Lowering Spring Hangers

[Dreamcar]

A few companies offer the hangers with an extra hole which lowers the car about 1.5 inches. Has anyone here ever used these?

How would using the hangers with XHD springs compare to something like the Hotchkis springs or similar lowering springs? How would the hangers affect the pinion angle?

[HPP]

The mounting hole is 1.5" lower, but this does not translate to a directly 1.5" lower ride height because of the asymetrical design of Mopar springs.

These hangers may or may not be compatible with standard springs. If you get the correct version, they should be. Just make sure of the part number you purchase as the SS spring hangers where the first to come out with dual mounting positions many decades ago and it is only in the last decade this has translated to stock and other alternate length spring packs.

Compared to other lowering springs, they achieve similar results. Hotchkis uses a berlin eye and camber to accomplish their drop compared to the standard eye in most other spring packs. In stock configuration, mopar springs should not have much camber (arch)  in their installed position. The exception being the SS springs.

Yes, lowering will impact the pinion angle. I beleive it reduces it.

[Kern Dog]

A few companies offer the hangers with an extra hole which lowers the car about 1.5 inches. Has anyone here ever used these?

How would using the hangers with XHD springs compare to something like the Hotchkis springs or similar lowering springs? How would the hangers affect the pinion angle?

Interesting point.

In 2006 I installed new XHD leaf springs but didn't like the height increase. I used some SS spring hangers to raise the front of the springs not knowing what effect it would have. I was unaware of pinion angles and what they did in terms of harmonics and vibration.
The car has always had 295 series tires but the car would peel out hard enough that I probably never twisted the leaf springs hard enough to feel any vibrations UNTIL I added a Gear Vendors overdrive. This required the use of a shorter driveshaft. (From using a longer transmission extension housing) The driveline angle was now out of spec enough to give me vibrations that made the rearview mirror shake and the console to buzz at freeway speeds. I blamed the GV unit and drive shaft but now I think that with stock spring hangers, it would have been okay.
I removed and sold the GV and later put stock spring hangers back in. The higher hole in the hanger surely affects pinion angle but in my case, it wasn't enough to cause problems on its own.

[Dreamcar]

A few companies offer the hangers with an extra hole which lowers the car about 1.5 inches. Has anyone here ever used these?

How would using the hangers with XHD springs compare to something like the Hotchkis springs or similar lowering springs? How would the hangers affect the pinion angle?

Interesting point.

In 2006 I installed new XHD leaf springs but didn't like the height increase. I used some SS spring hangers to raise the front of the springs not knowing what effect it would have. I was unaware of pinion angles and what they did in terms of harmonics and vibration.
The car has always had 295 series tires but the car would peel out hard enough that I probably never twisted the leaf springs hard enough to feel any vibrations UNTIL I added a Gear Vendors overdrive. This required the use of a shorter driveshaft. (From using a longer transmission extension housing) The driveline angle was now out of spec enough to give me vibrations that made the rearview mirror shake and the console to buzz at freeway speeds. I blamed the GV unit and drive shaft but now I think that with stock spring hangers, it would have been okay.
I removed and sold the GV and later put stock spring hangers back in. The higher hole in the hanger surely affects pinion angle but in my case, it wasn't enough to cause problems on its own.

It's too bad you sold the GV. I think they sell angled shims to adjust the pinion angle, or is that just when using lowering blocks?

[Kern Dog]

The unit I had was one of the first they built waaaay long ago. It had a bolt on yoke requiring me to rin a driveshaft with a slip/spline design like the front drive shaft in an old 4wd. I've thought since that the drive shaft might have been responsible for the vibration but it occurred to me awhile after I sold the GV.
I'm considering another overdrive of some sort. The only real advantage of the GV is ease of installation because of NO cutting or trans tunnel surgery aside from a few dimples. The .78 overdrive isn't as good as the transmissions with OD built in like the 500/518 (.69) the 700R4/4L60E (.70) or even the 2004R (.67)
The GV can be swapped in or out within a couple of hours without much difficulty.

[Dreamcar]

The unit I had was one of the first they built waaaay long ago. It had a bolt on yoke requiring me to rin a driveshaft with a slip/spline design like the front drive shaft in an old 4wd. I've thought since that the drive shaft might have been responsible for the vibration but it occurred to me awhile after I sold the GV.
I'm considering another overdrive of some sort. The only real advantage of the GV is ease of installation because of NO cutting or trans tunnel surgery aside from a few dimples. The .78 overdrive isn't as good as the transmissions with OD built in like the 500/518 (.69) the 700R4/4L60E (.70) or even the 2004R (.67)
The GV can be swapped in or out within a couple of hours without much difficulty.

Thanks for the details on the GV. I was thinking of getting one eventually, but given the money I'm trowing at my project, I may just go with 3.23s at the beginning to keep the rpms respectable on the highway.

[odcics2]

Front U joint and rear U joint need to have the same angle...   

Measure front at ride height.  Adjust rear to match with angled shim.   

[Dreamcar]

I'm not just rebuilding the rear suspension, but the entire car including the front suspension. Since starting this thread, I've priced out many different options, and for only a few hundred dollars more, I can install Hotchkis springs, TBs, and shocks, and know that it's all engineered to work together. Decisions decisions...