Lowering blocks

[j-c-c-62]

While we are covering a lot of ground here on leaf's it might be also informative for some to mention the beauty of the innovative design of Mopar leaf's.
Mainly that they are asymmetrical, unlike other corporate leaf designs. Meaning the front part of the leaf is stiffer and shorter than the rear part because its task primarily is axle location and resisting wrap up from torque and braking forces and the rear portion is along for the ride (pun intended) by mainly just contributing the needed bump/shock/etc absorption. This is why super stock spring offerings are even shorter and stiffer on the front side than regular Mopar asymmetrical standard leaf's.
Leafs also work as a weak (since they are only 2" wide) rear antisway bar by resisting twist.

 

[PurpleBeeper]

Saying that lowering spacers do not change pinion angle is incorrect.

Agree that the angle change from 1” spacer will be small and likely fine if the angle was reasonably correct to begin with.

Maybe….but with the front of my SS leaf springs in the upper hole of my extended 2-hole front hanger mympinion angle was WAY off & shims weren’t enough to correct the pinion angle. With the springs in the lower, “stock” hole and the 2” lowering blocks (no shims at all), the pinion angle looks good

 

[Kern Dog]

KD, do you have before and after side view photos of your car to show the comparison?

This is the best I can find so far. The before.....

Note how the front tire is more tucked up in the fender. Now a recent picture with my nephew at Folsom Lake:

Hmm...Looking at this, it appears that the car settled to where the height looks about the same!

 

[68 Sport Satellite]

This is the best I can fid so far. The before.....

View attachment 1790707

Note how the front tire is more tucked up in the fender. Now a recent picture with my nephew at Folsom Lake:

View attachment 1790705

Hmm...Looking at this, it appears that the car settled to where the height looks about the same!

please clarify which has the lowering blocks and which does not (since you recently removed them). I think I like the first photo stance better (might be the lighting), but I agree, they almost look the same. If you don't do any front end adjustment to the T-bars and only add or remove lowering blocks to the rear leafs, does it automatically shift the weight balance causing the front fender lip to change height?

 

[GTX JOHN]

The pinion angle is a function of the geometry between the tail shaft of the trans
and the 3rd member.

It seems to me the lowering blocks would mean that the tail shaft would point a bit further
up slightly in relation to the rear end as the back of the car of the car is lower than it was effective
meaning the 3rd member is higher in relation to the body.

The pinion angle has nothing to do with the ground just the tail shaft angle in relation to the 3rd member
yoke

My .02 = For Free

Go ahead Haters fire away!!

 

[Kern Dog]

please clarify which has the lowering blocks and which does not (since you recently removed them). I think I like the first photo stance better (might be the lighting), but I agree, they almost look the same. If you don't do any front end adjustment to the T-bars and only add or remove lowering blocks to the rear leafs, does it automatically shift the weight balance causing the front fender lip to change height?

The top picture is the "before". The bottom picture was taken last week.
It was back in May or June that I did some front end work on the car.
Spring Fling 2024 was about 900 miles of driving and as always, a long drive can highlight any weak points that a car has. With 2 or 3 people and a trunk with tools and repair parts, I found that the front tires sometimes touched the fender lip on tight turns. I decided to raise the car up a little so I removed the 1 inch lowering blocks and cranked the torsion bars up slightly to keep the same rake as before. I replaced both lower ball joints because I found slop in the LH one. It was at this point that I bought the alignment gauge, turn plates and toe plates to start doing my own alignments. I wrote about that here:

Alignment at home and aftermarket UCAS too.

It does look like the car has settled a bit to where it may be about where it was before, at least up front.

 

[j-c-c-62]

This is the best I can find so far. The before.....

View attachment 1790707

Note how the front tire is more tucked up in the fender. Now a recent picture with my nephew at Folsom Lake:

View attachment 1790705

Hmm...Looking at this, it appears that the car settled to where the height looks about the same!

Glad to see your lake has recovered
Car looks good in both BTW.

11/21

 

[Kern Dog]

All it takes is a couple good rain seasons and we are BACK.

 

[j-c-c-62]

does it automatically shift the weight balance causing the front fender lip to change height?

Yes, is it measurable, yes, is it significant, no, does the rake change affect aero/drag, yes, is that significant, yes at speed.
The picture shared is only relative if in both settings car was parked on exactly the same plane, in two different locations, same amount of fuel, etc and that is very doubtful for comparison's sake