Vehicle stance questions from New Member/Owner from Florida

[JoseGaspar]

Hi everyone, happy to have found this forum. 35 years after falling in love with a Barracuda as a child, I finally own my first e-body. I recently purchased a 1973 Dodge Challenger with a 340 4bbl, auto transmission and repainted Plum Crazy Purple. Overall, the car is in excellent shape, interior is all new, paint is a 8.5 out of 10, zero rust and all panels are straight. The car currently has the 14" Magnum rims which I plan to replace with 15" Rallye rims.

One question I have is on the vehicle's stance. The back was sitting low and the front end sits up a little higher than I would like. I added some air to the rear air shocks and lifted the back about 1.5" inches...easy fix there. What options do I have to lower the front a little to get a level or slightly lower front end stance?

Thank you in advance,
JG

 

[ramenth]

First, I'd get rid of the air shocks. Most guys use 'em as a band aid for bad springs. If the ass end is sagging because of low air in the shocks, it's got bad springs. Check out PST off the to right of the screen and look into a set of springs. Then replace the air shocks with a set of KYB Gas-A-Just. Good bang for the buck on shocks.

The front ride height is adjusted through the torsion bars. As a warning, though, sleazy alignment shops will adjust the torsion bars to set camber. If that's the case with your car, you knock 'em down, you're going to need an alignment. But, better to do it the right way. Get it to a front end shop and have the ride height set to spec and have 'em throw the heads on it to see where everything else is.

Welcome aboard, by the way!

 

[Avalanche]

Instead of 15" rallys, consider these from year one. Nice looking wheel and better choice for tires.

https://www.yearone.com/Product/1966-74-a-b-e-body/mrw178slv

 

[71Plym]

Agreed, get rid of the air shocks. New rear springs will help with the stance. A place like ESPO sells springs with overarches for a little more forward rake. My springs are 1" over. Adjust the T bars for front height. 15" wheels will give you the classic look.

 

[74 challenger]

doest the challenger and cudas sit low in the back from the factory. Need to buy the super stock leafs,replaced mine thinking they were bad and they werent.And look on Summit Racing they make a rally rim for half the price http://www.summitracing.com/search/...iques-56-series-chrysler-rallye-silver-wheels

 

[71Plym]

Challengers seemed to have rear down stance. Super stock springs are not needed to fix that. SS springs will actually cause one side of the car to be higher than the other (when viewed from the rear) due to the built-in bias for race application. For street use, contact PST, ESPO or Eaton and get a set of heavy duty springs with an overarch to get the forward rake you are looking for.

 

[moparleo]

74 challenger, you are correct. The e-body's have always had the rear end sort of squat in the rear. That is one of the reasons the T/A and AAR had different sized front and rear tires. It gave the side exit exhaust additional clearance since the exhaust exited in front of the rear tires. One of the advantages of the rear being lower was for weight transfer in standing starts. Dick Landy's Chargers only used leaf springs in the rear, no traction bars and you could watch the rear of the car raise up on acceleration from a stop . A proper working leaf suspension will act like a ladder bar, trying to lift the car up, not squat down. to get the best performing ride height, start with the front end since this is where you need to have adjustment for camber and caster. Once you settle on the ideal front suspension setup you can simply have year leafs built to your specs. Surprizingly it is probably the same cost to have a set custom arched that to buy S/S springs and you can have the height and still good ride quality. Air shocks are not the way to go. Standard shock absorbers do not carry load. Only air shocks or coil over shocks support weight.

 

[JoseGaspar]

Thanks to everyone for the replies, info and leads on how to address the issue...very much appreciated.

 

[burntorange70]

Welcome to the site.

 

[Chryco Psycho]

I would lower thenose first to see if you can get the stance right , If not then address the rear springs , simply adding a second main leaf under the original spring pack often raises the rear 1" or so , you need new U bolts & center bolts & the leaf cannot have the spring eyes obviously .