ride height with air shocks

[dodj]

At the risk of de-railing the original topic...
I do not feel much concern aboat the extra loading caused by using air chock....
After all, the air chock is spring assist.... and I'm not running off road...

If ride height is controlled by the springs, the loading goes to the frame rails through the front and rear spring perches. If the car is being held up by air shocks, the weight (rear) of the car is being held up by the upper shock mount crossmember. It is not designed to take the weight of the car.
As Jamiez said, it was designed to handle the dampening of spring oscillation.

  But you might want to check pinion angle afterwards with any rear height modification.

Couldn't agree more. Last year I didn't know jack about pinion angle. Through the years I've made various changes to the rear of the car without knowing enough to check it. Vibration became an issue. Members such as yourself, CP, and sledghammer explained it to me and when I checked it, it was 3* nose up! 

[Changin Gears]

This thread reminded me of a friend back in high school days.  He had a V8 Vega, air shocks on the back.  After an evening of racing/cruising, looked underneath and his coil springs had fallen out.  Was riding only on the air shocks...

[high perf mopar]

i think i am going to install longer shackles to increase the ride height close to where i want it,,and use the airs with minumum pressure to get it just right,,,the stock rear shackles measure 3 1/2" ctr to ctr..2 1/2" 440-6 springs,im thinking if i could get shackles around 5 1/2" ctr to ctr i would be right there.and adjust with air if needed..or get out the welder and get this party started by making them..bracing it in the middle for ridgidness? just like in the link below..

i think this will be the best way since i already have a starting point to go from with the current setup..with replacement springs who knows what i will get,,theres an old thread here where a guy buys espo +1's and theres 4 1/2" between his wheel lip and the top of the tire.

does anybody know of any stock type mopar shackles that r longer??or do i have to get creative as usaul with this stuff.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/111022401838?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

[Jesus H Chrysler]

I tried rear shackles too.  They worked great, gave it the old school stance and look... Until I went to put the rear valence back on.  No way no how.  The rear valence is curved under so severely that stock shackles barely clear.  You'd have to notch and reinforce the heck out of them to put them back on.  I like Changin Gears idea of modifying the front hanger.  You could make that drop and it wouldn't affect anything except ground clearance.

[high perf mopar]

I tried rear shackles too.  They worked great, gave it the old school stance and look... Until I went to put the rear valence back on.  No way no how.  The rear valence is curved under so severely that stock shackles barely clear.  You'd have to notch and reinforce the heck out of them to put them back on.  I like Changin Gears idea of modifying the front hanger.  You could make that drop and it wouldn't affect anything except ground clearance.

yeah,i thought about that too,,looks like i have appx 2" max clearance now from the bottom of the shackle to the rear valance..thats 2"'s to play with,,just enough to take some of the load off the air shocks and use them for finite adjustment..wait,,,,,2"?   do u know what the diff is between all the regular guys and a porn star is??about 2"!!!!

[Chryco Psycho]

On Ford & GM cars a longer shackle will lift the car , on a Mopar the back part of the spring is softer so a longer shackle will generally just push the spring down , for every inch of shackle you might get 3/8" lift . Have been there done that you need an extra leaf or different spring pack

[high perf mopar]

On Ford & GM cars a longer shackle will lift the car , on a Mopar the back part of the spring is softer so a longer shackle will generally just push the spring down , for every inch of shackle you might get 3/8" lift . Have been there done that you need an extra leaf or different spring pack

i see what u r saying now,,the spring packs now r 6 leaf 440-6/hemi units..with the 2nd leaf right at the rear eye bolt,,the rear hangars r almost verticle,im not looking 4 alot,just a little rise so as the airs dont have to do much work and put undue stress on the rear shock upper mount to get the ride height i want.there currently not flexing down at all,,unless my thinking is all messed up with a near vert lift it should raise the same amount,appx 2" with the longer shackles???,,not to discount what chryco's saying,i mean if it is sitting there now,2"longer shackles right?lol,,i feel a headache coming on.. .will install poly bushings,,rubbers r in ther now,,and raise it with the rear lift shackle as much as i can next weekend..if it doesn't get me to where i want to be will fabricate a front lift mount appx 1 inch,,dont want to do that because the front part of the spring is going to be below the body..im close now,but the replacement lifter springs scares the heck out of me because u dont know what u r going to get????and im thinking that if modify what i have i can adjust it in to my liking

