[BILTIT]

Figured i would start a thread. I wont be really getting into it for a month i figure as i am still finishing the garage but i started getting parts and stuff ready.

Got my M/T ET streets in today.

28x13.5-15

(i might run Hoosier QTP's instead, i like the looks of the writing better and may run them front and back)

Also ordered the American Racing Classic TTII's (grey/polished rim)

15x10 5.5BS.

Ordered the 33 spline spool for the 8.5'' diff.

More to come but probably slowly so don't hold your breath!!

[ventura7211]

How are you planning on doing it? Aftermarket tubs or sectioning the stock tubs?

When I did mine it was using the stock tubs with patches where needed. It would have taken half the time and and I would have gained 3 more inches of room had I used an aftermarket tub. I could gain this room if I'd cut the outer sides of the tubs and build them to come flush with the quarter panels, its not needed with a 315/60/15 on a 10" wheel but would be if a 12" wheel is used. I still have pics of the process if you need any. Its best to do this before final paint if you plan to secure the wheel wells by more then seam sealer in this area, lol.

I'm assuming with that wheel selection your planning on narrowing the rear and relocating the leaf springs? The best advice I can give for this is to set the car/tires at the desired ride height on jack stands without the rear and position the mounted tires where they will clear everything in the wheel well. FWIW my housings have been 49 1/8" outer end to end not counting the axles and brake hats. At ride height it is a tight fit, but I've lowered the car 4" from stock, about to be 1-2" lower now that I have more clearance since the POS dana is in the dumpster.

Keep us updated.

[BILTIT]

I have not decided wether to use aftermarket tubs or not yet.

I do plan on narrowing and relocating.

Any pics you have would be much appreciated, you can send them to dbrinsky@hotmail.com if you like or post them here.

Final paint is already done so i may need to be creative.

I dont think my car will be as low as yours. I am shooting for around stock height (i am higher than stock now). Hoping to get rid of the 9'' shackle and using the DSE offset shackle.

[71 Ventura II]

My rearend is .75 narrow on each side when compared to the factory 8.2 rear. I'm running 8.5" rims with 5.5" back spacing *** I'm running a .5" wheel spacer. I made home made mini-tubs that allows clearance on the frame/inside all the way to the frame rail. "The issue" The tire will hit my leaf-spring before it touches the frame! Argggg

When I switched from the 11.1" section width to the 11.4" section width I ran into clearance issues!!! I had to trim the crap out of the quarter lip & work the inner/outer wheel well to keep it from killing the sidewall. I have barely 3/8" clearance on the inside towards the leaf. Very tight! Make carefull meadurements on what you will need to safely run the rims you ordered. Just don't over look the outer clearance of the quarter panel & inner wheel well. Good luck! JD

[ventura7211]

I'll post the pics here, maybe it can help members in the future as well.



This is where I cut the tub out, you can see where I notched the frame (the first time).



Here is a better shot showing the relation to the leafs in the stock location



Shot of the tub after welding before body work. I sat the tub on top of where the inside of the frame rails are under the trunk floor. This way they tub never would or has gotten in the way. It turned out great for me after I had to do a little more work on the frame rail. I wasn't able to get one solid strip to fill the gap from widening, so I had to use 3 pieces.



Under side of the tub, I didn't spend very much time "dressing" the work up under here, just made sure there wasn't any sharp edges that could cut a tire.





Frame rail notch, gives a better view to explain where I placed the tubs as well.



This is how it ended up after a little body work. I keep meaning to order some spatter paint from eastwood, but haven't got around to it. The aftermarket tubs have this positives and negatives, but I do like the stockish look for the Ventura.



Just to be clear, this is the outer area I was talking about. As you can see there is a lot of area to be gained. I'm half tempted to cut it out and replace it this weekend before I put the new rear in. I guess it will depend on how much I want to work,lol.

[ventura7211]

Originally Posted by BILTIT

Hoping to get rid of the 9'' shackle and using the DSE offset shackle.

The DSE stuff is nice, but man is it pricey.

I like this setup, cheaper and it ties rear frame rails together. It would cost around $20 for the tubing and tabs.



Another option/trick instead of using shackles you could use a pair of sliders. They help keep the spring rate the same during launch. With shackles, the leaf is going through its distortion which effects the rate a little. They are worth some et in the 60'. There are two styles, one of which is the stock spring eyelet. The other is the mopar eyelet, which is shared with the calvert split monos.

http://www.cmwraceparts.com/images/lss/LSS2540.jpg
http://www.cmwraceparts.com/Springs/springs32.html

Here is a pic of them installed.

[BILTIT]

Thanks for the pics/info.

I have thought about the sliders, i do remember reading that it allows the car to be alittle lower than shackles which may be a problem for me.

I have the dse shackles already so i will mock it up and see how it looks. I may go another route though.

Any idea how the sliders ride on the street? Can the sliders be used with multileaf springs?

I like the bar to tie the spring mounts in the rear but not sure if my sumped tank will allow it? Looks like you have a sump and its all good?

I am leaning towards aftermarket tubs but the DSE ones are pricey like you said.

[BILTIT]

Here is a few pics of the old VS the new.

[BILTIT]

My rims are 2-4 weeks away so that gives me alittle time to finish the garage and start tearing into the car. Once i have the rims i will set them in place and start measuring things up.

