Last weekend i got a good deal on a pair of heavy-duty factory six leaf rear leaf springs for a 74 Duster. The seller claimed they were from a 318 four speed car, and this could be true according to the part number on the springs and the 1974 parts manual.

They have a bit of surface rust, nothing too bad, but the zinc pads look good, the rubber under the spring clamps looks good, and the rust looks to mostly be surface rust.

I plan on replacing all the bushings in the spring eyes, rear shackles, and hangers, but is there anything else I should do before installing them in my brother's 74 Duster? For a daily driver is it worth it to hit the spring packs with a wire brush and then spray them with some paint or can I just run them as is? No salt on the roads here in Western Washington.

Thanks!

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

Rebush them and install, you can paint and prep them, but the paint will wear off and get dirt over it, with lots of road use.

Best install advice is to use 2 jacks. It's best to keep it out of the way as fighting the 'arch' of the springs and the weight of the axle is a good way to have an bad accident. use a shop jack to pin the rear axle to the underside of the car above the springs. Install the rear hangers, use a smaller car jack under the arch to 'flex' the spring and use a large screwdriver or pry bar to "position" the studs though the forward body mount, if you can get one flange nut on and tightened the rest will follow. Once all the bolts and nuts are secured, drop the axle on the centering stud on the perches, install the plates and U bolts, then jack the axle back up to install the shocks and brake flex line then the driveline. Bleed the brake lines, reinstall the tires and then you can move forward to the emergency brake cables then put the car on the ground.

If you do it right, you won't need assistance.


-D.Idiot

Thanks! I am going to take the opportunity of having the gas tank, rear springs, and rear axle out of the way to use a wire brush in a drill motor and rust removing gel to completely strip the underside of the back end of the car, treat it with cold galvanizing primer, then paint it with some good underbody paint. Everything is out of the way so I may as well make good use of the circumstances. I am also going to clean up the spring hangers and shackles.

While the axle is out I am also going to swap the ring, pinion, and carrier from the 2.2 gears to a set of 3.2 gears. I need to make a shopping list of the parts necessary to do that and order them up, but that is a different project. I have the gears and the carrier, it is the consumables I need (gaskets, crush sleeves, shims, etc...).

Talk about mission creep! This all started with replacing the rusted out gas tank. Which reminds me, I need to replace all the rubber fuel lines while I am under there....

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

Also remember jack stands are your best freinds!

Richard

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Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

You'll do the swap in the car, as the pinion nut needs about 210 ft lbs+ of preload, and unless you have a shop jig to keep the axle in place, the body, springs and shocks will brace the housing properly for that kind of load (even with a torque multiplier...).

Ahhh, thank's for the heads up Rob. Time to bust out the cheater bar and stick it on the end of the old torque wrench, I guess.

Yes, jack stands are your friend! I have already had one car fall on me, and don't want to repeat the situation. Right now the Duster is supported by two jack stands immediately in front of and inboard from the front spring hanger mounts on the square section of the frame.

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

I don't know about where you are, but they don't use sand on the roads around me any more. Many of the chemicals they now use have a very high salt content.

You've received good advice on the spring install, so I won't muddy the situation with more input...

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Really! I know where I live and up in Seattle they mostly use dirt/sand and a de-icer chemical. I don't know what the deicer chemical is but it only gets applied four or five times per year. Its not like we really get that much snow and ice around here. Last time they put salt on the roads in Seattle there were complaints that all the salt would hurt the salmon, so I think they nixed that idea.

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.