Rake or stance for Belevede or other bbody

[toolmanmike]

Spring companies such as Eaton or ESPO will help with what you want. They have a + - scale. Say you want 2'' above factory stock height,hence +2. I have used Eaton several times.Their price is on the high side about $500 pair shipped from Detroit. You may get a better deal from ESPO.Maybe someone will chime in that have bought from them.

You beat me to it. I was going to recommend ESPO. If your rear is draggin' they have many options and reasonable prices.

 

[6PKRTSE]

I like a slight rake. Not the all jacked up look. Slightly taller & wider tires in the rear than the fronts. Guess I like them low. (But not lowered). All stock factory suspension on my Charger. Caltracs with -1" split mono's in the rear on my Challenger since it is a 30" tall tire.

 

[toolmanmike]

My look back in the 70's. Fill up the air shocks and crank up the torsion bars. In 10 min. you could have a different look. It drove the GM and Ford guys nuts.

 

[Kern Dog]

I love the rake as well, I don't give a **** that handling is compromised, because lets face it these cars even in ideal configuration handle poorly compared to modern vehicles.

I don't think that you would feel that way if you rode in a Hotchkis car....or mine!
Proper springs, torsion bars, shocks and a solid unibody platform can handle quite well. If you are the type that sticks to a completely stock chassis or uses a 14" or 15" wheel, you are selling yourself short.

 

[Budnicks]

probably already covered

I like a taller & wider rear tire, like a p275 (or a p295)
shorter slightly narrower front tire, like a p245 (or a p225)
for the 60's old school look
(different sizes if you go to a bigger/wider rim diameter)
that alone can do wonders on a slight old-school LA style rake
the nose down a bit, it helps to fill the wheel wells too (good reason alone)
a little tweaking of the springs in the rear
or a torsion bar adjustment in the front

mine handles very well, it doesn't have worn-out OE crap either
& has aftermarket sway bars front 1-3/8" & rear 1",
good aftermarket gas shocks on all 4 corners helps too
wider performance tires never hurts for handling
& better overall driving characteristics

I haven't used an air shocks in decades now,
not going to start now
(or use extended shackles ever)
I have use the old-school overload coil overs/helpers a few times,
when I was much younger & dumber (a tad bit bouncy/stiff)

air bags (or an airwave shock) are a different story, than a air shock
I haven't used them either

depends on what you're going for

lots of great suspension stuff out there
there's lots of junk, if you don't know what you're doing with it too

good luck

 

[moparedtn]

probably already covered

I like a taller & wider rear tire, like a p275 (or a p295)
shorter slightly narrower front tire, like a p245 (or a p225)
for the 60's old school look
(different sizes if you go to a bigger/wider rim diameter)
that alone can do wonders on a slight old-school LA style rake
the nose down a bit, it helps to fill the wheel wells too (good reason alone)
a little tweaking of the springs in the rear
or a torsion bar adjustment in the front

mine handles very well, it doesn't have worn-out OE crap either
& has aftermarket sway bars front 1-3/8" & rear 1",
good aftermarket gas shocks on all 4 corners helps too
wider performance tires never hurts for handling
& better overall driving characteristics

I haven't used an air shocks in decades now,
not going to start now
(or use extended shackles ever)
I have use the old-school overload coil overs/helpers a few times,
when I was much younger & dumber (a tad bit bouncy/stiff)

air bags (or an airwave shock) are a different story, than a air shock
I haven't used them either

depends on what you're going for

lots of great suspension stuff out there
there's lots of junk, if you don't know what you're doing with it too

good luck

Right there with you.
I have 275/60/15 rears and 225/70/15 in the front.
That gives about 1.5" rake in itself. Drop the torsion bars just a smidgen
to get another inch and wala, rake SAFELY.
I don't want to aggravate the already ridiculous front/rear weight balance
these things have, especially with a big block over the nose, and make the
thing even harder to steer (mine is factory manual steering).

Nothing to me screams "Pep Boys" louder than a pair of extended shackles
hanging out from under the car, sorry.
I've seen rear ends do some funny stuff under duress running those things...

Likewise with air shocks. Springs (and the hardware on them, as with the chassis
portions of the car they are suspended from) are designed to bear the actual weight of the car.
Shocks are not - they are there to dampen suspension movement, hence their being
referred to in ancient times as "dampers".
While they can be used to help with towing or temporary heavy loads, they
should never be used to support the car - they, and their mounts in the car,
are not designed for that.
Having said all that...
I am as guilty as anyone in my youth (and on some unnamed GM products I may have owned
in high school) of running air shocks for that *** in the sky look.
Grew out of that real quick upon my first Mopar (and learning more about cars in general), though.

This GTX now won't get any of it, but I am very impressed with the aftermarket suspension systems
available out there now and wouldn't mind owning a car that utilizes some of it.
I wanted this one, perceived to be my last Mopar in this life, I wanted to be as close to the way they
were in the day as possible.
I think we're close to realizing that goal now. Couldn't happen a moment too soon, really.

 

[66Satellite47]

In '74 & 75 I played with leaf spring setups on my'65 Coronet drag car. Put lots of arch in, took it out. Went to a Super Track Pak setup, with the '65 main leaf (21" front). Worked pretty good. Decided to copy my buddy's SS springs. Took a bunch of leaves, matched close as could to the '68 SS. That worked great, combined with 3 way shocks that had greater uplift control. My Coronet hooked well at all the midwest tracks I went to. Point is find the right spring & shock combination. Parts out there are so much better than 40 years ago. BTW check with ESPO their stuff seems good.

 

[koosh]

In '74 & 75 I played with leaf spring setups on my'65 Coronet drag car. Put lots of arch in, took it out. Went to a Super Track Pak setup, with the '65 main leaf (21" front). Worked pretty good. Decided to copy my buddy's SS springs. Took a bunch of leaves, matched close as could to the '68 SS. That worked great, combined with 3 way shocks that had greater uplift control. My Coronet hooked well at all the midwest tracks I went to. Point is find the right spring & shock combination. Parts out there are so much better than 40 years ago. BTW check with ESPO their stuff seems good.

What is a 3 way shock? For front or rear?

 

[HEMI-ITIS]

Gabriel Hyjackers back in the 70's

 

[Richard Cranium]

 

[Fran Blacker]

View attachment 740661

Perfect.

 

[Budnicks]

View attachment 740661

having a (heavy) Hemi up front doesn't hurt
to aide in getting the LA rake either

Nice car

 

[67440chrg]

I use air shocks. I have no problems. Make sure you have tires that if you blow a hose it wont drop to much and rub all way home. I have them set up separate to level the car. I must have one spring a little week because it will set just under 1/2" lower on one side than the other with all the weight on my SS shocks.

 

[mmissile]