Hey, I thought I would give you guys an update on where things are at with my rear suspension. I have to say, if every step of this car's build is this complicated and so full of problems I am going to lose patience real quick. The car (70 Cuda) now has 17 by 9.5 wheels in back, a MP bolt in relo kit, A-body XHD springs, A-Body Caltracs and a B-Body rear end. Finally the stance is about right and the caltracs fit (because I was using the upper mounting hole in the front hanger the Caltracs hit under the car and I had to do a little clearancing). However, now I'm running into a new problem. When I had the relo kit and the b-body rear end in the car (the first combo I tried, but the car sat too high for my liking) I did have to pry the springs in to sit on the spring seats of the rearend. I asked a question about this and the responses I got indicated this was normal,
(360 said: "As far as the bit of prying you had to do that's normal.
the relo kit moves the springs in 3/4 of an inch and the B-body rear spring seats are moved in 1 inch
That little 1/4 difference doesn't matter for ride or handling but it helps to get the springs away
from the tires alittle")
and I didn't have to pry very hard and there didn't appear to be any twist in the spring (the superstocks had rubber bushings). Now that I have the caltrac plate in the front hanger with the solid front eye bushings everything has a lot less give and I really had to pry the spring over to get the rear end to sit down on the spring. The effect this had was to twist the spring (rear shackle twisted down) and is not real bad but is definately noticeable and the bushing in the rear shackle is pinched.
So, what to do about this??? The way I see it I only really have one option, have the spring seats rewelded in the correct location, over just a bit (any info on how to do this and keep everything lined up, where to measure on the springs to know how far apart to space the springs, etc would be appreciated) or I guess I could try the DR Diff front hanger which I hear is supposed to move the spring over a full inch. Problem with this is I would likely have to do more clearancing for the caltracs if they moved any further towards the middle of the car. Can you guys think of any other solutions, besides pushing the car off a cliff? Anyone ever moved the spring seats that could give me some advice on how best to do it? Thanks guys, without your help and input I'd never get anything done. I can put up some pics if need be.
