A body 8&3/4. Landrum springs. all (4) corners of the leafs are at the same location (rear shackle mts were welded on). should I (1) raise each rear corner till each spring (at the locating nub for instance) is the same height as the other side then (2) center the housing (3) then rotate the housing till the pig face angle is correct (5 or 6 up iirc but I will check Docs email) then tack em OR should I weld the pads with the whole housing out of the car on a level pad (with the face angle correct). I thought this'd be easy but having second thoughts! What SHOULD I do? thank you for your time.

As best I recall, when I have done it in the past, I positioned the pads approximately where the old pads were, but placed new pads at the new spring-pad mount width. Next, made sure the housing was centered, then mounted the U-Bolts and Base Plates, snugged U-Bolts and lowered the car to the ground; Next, rotated the Pinion to the correct Pinion Angle, Tac-Welded the Spring Mount Pads, then lifted the car, removed the rear axle housing, then fully welded the spring pads to the axle housing tubes.

Finally, remounted the rear end housing into the car and verified that the pinion angle was still correct.

Worst case, I would add slim wedges to correct, but it should Not be necessary.

I've done it three times (8 3/4 and Dana 60 for my '71 Charger and the Dana 44 in my '79 CJ 5 Jeep) and only one needed a pair of thin wedges to get the angle spot on.

That said, there may be other or better methods.

That's exactly how I have done it. You need the full weight of the car setting on the springs to set it correctly, then tack, remove and weld.

Oh OK so I was off base thinking of doing it with a bare housing. I will go ahead & finish assembling the 8&3/4 then mockup loaded as you said. Thank you both!

Robert...D C is dead on...letter for letter... glad this didn't turn in into the typical pinion angle argument...

RR - I got lost in your description but the reply post is what I'd think would work.

You could certainly do it with an empty housing and jackstands under the axle to have it at running height so the springs would deflect the same way they would with wheels on the car. The pinion should be at right angles to the mounting flange on the axle housing, so there's a bit more difficulty setting it right, but on the other hand, welding on a bare housing should make positioning of the workpiece for maximum welder comfort, resulting in a better weld.

(I would have said deflect correctly, but my '64Dog has a stock rear spring setup with a considerable amount of rear steer built in, and I cannot get myself to call that spring arrangement correct.)

R.

Anyone ever have the axle tubes warp from the heat/stress of the weld? I did on a Dana I had done ~20 yrs ago. It was MIGed.

Dog correct yes you picked up on that that there was more to it/didn't quite make sense, the speedway special pivoting (circle track) front pivots located the spring front end inward a bit from OE cuz they dont quite fit the OE front shackle brackets perfect & the rear shackle mt is not OE & wont be bolted in with the two bolts on each end like OE so I (my buddy) just welded em so the springs were parallel but I did not get the 43 C to C I would like to have so the rear could be used in another A body later on if need be but I decided to follow my own advice & go with what is in front of me right now as opposed to what might be on down the line. Molloy, it is a MIG welder & I will ask my welder about the warp potential when he comes over. I'd like to move the fronts out a bit & bend the rear shackle vertical down brackets so I can get 43" but I'm so far behind the way it is

I've heard several members here claim that welding perches won't warp the housing but I wonder how many of those actually checked with an alignment bar.

I don't claim to be a good welder, but every time I do any welding on a housing it warps.

Yeah John it even seemed like when I was grinding the old perchs off that there was alot of heat being generated. Actually I have one of the centering kits with the pucks but I've never used it & I would have to get that 3/4" (iirc) long centering bar that the kit said was needed extra. Maybe I should go ahead with that. Almost gets tempting to send it in to Moser!

So tack them on under the car. Doesn't take many tacks.

ANY time you weld on a housing it can warp.

Look into old school welders straightening big wide-flange beams by welding here and there. You'll get religion.

Stitch the welds to spread heat around.

I'd suggest checking straightness with the jig and then bending to suit.

If you have the pucks for the bar, you are then one length of cold rolled steel away from your own setup.

RR I think you're going to want to experience this yourself.

R.

I could see where welding them may warp them some...then again its been done thousands of times without any real proof of a possible potential problem. RR the guy that narrowed mine for the Dart does it all the time and said that all of the housings are bent. (9", 8 3/4...whatever) He has to press every one around to true it up when installing the pucks and the bar.

Actually on this bare housing Moser shortened it way back & I have been sitting on it for several years so I am assuming it is square (right now). it was a truck housing & I spaced that the perchs were on the wrong side otherwise I coulda had them do them right then. I will get the bar and continue on with this. Thanks for the love guys.

"If you have the pucks for the bar, you are then one length of cold rolled steel away from your own setup."

But I would add, in this case, the bar MAINLY indicates if you have any warpage post welding, its not going to prevent it.