Shock and leaf spring recommendation for my 69 GTS

I want to replace my air shocks and sagging leaf springs on my 69 GTS 340. The car is street driven and will see no track time. Looking for suggestions without breaking the bank! Thanks! Ted

I run SS springs I get from Mancini on my 69 Dart...

I also have leaf spring sliders in the rear...

The front perches are flipped upside down (raising the hole in the body) so the arch doesn't make it set too high...

The 72 Duster...65 Coronet and 70 Satellite also have them...no issues ever...

Can you post a picture of the sliders installed in the car ?

I have had my originals re-arched at Spring Align, have one not to far from my house. I always use original parts when possible...

Ted -
Have originals re-arched, or call ESPO and get a set, maybe +1" - and for street shocks, I've been OK with the basic Monroes or whatever, oil-filled.
KYBs were fine on my Z28 "canyon car", but a lot of guys here say they're too stiff for Mopars.

I'm surprised at how low Skicker's Dart sits on SS springs - looks stock.

I was thinking the same thing.

Thanks guys! Rhino--Check your pms. Ol Skickers car looks nice. I have American aluminum slots to put on my car but need to get the sagging springs and air shocks taken care of. What is the cost to re-arch the springs compared to new replacements??

Cost for re-arching varies: check locally.
There's a place in Spokane (Pohl Spring) that wanted $400/pair for that 3 years ago - only game in town, and they're greedy - but I've heard of $150-$200/pair in other areas.
Should be something in Archives on the topic.
Last set I bought from ESPO was cheaper than re-arching in Spokane, by a bunch, and the car got upgraded Hemi T-bars & then rear springs.

Evidently I don't have any of them in the 69...

These are pictures from the install in the 72 Duster...

The 69 Dart was done 1st and then the Duster was done the same way a few years later...

Last picture is of the spring hanger flipped upside down...

This is the pic showing how much the front hanger was moved rearward...

This was done to run the 30" tall tires without cutting the front of the 1/4 panels...

The rear in the Duster is a 65 B body rear with a 9.5" wide rear wheel that has 5.5" of back space...

These wheels and tires are off of my 70 Satellite...Tires are 275/60/17's and measure right at 30" tall...

They were robbed from my car as you can see in the background of the 3rd pic...

They were used for mockup so that if he ever wanted a 9.00 x 30.0 slick he could run one...

no track time at all then there is no need for SS springs.. call espo ( https://www.springsnthings.com/ ) and get the height ya want. eaton senns a damn nice spring beyt they are more expensive.

Yes, on the Eaton springs. The 340 cars came with one more spring than the slant 6 and 318 cars did I think. Should have 6 leafs per side instead of the normal 5???

if it were my car, i would opt for new springs, or add a leaf or two to your current spring packs.
just my opinion. your mileage will vary.

3x or 4 x on Espo. been using laura's springs on customers cars for over 20 years, never a problem.

My '69 Barracuda 340 developed rear wheel hop on hard acceleration only a few years from new. Maybe the rear was sagging also, but I didn't measure it. Had the springs re-arched, and the shop also added one more long leaf for a total of 7 each side. This fixed the wheel hop, and the rear sat maybe 1" higher than spec, which I liked.

Today, 50 years later, the springs are doing fine and still sitting about 1" high. I suspect that the extra leaves by themselves is mostly what fixed the problem, and that the re-arching didn't help that much.

My recommendation for sagging rear springs is to get a pair of used 2 1/2" wide leaves slightly shorter than the spring eye to spring eye distance, thickness the same or slightly thicker, redrill the center hole as necessary with a carbide drill, re-assemble with new pure, non-magnetic zinc interleaves (don't buy fake, magnetic galvanized steel interleaves) and new clamps, and see if the problem is fixed. If so, the cost of re-arching is saved. If not, then get the assemblies re-arched along with the extra leaves.

But be sure the re-arching shop doesn't throw away your pure zinc interleaves like my shop did.

Restored springs after sandblast, colored with dilute gun blue, since full strength is too black, and coated with RPM wax. Note the second leaf down is the additional leaf, making a total of 7. In this case, the extra leaf was not drilled on the ends for the plastic sliders, but should have been.

Also note new pure zinc interleaves at the center bolt, as original.

For what it's worth I had a set of springs De Arched in Sept 2023. The cost was $170 to take 5" out of my 1995 Dakota leaf springs. Maybe the cost is similar to Re Arch.

Usually SS springs jack the car up way high. I used Mancini Extra Heavy Duty springs in my Dart. Stock hangers. Offset shackle. Calvert adjustable rear shocks. Calvert 90/10 shocks up front. Rides nice. I think sits nice. Launches straight and hooks up at track.

I talked to Laura this morning. Very helpful. They have a 6 week lead time on the springs.

Some things are worth waiting for

in today's world, that isn't too bad of a lead time.