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shocks ?

cuda joe

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hi I got a 71 cuda 383 factory ac 1.03 tb up front. in the rear hotchkis leaf springs i used the original front hangers the ones that came with the springs made it sit to low.. bilstien shocks front and back high way driving it's great at slow speeds i feel every bump the main road in town is concrete when driving over the expansion joints after a couple blocks it feels like i have square wheels any ideas how to fix this would be greatly appreciated thanks
 

fasjac

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Can you send a pic of the cars stance from the side
 

Chryco Psycho

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I doubt it is the shocks causing the problem , Bilstein build some of the best shocks & usually give a great ride , so it is more likely the spring rates are to high .
So the other question is what size tires & wheels are you using & what pressure are you running in the tires ?
 

cuda joe

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in the front i have 15 x 7 steel wheels with 235 60 15 rear is 15 x 8 with 255 60 15 @32 psi the car is tucked in the garage now i won;t be able to get it out now
 

cuda joe

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thanks for the fast reply guys the hieght in the rear is about the same as when i had the orginal springs in he hotch front hanger was to low now i have the orginal front hangers in and i have 15 inch wheels i need glasses to read anything too .thanks joe
 

heminut

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If you're running 32 psi in those tires that is definitely too much pressure! I only run 20 psi in the 275/60-15s on the rear of my Cuda and 28 psi in the 235/70-15s on the front and I get a great wear pattern.
 

cuda joe

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i didn;t know you you can go that low there isn;t much weight in the rear and that;s where i think the problem is good tip thanks
 

cuda joe

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you have a nice cuda i never got into racing when i was young missed out on some fun got to ask what doe;s it run in the 1/4 mile
 

heminut

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you have a nice cuda i never got into racing when i was young missed out on some fun got to ask what doe;s it run in the 1/4 mile
Back in the day it was running mid 13's @ about 102 MPH with an old Chrysler 392 Hemi. I swapped in a Gen III 5.7 Hemi later on and I have not had a chance to put it on the track to see what that engine will do. The 392 had so much torque off the line it would blow off any kind of street tires So I got the MT's to solve that issue. The first time I launched with those tires was an eye opener, instant hook!😁
 

cuda joe

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traction is action must have out you back in the seat ! . mt good name in tires I;m planing on getting the sportsman on torq thrust style wheels ordered vintage wheel works wheels a year ago waiting for them to restart the factory if they don;t get here for spring i might go with the et wheels
 

73Dodge

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If your Bilstien shocks are stock height for an ebody, there's a good chance they are bottoming out due to the lower height of the Hotchkis leafs. This is exactly what was happening with mine, the stock shocks (and the stock ebody height QA1's I replaced them with) only had about 2 inches of travel left at the lower ride hight and it didn't take much of a dip or bump to compress them totally which will deliver the ride you're feeling. I measured the distance between the center of the upper and lower shock bolts and called QA1 for a better fitment. Based on my measurements, they recommended part number TS709 which is a single adjustable shock spec'd for 67-72 Chevy C10 pickups. It's a shorter shock and now my rear suspension has full travel without coming close to fully compressing the shock, which gave me a much better ride. Doesn't have to be QA1 but that's the direction I went to solve the issue I was having.
 

70chall440

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A not uncommon problem with many E body owners especially when the car is lowered, @73Dodge is all over this issue. You need to do some research and measuring before throwing parts at it.
 

cuda joe

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I got the rear back to stock ride height by putting in the factory front spring hanger 73 mopar how do you like the qa1 shocks
 

73Dodge

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If memory serves, the Hotchkis hangers have two positions. The lower hole corresponds to the stock hanger position and the upper will give you an additional 1 inch drop on top of the -1 inch drop the leaves themselves are advertised for. The previous owner of my 73 left the stock hangers in as well and I was still sitting lower. The QA1 shocks are excellent, if I could do it again I would buy once, cry once and get double adjustables on all four corners. Being able to dial in the compression and rebound separately is a great benefit that you can feel on a day at the strip or cruising around.
 

cuda joe

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73 dodge nailed it shocks are too low in the travel the shocks don;t rebound as fast as they compress and going over all those expansion joints on that concrete road made it squat a little thanks for everyones help
 

cuda joe

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I put in viking double adjustable in they matched up the rear shocks to my current ride hieght and set the compression and rebound what they recomend for the street took it out today feels smoother around town and still feels good on the highway and curves thanks guys
 

74stroker

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I could use some suggestions for suspension upgrades on 74 Challenger with 360 stroked to 415.
The ride is pretty terrible. It has heavy duty stock shocks installed in 1988, and the original rear leaf springs which I presume are HD since this car had the rally package. It has 15" rally wheels with Goodrich TA radials running at 32 psi.
The car was sagging in back which was 1.5-2 inches lower than front; the front end was lowered during last alignment; car is level now.
I'd like to keep car pretty close to stock with perhaps super stock leaf springs. Need wider tires on back (currently 7 in)--car has a lot of torque and its hard to keep them from spinning over the first 100 yds off the line. I'd like to run it in the quarter just to see what it can do, but don't plan to race it on a regular basis. Would rather not go to trac bars. What shocks might work best for this application?
 
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