Wanting to achieve "Perfect Posture"...

[Mr. Belvedere II]

When I first laid eyes on my Belve 12 yrs ago at gas station in Santa Ana it was dumped! I mean it's *** was sagging low-rider style! It had been put on wooden blocks somehow to compress the springs or some loco ****..anyway I got those removed and purchased new leaf springs eventually which I had hoped would push that *** up in the air more! It did a bit,but I still have almost half of my rear wheel covered by the fender. The look I want is stout and sprung I guess.. Here I am now in red, that's my man Petty in blue there, and what I think is perfect posture in white. Ha! Red, white, and blue....'Merica!

How is this posture/stance achieved?

 

[idrivemopar]

I agree, what looks tough and in good stance!!!!

By the way, correct pronunciation is "America"!!!

 

[polywideblock]

either get your springs rearched or find a set of hijacker air shocks , at least with the air shocks you can adjust the ride height to suit conditions

 

[747mopar]

Get them re arc arched!

 

[Mr. Belvedere II]

Get them re arc arched!

Re arched? The new ones aren't even 5 hrs old yet. They've been the same from the install. They never held the car up higher than it is in the pic

 

[PurpleBeeper]

Your springs are new, so I suggest you add extended rear leaf spring shackles. Anything like this will work https://www.carid.com/superior-auto...?view=985764&gclid=COCgm7Tnv9MCFZS2wAodlwAKpA
If you go with this "generic" type of rear shackle, keep in mind that you might have to add some washers or something to space it correctly. Better yet, find some Mopar-specific extended rear shackles. You'll also "might" need rear shock extensions or longer shocks (e.g. for a C-body).

The reason I'm not a big fan of air shocks (I ran them a lot back in the day) is the old rule of thumb, "raise or lower the front/rear of your car 2" and you need an alignment" plus air shocks stress the lower shock mounting plates where they attach. If you DO use air shocks, be sure to split the lines separately to reduce rear end lean in corners.

 

[Bruzilla]

I know raising/lowering the front using the torsion bars requires an alignment afterwards, but needing one for raising the rear is news to me.

I agree the stock spring height ain't working. You can order new springs that are 2" higher, but even then it's hit or miss. I went with Mopar Super Stock springs and air shocks to get my height right.

 

[conv67bdere]

If you go the air shock way , then you may want to keep my user name in your back pocket . when the air shocks bend the upper shock support in your car , I've have a spare that I cut out of my car that you can use to repair it .

The upper shock support stamped metal was not built to support the use of air shocks . . .

Good luck . . .

 

[747mopar]

Re arched? The new ones aren't even 5 hrs old yet. They've been the same from the install. They never held the car up higher than it is in the pic

If your not happy it doesn't matter, they can be arched to achieve the desired stance. I have new leaves as well that were supposed to drop mine but didn't drop it enough, I had them take another 1" out of them.

 

[dan juhasz]

That stance looks correct, you may not like it but correct

 

[Bruzilla]

If you go the air shock way , then you may want to keep my user name in your back pocket . when the air shocks bend the upper shock support in your car , I've have a spare that I cut out of my car that you can use to repair it .

The upper shock support stamped metal was not built to support the use of air shocks . . .

Good luck . . .

Has this ever actually happened, or is this another of those things people think maybe, might, could happen? I've been driving these cars with air shocks that are inflated to the max for close to 40 years and I've never had an issue with shock supports. Either I'm just a lucky SOB or this is another of those urban legend issues.

And for the record, I use my cars primarily for commuting and cruising, not hardcore racing.

 

[conv67bdere]

Has this ever actually happened, or is this another of those things people think maybe, might, could happen? I've been driving these cars with air shocks that are inflated to the max for close to 40 years and I've never had an issue with shock supports. Either I'm just a lucky SOB or this is another of those urban legend issues.

And for the record, I use my cars primarily for commuting and cruising, not hardcore racing.

Hey Bru . . . to answer you honestly, no, it has not happened to me - this is my first Mopar . . .

However . . . I did cut out my "stock" stamped metal upper shock support from my Belvedere.
- first, I needed to because I've narrowed the rear end 3" on each side so the stock holes won't work anymore
- the "stability" of that stamped steel was far less then "acceptable" ( to me ) for the replacement
- fabricated a new "version" of the upper shock support, with adjustable holes to make it easier in the future

Then it got welded to the trunk floor, and the frame rails - to build a torque-box - and further stabilize the frame/chassis in my car.

This should hold up "much" better - it's not going to go anywhere . . . not compared to the "stock" stamped steel . . .

