sloppy handling

[American_Muscle]

I have a 74 charger with a factory front sway bar, 14 inch rims front, 15 inch rims on back, longer shackles on the back (believed to be my trouble) I'm having some handling issues, the car is sloppy as all get out in the turns, somewhat jerky if ya will, I know classic mopars aren't known for their handling prowess, but i know it should be better than this. I've left the suspension the same since I bought it, and know it needs an alignment, the ball joints are in good shape as well as wheel bearings, so they aren't the obvious issue. the rear end concerns me some, would stock shackles and heavier leaves with a sway bar do me justice. I'm tired of being out maneuvered by boys in 80's camaros. So I must call on my bretheren HELP!
Kevin

[terrible one]

The really long shackles in the back tend to simply flatten out the leaf springs, and yes you will feel a lot of stiffness if your springs are arched flat and provide no movement anymore. The first thing I would do is grab some stock shackles for it, which can be had for $20 or so with bushings, and change them out and see how your leaf springs are doing. If they've been on there for a while, they may be toast and then you will need to look at new leafs or a re-arching of the old ones. The rear end being up in the air due to the shackles isn't helping either, as the car is already front heavy. What about the shocks? Usually on a car with shackles you'll find air shocks as well. Whether they're bad or in perfect condition, they will still royally f**k up your ride, just do a search on them. If you have them, throw some parts store gas shocks back under there and you'll be amazed.

[Mike DC]

Terrible's right about the shackles.


But as much as anything, I hope the bushings themselves are decent.  If they're the original rubber factory stuff then they're gonna be a total joke by now.  Front control arms, K-frame mounts (at least on a '73 and up), front strunt bar bushings, the spring eye bushings in back along with those shackles, etc. 


(Rubber versus poly is another debate for another thread, but I personally gotta vote for the rubber ones over the poly.  It pays to keep in mind that 40yo rubber is not exactly representative of how tight a set of new replacement rubber ones would be.)

[American_Muscle]

where should i find the rubber bushings and stock shackles at?

[Charger74]

You can find a lot of that stuff locally at NAPA or other automotive stores.  MOOG brand is one of the best to buy.  If you want more, then places like Just Suspension, Performance Suspension and such work as well.

If you want more ideas on tighting up your 73, check out www.firmfeel.com and look through their stuff.  Or pm me, I've been researching ideas on this for my 73.

[Mike DC]

 
The lower control arm's mounting point is critical on these cars.  Make sure the metal tube in the K-frame isn't tearing out from metal fatigue. 

And I vote never to use poly bushings in that spot even if you decide to use poly bushings on the rest of the front end.  Keep the LCA bushings rubber. 

 

[AmadeusCharger500]

Have you thought about changing the steering gear box to firmfeel?