Interesting, wasn't necessarily planning on changing spindles but I bookmarked your thread and will read through it with interest. Looking at my mix of possible parts, 1" tbars, 1 1/8" front & 7/8" rear Hellwig sway bars, Mopar xhd rear springs & either Edelbrock or Bilstein shocks (will probably try the Ede's first since I already have them). You see any problems so far? If I need frame connectors I would be inclined to make my own or go with the XV's to keep them from hanging too low. Not sure about control arm changes, etc. unless Im still not satisfied.
Thanks, Jim
What parts do you allready have?
I'd go Hotchkis subframe connectors before XV. The XV's are like the US tool ones with the cutouts for the profile of the floor. That seems to never work out and if the profile is a little off, it's a total PITA. The Hotchkis ones for E-bodies bolt right to the from spring hanger and thats were the load is being directly applied. They also don't fit low.
There's a guy with an A-body with stock front torsion bars and big front/rear sway bars that had Edelbrock shocks and didn't like the harshness at all. He switched to stocker Monroes and loves it. That could be a lot of personal preference. It would be really neat to had put Hotchkis Bilsteins shocks to see how that compared in that particular setup.
The Hotchkis Leafs are totally different than the XHD Mopar, or JR Spring, or ESPO stocker stuff. They have two supporting leaves under the front spring eye to resist wrap up. AND they have a OVER the front spring eye supporting leaf to resist axle tramping and hopping under braking. That's a big deal. They also weigh less than stock springs.
If you want to curb you budget, you can put the Moog 7103 offset upper control arm bushings and get 3-5 degrees of postive caster. And run poly strut bushings.