[BILTIT]

Originally Posted by 71 Ventura II

My rearend is .75 narrow on each side when compared to the factory 8.2 rear. I'm running 8.5" rims with 5.5" back spacing *** I'm running a .5" wheel spacer. I made home made mini-tubs that allows clearance on the frame/inside all the way to the frame rail. "The issue" The tire will hit my leaf-spring before it touches the frame! Argggg

When I switched from the 11.1" section width to the 11.4" section width I ran into clearance issues!!! I had to trim the crap out of the quarter lip & work the inner/outer wheel well to keep it from killing the sidewall. I have barely 3/8" clearance on the inside towards the leaf. Very tight! Make carefull meadurements on what you will need to safely run the rims you ordered. Just don't over look the outer clearance of the quarter panel & inner wheel well. Good luck! JD

Are your leafs in stock location or relocated?

[ventura7211]

Originally Posted by BILTIT

Thanks for the pics/info.

I have thought about the sliders, i do remember reading that it allows the car to be alittle lower than shackles which may be a problem for me.

I have the dse shackles already so i will mock it up and see how it looks. I may go another route though.

Any idea how the sliders ride on the street? Can the sliders be used with multileaf springs?

I like the bar to tie the spring mounts in the rear but not sure if my sumped tank will allow it? Looks like you have a sump and its all good?

I am leaning towards aftermarket tubs but the DSE ones are pricey like you said.

Since you will be relocating the springs, you could weld in a square tube between the frame rails (if you have room, using a cell in the trunk) and space them down like a longer shackle would work but using tubing to fill the gap to get them at the right height.

I do not believe there is enough room to relocate the springs with out a narrowed tank if using a stock type tank. The set up in the car in the picture as well as mine has the fuel cell spaced up in the trunk with the fuel pump mounted inside the trunk. It is not that hard to do and you gain the benefit of more room for suspension as well as keep the pump and sump better protected from road debris or anything else that could hit them.



You can do the same with a "full" size cell. This is the trunk setup of the car with the bar/tabs in the rear.

[BILTIT]

I am trying to stay away from a cell.

I am going to narrow the stock tank ~1.5'' each side, whatever is required.

I will look into the bar across the back, i like the idea of the strength it would add to the rear frame.

[ventura7211]

Originally Posted by BILTIT

I am trying to stay away from a cell.

I am going to narrow the stock tank ~1.5'' each side, whatever is required.

I will look into the bar across the back, i like the idea of the strength it would add to the rear frame.

If I recall correctly (its been a long time since the stock tank was in the car), the tank kicked up toward the bumper. Since your not trying to lower the car you may be able to weld a piece of square tubing to the bottom side of each frame rail and it might clear the tank. Or you could drop the section down to give the needed room around the tank. I'm sure removing the tank would be a pain if you ever needed to. This possibly could allow the sliders if you wanted, set the ride height, tie the rear rails together, while keep the stock tank. Just thinking out loud, lol.

Good Luck with the project.

[BILTIT]

Yup, i will give it a look see tonight, i will try and get some pics.

[BILTIT]

So my spool came in aswell as my TA performance diff cover (beefy!). Just finishing up painting and lights in the garage this weekend then i should be able to start on the car!

[ponjohn]

That is what I want to do is move the upper shock mount to the cage. As my car is right now, I only have 1.5" of shock travel.

My rear is narrowed 1.5" each side. With this dimension the first point of contact IS the leaf spring. I had to go to a 4.5" bs rim.

I have a total of 14" of "sheetmetal" clearance, meaning; If I had a ldder bar ( eliminating the leaf springs) setup I could use all 14".

[BILTIT]

Ponjohn, are you using the offset shackles? From what i understood, using the shackles will make the frame the first point of contact (shocks moved inboard and wells widened).

[BILTIT]

Parts pics! I cannot believe how beefy the diff cover is, crazy!!

[71 Ventura II]

Originally Posted by BILTIT

Are your leafs in stock location or relocated?

My mono-leaf springs are still in the factory locations but the shocks have been moved inboard. The plan for this year is to change the shocks to get more travel from the suspension. Previously the shocks were mounted improperly and were bottoming out. Now that I relocated the top mount,much better than my BIL's attempt, it's better but the shock has no extension! I need to let the rearend hang then measure to see what options I have for length. Once the suspension has full range of extension it should ride and launch much better. JD

P.S. I ended up pre-loading the springs with fairly long extensions on the front of the traction bars. It really helped straighten out the launch in terms of kickout and body twist. Well that and the subframe connectors! lol

[ponjohn]

Originally Posted by BILTIT

Ponjohn, are you using the offset shackles? From what i understood, using the shackles will make the frame the first point of contact (shocks moved inboard and wells widened).

Yes they are 1.75" offset and IIRC they are from speedtech.

No, at least not on my car. I do not see how mine is different, although my rear is narrowed this doesn't alter the location of the spring. I don't recall the exact dimension, my guesstimate is 2 inches difference between spring and inner sheetmetal. BTW, shocks are moved in.

Truth be told, I think I am finished with suspension mods (except maybe changing the upper shock mount),cage changes, etc etc to the ventura. These cars are heavy and the leaf spring set-up is not the best.

I am looking for a third gen to use as a strip (maybe street) car. These cars can easily come in at 3100lbs race weight and the torque arm rear suspension is killer. It certainly will not happen overnight but I would like a project I can really sink my teeth into, sans body work.

john