Heavy Duty suspensions on early 70's cars (braking, purchase, Ford)

[rlrl]

for 1970 CR's purchased a Plymouth Fury with a 383 V8 and a heavy duty suspension. they were impressed with how the HD suspension improved ride and handling over the 1969 Fury (which did not have the HD suspension). as a result the Fury equalled its competitors(GM and Ford) in ride comfort and equalled the Impala for handling responsiveness

for 1971 the Fury was not equipped with the HD suspension. tho it had a big car ride under light load, it's full load ride was no better than the ride of some subcompacts and compacts. so CR's concluded that the Fury for 1971 did not make the grade as a 6 passenger car with the standard suspension

for '72 with standard suspension the full load ride was a bit better than 71 but still below par for a large car

for 73 the Fury rode smoothly under light load but no better than the 72 under full load. to be sure they check tested a similar Fury with a HD suspension. this improved the ride quality but caused "rear axle hop" during braking, so CR's advised against ordering the car with a HD suspension for 1973

has anyone owned cars decades ago with a HD suspension that caused this "rear axle hop"? I wonder if it's just an annoyance during braking or could it be dangerous?

[stilldriveem]

My 76 Maverick has factory HD suspension. Compared to my standard suspension Mavericks, mine have less axle hop over bumps. I also can corner faster with less lean. But there is more choppiness over standard pavement ripples and expansion strips. I had a 79 Thunderbird also with factory HD suspension that was a little more stiff riding than my current 79 with standard suspension, but not as much as my Mavericks which make sense because the unsprung weight of the T-Bird is much higher than the lighter Maverick. Of course the sprung weight of a solid rear axle will cause higher forces than a lighter independent suspension set up. None of my cars have any axle hop under braking, even with all wheels locked up. That's never been a problem. Did the 73 fury have belted bias ply's or radials? That would make a difference because of the stiffer bias ply sidewalls.

[rlrl]

the 73 Fury brochure says it has steel belted radials