Spring helpers anyone using them?

[keith88]

Hi . I'm looking into possibly using spring helpers,was wondering if any one is using them....what brand ,and what spring rate and how much did it help the rear height.  Rite now i have air shocks but want but get them off of there but think my spring might not be the best and could use some help until i can put new springs on it in a few years. When i bought the car the rear end was sagging a little bit but the shocks were shot to.

[tan top]

 the General lee up charger mob use these , still  I believe  as they were used in the show , a member on here has fitted them to his GL replica ,
thought about getting a set     , my  mexico  made     Mopar performance R/T springs saged a inch in 6 months months    even before I finished the resto  

[myk]

Whatever you do, get those air shocks out of there pronto.  Either go with the MP springs, which will sag in no time at all, or go with something like the Hotchkis pieces if you can manage the drop in height...

[bill440rt]

I have the MP springs on two of my cars, one for over 15 years now. Ride height is still fine on both with no sag. 

keith88 my advice is to change your springs. Like air shocks or helpers anything else is really just a band aid. 
The MP leafs are relatively inexpensive comparatively speaking.

[PlainfieldCharger]

Good info there Bill. This is something I need to do to my car. We are a large bunch of boys here and when we pile in it wants to bottom out. Do the MP and Hotchkins springs both look stock? What is the advantages of either? Did the sag on Mexico springs sag down to the stock height Tan Top....so they would still be higher than the Hotchkins...

[keith88]

I intend to do the springs not just in the short term could be a couple years from now at the moment i want the air shocks off so i am looking for a band aid until then. I already bought a set of KYB shocks for the rear of it just want a little help on what i believe are 45 year old springs. It is not driven a lot so its not that its a everyday driver.

[myk]

Good info there Bill. This is something I need to do to my car. We are a large bunch of boys here and when we pile in it wants to bottom out. Do the MP and Hotchkins springs both look stock? What is the advantages of either? Did the sag on Mexico springs sag down to the stock height Tan Top....so they would still be higher than the Hotchkins...

The MP springs are supposed to be "stock height."  The Hotchkis ones are considered performance "lowering springs" and will drop your rear anywhere from 1 to 2 inches.  This is somewhat drastic so you have to be ready for it, while keeping in mind that you'll have to drop your front end to match the back...

[tan top]

    don't use air shocks

Good info there Bill. This is something I need to do to my car. We are a large bunch of boys here and when we pile in it wants to bottom out. Do the MP and Hotchkins springs both look stock? What is the advantages of either? Did the sag on Mexico springs sag down to the stock height Tan Top....so they would still be higher than the Hotchkins...

difficult to say ,  because the original springs I took off the second owner added two full extra leaves each side , so it always had a slight rake to it ,
 yes I did think it was just settling of the new springs , but it defiantly sagged or rather the springs flattened out slightly over the first winter after I put the car back together & was just fine tuning every thing  ,  looked a inch lower ! just a guess , I then changed the wheels & tires combo & adjusted the front ride height again ,
i'll go & measure the rear & rear of mine just for reference later & post here  , have no experience with the hotchkis hardware ,  did suggest a idea a few years ago for every one to post up ride heights etc  ,  just  for comparison / fun etc , , not the way the factory measures it , but  from the bottom of the fender wheel well lip ,  so more of a visual look !   .

[Ghoste]

You can also get replacement springs from places like Eaton if you want a stock ride height.  If you want a band aid then I suppose air shocks or something like that could work but....

[Mike DC]

Air shocks will bend/break the shock crossmember eventually.  Not good.

General-Lee-style spring helpers are better than nothing.  Longer shackles would help too, if you get some decent ones that are braced in the middle so they don't let the ends of the leafs move too much laterally.

[fy469rtse]

Keith , do a walk through wreckers , look at light duty utes and pick ups ,
a lot of them have an additional overload spring clamped to springs with u bolts, bandaid until you can afford new springs , just a suggestion

[keith88]

I have bought a set of hellwig 1500 spring helpers and a set of KYB shocks should have it all sometime early next week ill let you know how it all works out.

[fy469rtse]

Should be good Keith , you might want consider rear sway bar addition as well , will help the handling

[myk]

I'd skip the KYB's and go with the Hotchkis 1.5 street shocks...

[tan top]

 following on from my above post  , heres my rear ride height , , mesurment , just for fun  taken from the bottom edge of the wheel rim lip to the bottom /underside of the stainless wheel arch / wheel well lip trim ,

 21" & three quarters of a inch

[PlainfieldCharger]

Just measured to your spots. I am 21 1/4". Good/Bad?

[tan top]

Just measured to your spots. I am 21 1/4". Good/Bad?

there are a lot of variables , measuring this way  ,   but !  gives a  quick visual  ,  of rear ride heights ,  
should of mentioned I have 15 inch wheels too ,  also front ride height will affect the rear to some extent .

really we need  as many cars measured as possible to gauge what is  high low average etc ,

[bill440rt]

Tire height could easily affect that measurement. 

[PlainfieldCharger]

Just measured to your spots. I am 21 1/4". Good/Bad?

I have 15" rims too. This is a brain buster I can see it already. How do we get a baseline. Would that baseline have different rims sizes?

[keith88]

I just put a 1000 pound helpers on it that i got for $25 and raised it by 1.5" more than it was. From the ground to the wheel well lip i have 27" in front and now have 26.5 in the rear. I do have a better set of helwig helpers coming they are rated at 1500 ill see if it makes a difference in height when they get here next week sometime.

[keith88]

Just installed the helwig 1500 pound helpers and they made a even bigger difference the car now sit 3' higher than with just the stock springs and 1 1/2 higher than with the superior 1000 pound helpers the best part is that they install one the top of the spring and are not as easy to see. I highly recommend these to any one looking for a set of helpers, they have given me back the ride height i wanted with out air shocks.

A couple pictures:

[68charger440]

Just installed the helwig 1500 pound helpers and they made a even bigger difference the car now sit 3' higher than with just the stock springs and 1 1/2 higher than with the superior 1000 pound helpers the best part is that they install one the top of the spring and are not as easy to see. I highly recommend these to any one looking for a set of helpers, they have given me back the ride height i wanted with out air shocks.

Where did you get the helwig 1500.  Do you have a part number?

[68charger440]

It looks like you could cut an inch off of the studs and hide it even more.

[keith88]

I got them from "car parts.com" they were the cheapest but they took a little bit of time to ship them and get to me in CT about 3 weeks total but this is what i got:
H63815 Hellwig Helper Spring Leaf Spring Helper Spring Set of 2 815
They can be bought from other people. And yes you could cut them if you did not want to take them off you would need the extra length to start the nuts.

[68charger440]

I got them from "car parts.com" they were the cheapest but they took a little bit of time to ship them and get to me in CT about 3 weeks total but this is what i got:
H63815 Hellwig Helper Spring Leaf Spring Helper Spring Set of 2 815
They can be bought from other people. And yes you could cut them if you did not want to take them off you would need the extra length to start the nuts.

Thanks
To make them removable after cutting I usually either chase the threads with a die, or put the nuts on before cutting the stud, and then after cutting the stud you can work the nut slowly back and forth on and off until it cleans the threads up like a die would.