Can anyone shed light on the right shakles for putting new leaf springs on a 1973 dodge dart? I ordered the springs from WHitney and the service center said the shakles they provided are the wrong size. I doubled checked with whitney who said they were the right ones. The service guy said "the larger porton of the shakle bushing seems ok. THe spring eyelet has a 1" inner diameter. Total width of the leaf spring is 2 !/2 inches and the whitney shackles are 3 inches" e seems to understand these cars since he installed the disc conversion kit and a new exhaust manifold without a problem. Is this the wrong size shakle? Also anyone know where i can order new u bolts for the springs. ALso I am looking for a new 40 amp alternator. THe rebuilt i bought was junk. I would like a larger one but i have an amp meter and do not want to rewire.

http://www.espo.com is the place to go. We replaced the rear springs, shackles, u-bolts, and shocks two weeks ago. Espo came highly recommended by many on this forum and they didn't disappoint. Not only were the parts correct, the advice was excellent.

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'72 Dart w/supersix, Grandfather, Father & Son project

I got 5-leaf springs, shackles with poly bushings, and u-bolts from espo.com for my 73 Swinger. My shackles are 4.5 inches long total (3.5 from center of bolt hole to center of bolt hole), and they are the same lenth as the original shackles.

However, I don't really know if they were the originals, since I bought the car with a 1976 8 1/4 rear end, but I do like how my car sits now. Before I changed out the rear leafs, it sat like there were a few dead bodies in the trunk.

espo.com seems to have knowledgable folks working there, so I'm pretty sure they sent me the correct stuff. Everthing fit great.

By the way, I'm not sure what you mean by "larger portion of the shackle".

FWIW, I see A-body shackle kits on Ebay all the time.

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David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.