the lifter shackle will be here monday..3/8 thick bars with the ctr brace to stop side flex..
the pic of the car below is with the airs maxed out,,same springs,,if i let out all the air it'll drop 2"...

[Chryco Psycho]

the Mopar spring is different ,
1- it is not equal length front & rear of the diff
2-  the front section is very stiff to aid in traction while the rear is soft for ride quality , no one else did this , a shackle will barely lift the rear at all , my guess is a 2" longer shackle may net you 5/8" gain & will look ridiculous !!

[high perf mopar]

the Mopar spring is different ,
1- it is not equal length front & rear of the diff
2-  the front section is very stiff to aid in traction while the rear is soft for ride quality , no one else did this , a shackle will barely lift the rear at all , my guess is a 2" longer shackle may net you 5/8" gain & will look ridiculous !!

after reading your previous post about adding an xtra leaf from a donor spring set with the eye bolt holes cut off..my applications above,,where do i get this add-a-leaf????i have the shop tools to do it but which one??where do i buy this leaf??is it just an additional 440-6  top leaf??which would equal 7 leafs per side..?i think i need explicet directions and i can get it done,,i mean uurr done..
i see it now,,too bad theres no e body springs close here in central calif,,,,,,

this.  http://www.ebay.com/itm/370758025518?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

or  http://www.carid.com/1971-plymouth-barracuda-suspension-systems/readylift-lift-kit-2378583.html
thanks anyway..

[360 'CUDA]

Please guys, don't put long shackles, air shocks, wheel spacers or traction bars on you Mopars. Listen to Chryco!!!

Buy a Mopar Chassis book. Learn the right way about HD springs, pinion snubbers, spring relocators and pinion angle. Pretty soon you can modify your own springs and do it right.

Don't even get me started on using the B-body rear for extra tire clearence....

[brads70]

 
Seems like we all go through this problem. I too hated the butt dragging look. After talking to Neil I bought the ESPO springs. Ordered them at +2" All springs sag in the first few weeks. They did what I wanted them to do.
 Here is shortly after I installed the new ESPO springs



Here is after they settled...







And now I've gone back to the saggy bum looks for handling purposes using composite leaf springs



In that last picture it's also with a new Dana B-body width and 1" offset hangers/shackels...

[high perf mopar]

Seems like we all go through this problem. I too hated the butt dragging look. After talking to Neil I bought the ESPO springs. Ordered them at +2" All springs sag in the first few weeks. They did what I wanted them to do.
 Here is shortly after I installed the new ESPO springs



Here is after they settled...







And now I've gone back to the saggy bum looks for handling purposes using composite leaf springs



In that last picture it's also with a new Dana B-body width and 1" offset hangers/shackels...

looks good brad,,hhhmmm,,thats not bad after it settled..i think its pretty random as far as what u get ride height wise,,check out this link and take a look at the cuda half way down with espo +1"
http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=60611.0

[brads70]

Thanks, Opps I forgot to mention that last picture is with new composite rear leaf springs, they are NOT the ones I got from ESPO.  The 3rd picture is the ESPO springs after they settled, again the last picture is the composite springs and they make the bum sit lower than stock.

[360 'CUDA]

 

Yeah, looks great!!! You could probably get away with 10 inch wide wheels now too. If you were so inclined..

Either way, nice job.

[challengermaniac]

I took my original leaf springs to a spring shop and had them Re-arched and they are the perfect ride heigth even after 2 1/2 years.