What suspension should I do first because I need it all

[sext7366]

My bushings are shot leaf springs are sagging, and shocks need to be changed.  I am considering the rear sway bar thing too, but if new springs, and bushings would be better to do first, I may go that way.  I have heard the reproductions leaf springs don't last long (probably from this site) how true is this, and are the superstock springs any better?  Basically what would you do? 

[Mike DC]

I'd probably do the shocks first.  Easy, cheap, and lotsa benefits.

The sway bars & sway bar bushings are worthwhile things to look at, but I personally think they rate a distant second compared to just fixing the primary problems with the control arms & leaf springs.

The current leaf springs from MP are made in Mexico, and they're reportedly sagging fast.  But you can still get a set of leaves made from a dedicated spring business (Eaton, Detriot Spring, etc.) for about $350 that won't sag like that.

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Front suspension:

At least look at the balljoints & steering linkage to make sure nothing is about to fall off the car.  (Jack the car up and start trying to wiggle everything by hand.  Have a friend turn the steering wheel while you watch things underneath.)  If it all looks & feels okay, then I'm gonna break with the typical shop wisdom here and say leave them alone in favor of replacing the rubber stuff.

Of course it ALL probably needs replacing, and a lot of repair shops will wanna push you in the direction of new ball joints.  That's good advice for a modern car.  But if you're dealing with a musclecar, the rubber bushings have had about three times longer to decay than most modern cars by now.  So the disintegrating rubber stuff is probably causing more MAJOR slop (measured in inches) than the wearing tolerances in the ball joints ever could (measured in milimeters).  So I'm thinking just check the ball joints/steering linkage to make sure it'll work for a while and then address a few rubber parts first.

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--  In front, mainly the LCA needs bushing attention.   You probably want to change the bushing where the LCA bolts into the K-frame.  Not an easy one to change, but it REALLY screws things up when it's toasted.  (And check the metal of the K-frame in the area of those bushings for stress cracks & broken welds.)

The upper control arm shouldn't be too messed up either, but it's generally gonna last longer than the lower arm stuff.  On torsion-barred Mopars, the LCA bears most of the weight of the car and the UCA mainly just keeps the spindle moving in the correct directions.

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Rearend:

--  In the rear, change all the rear leaf-spring bushings.  (You may just have to buy them all in a single set.  But if you're choosing between the front & rear spring eyes then do the rears first, including both the top & bottom of the shackles.)

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