Leaf Springs or Air Shocks for sagging 197070 Chrysler 300

[cruisinwithsusan]

Several years ago I asked an old friend mechanic to help with the tired look of my 1970 Chrysler 300. I was thinking leaf sprigs but he recommended air shocks. I'm looking for advice on what would be best in the long run. Not surpisingky, the shocks no longer hold air. Any advice and hints on what to order and where would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Dirk

 

[Big_John]

Get springs, ditch the air shocks and find another mechanic.

A lot of us have bought springs from ESPO, Leaf Springs For Your Car or Light Truck 1940-1990's+ , but it may be cheaper for you (shipping) to buy from someone else. Eaton comes to mind. https://www.eatondetroitspring.com/leaf-springs/

I put ESPO springs in my '70 300 vert and am real happy with them.

 

[carguy300]

I used these on my last 300, set it up nicely. Had my torsion bars raised just a bit, car sat good and road good.

 

[mrfury68]

Do it right and replace the springs and install a decent set of gas shocks. Your 300 will thank you and you will love the ride and height of the back end.

 

[polara71]

Replace the springs!

 

[cruisinwithsusan]

Thank you, this helps a lot.

 

[bronze turbine]

I agree, replace the springs, but if they ask you if you want stock ride height say you want 1/2" above stock. I got stock ride height springs and I kind of regret it, because the car is almost perfectly level with no weight in it, but any amount of weight makes it ride lower in the back than I'd like. Those shocks with the coil springs worked really well on our '71 Mercury Marquis, but I think on my Chryslers (which are all '68s, so a '70 might be different) but on the '68s there's not a lot of clearance between the shocks and the exhaust pipe and they bump together sometimes. The added width of the coil-over shocks would probably just make that problem a lot worse.

 

[ayilar]

@cruisinwithsusan -- @1970FuryConv has a detailed thread about spring replacement. Beware the shackles.

I have replaced the springs on two 1970 convertibles -- Snow White (N-code Polara) and Regina (L-code Polara). Snow came with the A35 towing package and I got the correct replacement springs (7-leaf). Regina has the regular suspension, and in that case I went for 6-leaf (not 5) for a slightly firmer ride. FWIW, I had planned on Eaton but ended up going with ESPO.

For photos, start here to get some.

 

[Big_John]

Beware the shackles.

^This^

The shackles ARE NOT AVAILABLE new and hard to find good used ones. I suggest using a nut splitter and breaking the nuts off rather than trying to turn them off. The nuts are common hardware store, but break the shackle and you're in trouble.

Some places list the shackle, but the listing is wrong and no, other offset shackles won't work either.

 

[330dTA]

Get new springs. I got mine (7 leaf, 1” over stock height) from Espo Springs’n Things. Had to arrange for them to be shipped overseas, took 3 months, and cost some, too. Your purchase will be a lot less tedious. They will drop them to your door in a matter of days.

 

[volksworld]

the area where the shocks mount up top was never designed to support the weight of the vehicle

 

[Big_John]

the area where the shocks mount up top was never designed to support the weight of the vehicle

I have seen a couple of the shock mounts that were destroyed by air shocks and coil over shocks.

 

[volksworld]

many years ago i welded and reinforced a bunch of them but cant recall if they were mopar

 

[MrMoparCHP]

Springs and shocks serve totally different functions. Where this idea of air shocks came from baffles me.

Removing shocks should not impact ride height, fix the ride height problem with springs.


Alan

 

[Lowbudget]

Any good spring shop can re arch your old ones.

 

[Big_John]

Any good spring shop can re arch your old ones.

The previous owner of my '70 300 took it to a "good spring shop".

They added a leaf, along with arching the springs. The car ended up being too high, and rode like a lumber wagon. They also broke the impossible to find rear offset shackles and did a Mickey Mouse repair on them.

He spent almost as much as I did when I fixed it correctly with new springs. I've heard similar experiences from others.

From what I see, the spring shops are used to repairing leaf springs on trucks, not on collector cars.

 

[NitrousTuner1]

St Louis Spring has made many C body leafs for me. You want to avoid air shocks at All costs as it's 2023 & that's 1972 technology.
The silver KYB shocks alone will make your car drive completely different (much better). The KYB for Any MOPAR is the Best bang for the buck improvement PERIOD. $120 for a completely different car... YES PLEASE

 

[MoparapoM]

An additional problem with either Air Shocks or Coil Over shocks is the SHOCK they are based on. The companies know the customer buying that product is generally uninformed, so they use the lowest quality shock to modify into that configuration.

New Leafs!!!

B

 

[carguy300]

Yall convinced me!, new leaf springs for my 68 300 next. I like the fact that I can get them to raise back height up1-2". I have always used the coil overs on all my other cars, even non mopars. Had a 73 montery with air shocks, that will NEVER happen again. I watched a guy one time put fix a flat in his air shock line to find a leak!, had about 6 different piles of foam under his car!

 

[Vinny]

Several years ago I asked an old friend mechanic to help with the tired look of my 1970 Chrysler 300. I was thinking leaf sprigs but he recommended air shocks. I'm looking for advice on what would be best in the long run. Not surpisingky, the shocks no longer hold air. Any advice and hints on what to order and where would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Dirk

SPRINGS.