HD leaf springs vs. Standard for handling

[66Satellite47]

I'm fairly certain that ESPO sells the factory style staggered XHD as well as a matched pair of XHD if you want them the same on both sides.

I think ESPO has lots of leaf combinations. The set that my Satellite had were not the same as the OEM Mopar XHD (Super Trak) springs. But the ESPO's were a really good spring package. My KYB shocks on the other hand were really poor. Felt every crack in the pavement. Switched to Comp Engineering drag shocks, MUCH smoother on the street.

 

[Rusty knuckles]

Me....I don't worry too much about springs. Even ones that are flat work well with 'big' sway bars. After all, the springs pretty much just hold the car up off the ground. If you like your car riding down the road like a 1 ton pickup, yeah, go for the heavy duty stuff. Our cars suffer from torsion baritis and that's a good thing because they are adjustable. Coils are not but so long as each rear leaf is about the same, the car will still act well with....big sway bars! Now if you want to go road racing....that's another story. And for even more handling.....splay your rear leafs a good inch or so outwards using offset rear hangers. Think about it. For a car that leans a little bit, it works.

This makes a lot of sense. I may just go with standard springs in this case. Like I say. Not autocrossing and trying to keep a reasonable factory like setup.

 

[ckessel]

Sort of got a handle on the technology issues here at home, still a couple more hurdles to get past. Anyway... here are photos of the circle track books, older[ dark cover] and newer [bright cover]. The newer one is thicker and you would think it has more info, as I thought originally. Boy was I wrong. Glad I held onto the older one. The newer one is mostly fluff and pictures. Older one was done back in 83 and has waaaay more info in it even though its thinner. I used to own one of the D.C. race manuals that was made in the 70's when I had my Duster. I gave it away as I bought the newer ones that replaced it figuring hey, newer, must be better. Wrong. I have an acquaintance that I worked with at a Mopar dealer some years ago who snagged my old book, which had the yellow cover. There was another version that has the blue cover. Look for those turkey's too.

 

[66Satellite47]

The Mopar books are a great place to start. Then you can start tinkering.

 

[YY1]

Downright dangerous (IMO) to have a rear bar and no front bar (or larger rear than front).

Fix that problem first, other wise any "handling" resolutions are out the window.

 

[Cranky]

Downright dangerous (IMO) to have a rear bar and no front bar (or larger rear than front).

Fix that problem first, other wise any "handling" resolutions are out the window.

Yup, not an ideal situation to have it that way but don't think the guy is driving it much right now....and it would even more dangerous in the 'wrong' hands. Me, I like tail happy cars lol and it pisses me off to have one that plows like crazy. Had plenty of those dang things but imo, most drivers are better off driving plowmobiles.

 

[YY1]

I don't mind steering the rear end with the throttle either.

"Go cart" handling can make drivers of cars "built for handling" struggle to comprehend how you can beat them though the corners.

 

[Rusty knuckles]

Downright dangerous (IMO) to have a rear bar and no front bar (or larger rear than front).

Fix that problem first, other wise any "handling" resolutions are out the window.

While I don't disagree, I wasn't concerned either with what I was doing. I expected a loose car and drove accordingly. I wanted to know how squirrly I could get it. Thought it might be fun to take to the drift events we have. Unhook the front bar and get it sideways.

I did order AndyF's book and gonna do a little reading on the subject.

 

[ckessel]

You'll like Andy's book.

 

[Max Wedge 413]

For consideration, take a look at the config of the 71 up B Body XHD springs or the E body ones.
They are a little more refined in design than the 70 down B-bodies IIRC, but still asymmetrical which has merits for torque roll under power.
I used the later type for a B Body upgrade with the correct main leaf length/segment spacing swapped in.
I considered it a factory engineered upgrade over the early design. YMMV.

I used a different front hanger to get the ride height right and the front segment fairly level to the ground.
If you want the car to turn, be aware of the front spring eye height in relation to the axle. It can induce roll steer if it's too crazy.
A center spaced front eye can improve things under power as well - makes multi-position front hangers more important to get things where you want them.

 

[Cranky]

For consideration, take a look at the config of the 71 up B Body XHD springs or the E body ones.
They are a little more refined in design than the 70 down B-bodies IIRC, but still asymmetrical which has merits for torque roll under power.
I used the later type for a B Body upgrade with the correct main leaf length/segment spacing swapped in.
I considered it a factory engineered upgrade over the early design. YMMV.

I used a different front hanger to get the ride height right and the front segment fairly level to the ground.
If you want the car to turn, be aware of the front spring eye height in relation to the axle. It can induce roll steer if it's too crazy.
A center spaced front eye can improve things under power as well - makes multi-position front hangers more important to get things where you want them.

Keep in mind that making subtle up and down spring eye changes it can also make subtle changes to the pinion angle. Probably not much but if it's already on the edge, it could put past that edge.

 

[66Satellite47]

I had 3 positions for my front eye in my '65, 1" higher & 1" lower than stock. I tried all 3. Each using the spring package I found to work best. There was some difference, but not much.

 

[Lefty71]

Bilsteins all 4

Care to elaborate?? Bilstein has quite a diverse offering.... of course when I tried a Summit part search for my particular B body, it came up with zero products. Thx Dennis...

 

[hunt2elk]

Care to elaborate?? Bilstein has quite a diverse offering.... of course when I tried a Summit part search for my particular B body, it came up with zero products. Thx Dennis...

Go onto PST's website. They sell the correct Billstein shocks for our cars.

 

[66Satellite47]

In my post#32, I should have said that was in my drag car. Turning corners is a whole different deal. The combination of the leaf package, shocks and anti-roll bar are extremely important, as well as the front to rear balance combination.

 

[Max Wedge 413]

Keep in mind that making subtle up and down spring eye changes it can also make subtle changes to the pinion angle. Probably not much but if it's already on the edge, it could put past that edge.

Absolutely agree - I should have said that.

 

[old guys rule]

You may find that with stiffer leaf springs, that 7/8” rear sway bar is too much. I had that setup and the car wanted to kick the tail end out in abrupt turns. FUN if you want it, ANNOYING if you don’t.
The condition is called oversteer.
I swapped in a 3/4” rear bar from an ‘83 Imperial. I have the Mopar Performance XHD leaf spring set with 2 RH sides.

Does two right hand leaf springs affect your ride or handling?

 

[Kern Dog]

No. The principle behind the extra leafs on the right was to improve drag racing traction. I don't drag race. The stiffer RH spring resisted axle wrap since the right side gets more loading in a sudden start. 99% of the cars built have the same rate springs on both sides anyway.

 

[Lefty71]

99% of the cars built have the same rate springs on both sides anyway.

Correct...even HD factory springs for camper/boat towing, etc. had the same number of leaves, not biased.

 

[old guys rule]

Me....I don't worry too much about springs. Even ones that are flat work well with 'big' sway bars. After all, the springs pretty much just hold the car up off the ground. If you like your car riding down the road like a 1 ton pickup, yeah, go for the heavy duty stuff. Our cars suffer from torsion baritis and that's a good thing because they are adjustable. Coils are not but so long as each rear leaf is about the same, the car will still act well with....big sway bars! Now if you want to go road racing....that's another story. And for even more handling.....splay your rear leafs a good inch or so outwards using offset rear hangers. Think about it. For a car that leans a little bit, it works.

I have super stock springs on my 63 b-body. Anything I can do to improve handling without changing the springs? Already have rear sway bar 3/4 inch. Maybe splayed rear hangers?