front 69 charger shock with coil springs

[Captain D]

Hello,

I was just wondering if anyone knows if they make front shocks with coil springs for a 1969 Dodge Charger 383?

Thank you for your  response!

Aaron

[Hemidog]

I don't think stock 2nd gens uses coil springs, when you have torsion bars.
I've seen modified cars with aftermarket frontends. No torsion bars, but coilovers.

[Captain D]

Thank you for the response. My 69' Charger has coil-springs on them (old rusted ones), so when I began looking for newer ones, and I couldn't find them, I wondering what was going on.

Thanks again,
Aaron

[terrible one]

Thank you for the response. My 69' Charger has coil-springs on them (old rusted ones), so when I began looking for newer ones, and I couldn't find them, I wondering what was going on.

Thanks again,
Aaron

Mine has them on the back, and somewhere I saw new ones for the back that had springs on them. Surely there's some for the front like that out there.

[Captain D]

Still lookin' 

Here is what I've been thinking...Please lend me any opinions, suggestions, ect.

- 15' X 8.5 rims on the rear with coil-spring shocks,
- 15' X 7 rims on the front WITHOUT coil-spring shocks for the front (regular/plain Monroe shocks).

Has anyone used this combination on your 69' Charger? If so, would this cause the back-end to be raised too much/too high, if any? Any pics by chance? By the way, personally, I'm not trying to go for the "rear-raised" look.

Thank you for any responses,
Aaron

[Charger_Fan]

The Gabriel or Monroe type shocks with could springs on them are designed as an 'overload' spring for the rear...usually installed on cars with trailer hitches. They don't usually raise the rear much (maybe an inch or less), but make the rear a little more stiff.
It sounds like a previous owner may have put them on the front to help counteract some worn torsion bars...??

What actual result are you going for by using the overload shocks? Just a firmer ride?

[Mike DC]

Thin "helper" coils (to put around a normal shock absorber) can be bought at a typical auto parts store.  It's ghetto but it works.

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Whether it's expensive coilovers or just ghetto-fabulous AutoZone stuff, the car's spring weight shouldn't be carried at the shock absorber mounts.  The frames weren't designed that way.  It'll work for a while but it's not good for the car and things will eventually bend/tear out.  (The expensive aftermarket suspension kits with coilovers are intended for use on cars where the shock mounts have been reinforced with welded-on additions.) 


Spend the money for replacement torsion bars in the front and new leaf springs in the back.  You can sometimes re-spring both ends of the car with all new stuff for $600 or less if you hunt around.   

 

[Captain D]

Thanks guys for the responses,

I'm new at restoration, and I enjoy learning more &  more about these things. Now that I know that the coil-springs aren't all that necessary for my purposes, I'm not worried about getting front coil-spring shocks. When I had purchased my car, they had coil-spring shocks on both front & back of the car, so being new, I naturally thought that they were supposed to be that way.

Just to double-check:

1.) If I were to keep these rear coil-spring shocks on the back with 15' x 8.5 rims on the rear, and have regular (non-coil-spring) shocks on the front with 15' x 7' rims on the front, it should still be a comfortable ride correct? And, the car won't sit up too high in the back?

2.) If anything, I just may feel more of the road with the rear coil-spring shocks. But, if you guys think that the car will sit up too high in the back, or if the the ride won't be quite as comfortable, then perhaps I'll switch to just regular (non-coil-spring) shocks in the rear.

Thank you again for your time and suggestions,
Aaron
- I'm restoring my car to the General Lee and that is why I just like to double-check these two things.

[Mike DC]

Ditch the coilover shocks at all four corners, for the reasons that I mentioned above.  Just get some decent (shock-absorber-only) shocks at all four corners. 

If you're doing a GL and you want/need the rear end to still be boosted somehow, then you might as well just do what the TV crew did:  Put on some cheapo bolt-on helper spring leaves in back.  You can clearly see them bolted onto the stock rear leaf springs (behind the axle) in many of the shows.  New rear leaf springs are a better idea eventually but helper leaves won't hurt anything for a while.   


if you wanna get technical, the DOH mechanics actually sometimes ran cheapo coilovers on the rear shocks of the 2nd-unit GLs too.  But those guys didn't exactly care much about the long-term damage they were doing to the cars in the process.  Mopar shock mounts just weren't intended for doing any of the body-lifting work that the springs normally do.  If you have to add spring rate then add it in the springs.   



In the long run, assume you're gonna want to buy new springs for the whole car.  New leaf springs for the back, new torsion bars for the front, and maybe even aftermarket sway bars for each end if you're into handling benefits.  These cars are getting so old that even never-abused original springs tend to be pretty worn out by now. 

[Captain D]

This is awesome learning about this stuff. The info discussed here in this thread is exactly what I've been looking for! Thank you again for all of the responses!
High regards,
Aaron