Well I ordered the new rear springs from stengel bros in PA.

I ordered 2300# leaf springs, 5/8" Grade 8 U-Bolts, and all new Rubber Bushings. Eventually I will install a rear anti-roll bar but it won't be for some time because the aftermarket kit costs some money, but I will be using urethane bushings on the anti-roll arms.

Anyways this little project cost me $434.33 and I got a coupon for $7.78 off so yay!!

Oh yea, today my locking mechanism broke. So when I get back to Florida I have to get a filler tube and locking mechanism from the junk yard, I have alot of work to do when I get back.

Also my transmission is acting up, van rolled backwards when it was in Drive NOT GOOD! And it hasn't been engine braking down hill... Yea so I am going to have to rebuild the valve body again, wonderful huh...

Anyway, I am going to tackle the front steering and suspension next. I don't have bad oversteer, matter fact it has little oversteer, it has excessive understeer so I might choose front coils with a lower spring rate and of course slap on the rear anti-roll bar, the new springs should lift the rear end a inch or two and lower the front end half inch to an inch and this will effect my caster so it should brake better and have less understeer, theoretically.

My van will roll backwards in drive too on a grade. My original trans acted the same way and so does the reman. ???

If the up grade is really steep then it will roll backwards but on some grades it doesn't. I rebuild these transmissions and normally it shouldn't roll backwards because of the overrunning clutch for 1st gear, but most likely the weight of the vehicle being enhanced by the grade causes a clutch in the overdrive unit to slip slightly, but I'm not going to go nuts over it until I get back home. One thing that has been bothering me and I am going to have to fix sooner than later is the transmission doesn't always want to engine brake and my downshifts have been so weird, honestly I think it's the cheap torque converter I installed or the valve body, probably a combinatin of both. I rebuilt mine and it worked great and still works great but I haven't noticed it engine braking all the time.

But other than that it's all good.

yes..on the way home from work, there is one intersection that has a steep grade and the van will roll backwards if I don't keep my foot on the brake. Of course my van is very heavy because of all the camping crap I keep in it and the queen size bed in the back.

Amazing thing is that she doesn't squat down in the back.

Amazing thing is that she doesn't squat down in the back

Well I got the new springs, u-bolt kits, and bushings. All parts are from Dayton. The springs are made by stanley spring a Dayton company. These are some serious freaking springs.

I got everything but Dayton forgot a u-bolt nut, so I sent stengel bros an email and I'm sure they will send me a nut.

Tomorrow or sometime at the end of the week probably friday I am going to go back to the local dodge dealer so I can pickup the other bushings I need.

I am a bit mad not about the nut, but my transmission has been shifting weird and hasn't been engine braking and has been rolling back on hills, sometimes it holds and sometimes it doesn't so I am probably having a valve body issue or a torque converter issue or worse case is a slipping clutch or the pump has failed. Always something, the crap chrysler designs huh?

But they are sweet springs, they didn't paint them and I wouldn't bother because they will get scratched up anyways. When I get back to florida or get hold of a camera I will upload some pictures of these springs, they are some seriously large bulky springs, just how I like them.

They are soft spring rate though because I can lean into a spring and it will start to compress.

Wow, you guys know how to abuse your vans lol

Lol sort of, I drive the thing like I stole it which is why the transmission will not last long, I rebuilt it using parts that can take the abuse for a reason though. Between the dynotech driveshaft, alto red eagle frictions and the alto koleene steels, 3 row aluminum radiator and so on so forth I made it for abuse but no matter what transmission is in it or anything at all it will fail sooner or later, but I been taking it easier lately.
But my leaf spring upgrade is pretty serious compared to whats on there now, currently some shot out 1800# leaf springs held on with wimpy 1/2" grade 5 u bolts, the new u-bolts look like horse shoes, 5/8" 7-3/4" grade 8 u bolts. I'm probably going to be replacing the leaf spring plates with CNC cut .375" plates from ballistic fabrication.

But yea I'm really enjoying looking at the new springs, it's hard because I cannot install them until I get back to Florida, 5 weeks :'(

You should see how flat the old springs are...

Contacted stengel yesterday and they contacted the manufacture, the manufacture is shipping me a nut... I am now probably going to have to get different spring plates because I don't think my new u-bolts will fit properly, even if I modify them, I want a little extra lip for overall strength.

Well I installed the new suspension a couple of weeks ago. I just went back today to retorque the U-Bolts so here are the photos I never supplied of the new suspension. And Included a photo of the new filler tube and the old leaf springs.