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© 1997 Brian F. Schreurs
Even we have a disclaimer.

Put the car up in the air and take off the wheels, of course. But you probably should put the jacks under a frame point instead of the suspension -- it's not good to put supports in the same area you're working on. Your car is probably already in this position; ours spent a month waiting for the job to get finished.

It's best to do this operation with the axle hanging, not supported by anything, so that the full weight of the axle holds the leaf spring in place. Remember, you're taking apart the very bolts which hold the spring to the axle in the first place.

This is an original, unmolested rear shock mounting plate; passenger side...

You just broke a very difficult piece. As it's a non-wear item, it's not stocked by most people. Try your local dealership before continuing, but it didn't help us. The parts guy looked it up, scratched his head, and muttered, "Huh. How 'bout that." The part number was discontinued.

Year One won't have it either, despite the fact that it's pictured in a diagram. They don't have a number for it. Neither does Rare Parts Group or any of the various aftermarket suspension rebuild houses. We finally found a used one at Stephens Performance, a junkyard in Alabama. Be warned, however, that their phone line is mostly busy and you can expect to spend a long time getting through.

Note to Stephens Performance: Getting a phone system like Year One's might help you keep your customers!!

That's not all you need. Those two U-bolts holding it to the axle (with the leaf spring between the axle and the plate) need to be replaced as well, and for two reasons. One, they stretch when they're installed so you can't reuse them; two, even if you could reuse them, you'll probably destroy them in the disassembly process. We found the bolts at Year One for $9.00 each. There's different sizes depending on your axle, so make sure you get the right ones.

Once your parts are gathered, you have to take the old plate off. The plate is just held in place by the two U-bolts; there's nothing sneaky about it.

...and this is how the driver-side replacement looks: a new (used) plate held on by trick overlong bolts. They don't interfere with anything.

Ha ha! We make it sound so easy. The truth is, these will be the worst bolts you have ever encountered. At least the shock nuts had been moved once or twice in their lives. These buggers were put in place in September 1969 and haven't budged since. They're not keen on budging now.

It took two of us, taking turns on a breaker bar, about 45 minutes per nut to get them off. Plus, one of them wouldn't move for anything and finally had to be bashed off with a nut cracker. If you think using a nut cracker is the easy way, you've never used a nut cracker (or you have an impact wrench, you cheater). Add a cutting torch to the wish list.

Once the nuts are off, the bolts are loose and the plate falls on your head. It didn't fall on our head; we learned our lesson a long time ago.

Now, slide the new U-bolts over the axle. This is when you learn whether you really know what axle you have. We failed the test. We ordered U-bolts for a 7-1/4 inch axle, which we ain't got. We have either an 8-3/4 inch axle or the legendary Dana 60, but we still don't know which (see end notes).

Well, we certainly didn't spend a month scouring for parts only to be stopped by a couple lousy U-bolts. We went to Parts America, our supplier for common and/or generic parts, with one of the old U-bolts. They had the correct diameter, but only available in two ways: Cut-to-fit (no time for that) or as part of a one-inch lift kit.

Back in the garage, we now had the correct-diameter U-bolts, albeit in nice polished metal instead of flat black, and about a half-inch longer than the originals. We also had three-quarters of a lift kit and two very expensive, but incorrect, U-bolts.

The lift kit's bolts fit perfectly; the extra inch of length did not present a clearance problem. The used plate from Stephens Performance worked fine, so everything goes back the way it came off. Now you're ready, a month later, to put the new shock back on.

We're not sure what axle is on this car. The Charger definitely does not have a limited-slip (Sure-Grip) differential, and it was our understanding that only the 7-1/4 inch axle was so equipped. Obviously we were wrong. Can anyone offer information on how to identify the rearend?

We would also like to mention that Year One was extremely courteous about refunding the money for the incorrect U-bolts. This is a great company and they deserve your patronage.