Is it "urban legend" . . . I won't know and won't be able to find out with my fabricated replacement . . . someone else can pipe in . . .

 

[Bruzilla]

Hey Bru . . . to answer you honestly, no, it has not happened to me - this is my first Mopar . . .

However . . . I did cut out my "stock" stamped metal upper shock support from my Belvedere.
- first, I needed to because I've narrowed the rear end 3" on each side so the stock holes won't work anymore
- the "stability" of that stamped steel was far less then "acceptable" ( to me ) for the replacement
- fabricated a new "version" of the upper shock support, with adjustable holes to make it easier in the future

Then it got welded to the trunk floor, and the frame rails - to build a torque-box - and further stabilize the frame/chassis in my car.

This should hold up "much" better - it's not going to go anywhere . . . not compared to the "stock" stamped steel . . .

Is it "urban legend" . . . I won't know and won't be able to find out with my fabricated replacement . . . someone else can pipe in . . .

Didn't mean to put you on the spot. My issue is I've been hearing about this problem for as long as I've been on this forum. Every time someone mentions air shocks, the cautionary tale of damaged shock supports always comes up, and I've been wondering if this is a "this happened to me" thing or a "I heard this happened to my brother's wife's cousin's boss's car" thing.

 

[mmissile]

I ripped the shock crossmember outta my 71 Challenger, back in the late 70's[up-HIGH]. I had air-shocks on the hemi-wagon, at low pressure, and I beat that car unmercifully......no issues, to this day. As high as he wants to raise his car....low-pressure in the air-shocks, shouldn't hurt a thing.

 

[Mr. Belvedere II]

Hey Bru . . . to answer you honestly, no, it has not happened to me - this is my first Mopar . . .

However . . . I did cut out my "stock" stamped metal upper shock support from my Belvedere.
- first, I needed to because I've narrowed the rear end 3" on each side so the stock holes won't work anymore
- the "stability" of that stamped steel was far less then "acceptable" ( to me ) for the replacement
- fabricated a new "version" of the upper shock support, with adjustable holes to make it easier in the future

Then it got welded to the trunk floor, and the frame rails - to build a torque-box - and further stabilize the frame/chassis in my car.

This should hold up "much" better - it's not going to go anywhere . . . not compared to the "stock" stamped steel . . .

Is it "urban legend" . . . I won't know and won't be able to find out with my fabricated replacement . . . someone else can pipe in . . .

Ok! Now that's cool! So am I to understand that Sox and Martin would have used these air shocks to achieve this appearance? And I'm sure it wasn't just on appearance alone that they put the *** end up. I was under the impression they used super stock leaf springs to achieve that stance for a better hook on launch. Air shocks, super stock leaf springs, re-arch the leaf springs, gas adjustable, make your own brackets like a wizard? I don't want more systems to maintain with compressors and all this. It seems like a headache. I don't weld or have the tools to fabricate right now. But what you've done seems legit. Do you have more pics of the car?

 

[conv67bdere]

Ok! Now that's cool! So am I to understand that Sox and Martin would have used these air shocks to achieve this appearance? And I'm sure it wasn't just on appearance alone that they put the *** end up. I was under the impression they used super stock leaf springs to achieve that stance for a better hook on launch. Air shocks, super stock leaf springs, re-arch the leaf springs, gas adjustable, make your own brackets like a wizard? I don't want more systems to maintain with compressors and all this. It seems like a headache. I don't weld or have the tools to fabricate right now. But what you've done seems legit. Do you have more pics of the car?

I'm still i the middle of building my car - and if you click on the link below for my build - you can see all the work that's being done on my car. But - the tires aren't on the car yet to be able to see what the stance will be . . . yet . . .

 

[Dennis H]

Summit leafs inserted one each side. Just over 1" lift. Just right imo.

 

[hunt2elk]

If you don't know how much you want to raise the rear for certain, you could play around with some blocks like these. Then either buy new springs or have yours re arched to your specs.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Speedway-3-...ash=item3cfeb2abd2:g:6O4AAOSwu4BVqS02&vxp=mtr

 

[Mr. Belvedere II]

If you don't know how much you want to raise the rear for certain, you could play around with some blocks like these. Then either buy new springs or have yours re arched to your specs.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Speedway-3-...ash=item3cfeb2abd2:g:6O4AAOSwu4BVqS02&vxp=mtr

But these look like lowering blocks? I'm tryin to bring my *** up not down! Lol

 

[hunt2elk]

But these look like lowering blocks? I'm tryin to bring my *** up not down! Lol

They will lower or raise your rear depending on where you install them. By the way the white car you posted has the perfect stance in my eyes - would love to own one like it someday.