is it that they are adjustable, from the literature it looks like they just clamp on top the spring.

I'll have to look for the Hellwig number, it's been a few years, but I have it.

Yes, they are supposed to be mounted underneath the spring. But with only a little mod or two, they will go over the rear segment. And they are strong enough that the rear clamp does not need to pull the helper leaf down against the leaf spring.

It will be an inch or so above the leaf allowing height adjustment.

I have successfully used this on several cars after trying re-arching and buying new springs. The helper leafs are the only thing I have tried that allows me to have complete control over the height and right to left level and weight distribution.

The Cuda can pull a 1.5 60ft, so I haven't found a down side to the helper springs yet.

I will follow up with the Hellwig number and try to post a shot of them on the Cuda. Probably tomorrow.

On my 70 super bee I took it to a reputable spring shop and they removed my springs, added a leaf to each side and rearched everything. I got the ride height in the back that I had wanted, they told me over time they may sag an inch but I don’t think they’ve moved at all to my eyes, and I had this done over 5 years ago. I’m satisfied with it.

If you are completely satisfied with the ride quality and spring rate of your present set up, do not add a leaf.

If the only complaint is it has sagged an inch. Get them rearched to sit 1 in higher.

Adding a leaf will significantly increase the spring rate, which is not spring height. Which is okay if that is also what you want

For something that all Mopar experts understand. We don't change to a thicker torsion bar if we ONLY want to change ride height. We change the position.

The Hellwig part number for the helper springs that I use is 1265EZ. Now that is for 4 identical helper leafs that go on the front segments and on the rear segments. I only use them on the rear segments. Which means that that part number will do two cars. If they are available as a pair of springs rather than four, I don't know.

I have pics of the way I have them mounted on my Cuda, but without Photbucket, I can's figure out how to post them. If anyone wants the picture, shoot me an E-mail and I can send them that way.

As to any change in the ride with the helper springs, I didn't notice it much. The Cuda rides a bit stiff in the rear anyway, so it wasn't a big difference.

P.S. I hit the archives on how to post them and couldn't get them up like that either.

These are DaveRS23's pictures of the Hellwig kit on his Cuda.

Mike.

Thanks. So the adjustment is in the preload on the U-bolts. You are one step ahead of me on flipping the rear U-bolt to hide the installation.
I'm wondering if the 550EZ set is possibly one half of the 1265EZ set.

Yes, the Hellwigs have enough lift that the rear clamp can be used as an adjustment. The only mod I needed to do was to take a long bolt, cut the threads and head off, and weld the shank on the flat plate so that it would lay in the lip of the spring.

There may be cheaper brands of helper springs. But the Hellwigs are known good quality. These have been on this car several years.

Besides, I bought this particular set off Amazon as a re-box for $35.

You could do what I did. When I put my SS springs on years ago my 63 actually sat about 1" lower then what I wanted. So I bought some aftermarket shackles from Mr Gasket I believe. I compared the holes as they have about 5 holes to choose from for more height and I selected the one that I felt would raise it a bit. It worked perfect and then I cut the extra shackle off and rounded the edges a bit to make them look stock. And that's because I hate to see a longer shackle hanging under our Mopars. Its been like that since 2008 when I installed the springs. You can see in this pic they look like stock shackles. Ron

And this is how my car still sits just how I like it. Ron

i just love that side shot ron !

Interesting , but for me, only in a younger day, looks like I'll stick to reading.

Thank you. Ron