K-Member / Rack & Pinion Steering Suggestions
DAMN! haven't priced everything out in a long time.. i didn't realize they were that close in price these days.. for a difference in price of under $500 i'm going alter-k if doing it again.
That list was to cater to the "everything brand new and bolt in" crowd. A lot of the parts on that list can be left off if you keep some of the factory parts. The QA1 K member is nice, but a gusseted stock K works just as well. The tubular LCA's are nice, but again, gusseted originals work just fine. The SPC UCA's are probably overkill for most folks, and certainly the RMS doesn't have double adjustable UCA's.
If you have some basic fabrication skills and a MIG welder you can drop over $1k off that price tag right off the bat and have all the work done in a weekend.
You have either not read my posts on this or you have very poor reading comprehension. In this very thread I have laid out when I think a coilover system is warranted and when a torsion bar is.
The reason I am building my Valiant with the torsion bars is simply about traditions. I am building a Green/Red Brick kinda deal. Simply following a plan for a certain car. Not necessarily building a restomod.
I’ll state it again. You can have more into a torsion bar system if you are building full tilt (ie. Viper brakes, Borgeson box, Delrin, welding, sand blasting, gusset kit, V2 SPC arms …). Sure, an industrious guy can look for used stuff, wait for sales, get discounts but when it comes to retail and buying all the best of the best parts then you spend a bit more on torsion bar systems.
I read just fine, I just don't care what your criteria are for when a coil-over system is or is not warranted. I was looking for additional info regarding why you chose to not build another AlterK equipped car, but I guess the answer is you don't want to do the chassis reinforcement for a "traditional" build? Which means the Viper brakes and SPC UCA's are probably overkill, but whatever floats your boat I guess.
I personally wouldn't put together any Mopar without the chassis stiffening you described (and more), regardless of the style of suspension used. Sure, I think coil-over conversions especially need some kind of inner fender/shock tower reinforcement, some kind of triangulation to support the change in where the suspension loads are being carried. But I do that reinforcement anyway, even with torsion bar suspension, because it is a weak spot in the chassis.
But the bottom line I think is that you still don't understand that the torsion bar system is the BETTER performance suspension on these cars. Better geometry, better handling. My build has nothing to do with being traditional, it uses those parts because they're better than an MII system that's been modified and bolted onto a Mopar chassis. MII's are everywhere because they're relatively simple and easy to adapt to other chassis, not because they have unparalleled performance. They gained a following with the street rod and hot rod crowd adding IFS to cars that used to have beam axles. But these Mopars already have IFS, and a good one at that. And if you are building a resto-mod, or full pro-touring car the torsion bar set up should be considered if you're actually serious about having the best handling.
As for what you paid, I don't really care. Sure, I have no doubt that if you have to pay to have all the work done for you that you can spend just as much money rebuilding the torsion bar suspension to modern standards. I've never paid anyone to work on my Mopars outside of engine machining, so I guess I just don't even consider that. Seam welding and gusseting a K is pretty straightforward, the metal is thick so it's easy to MIG and you can make all the gussets with some 3/16" plate and an angle grinder. Easy peasy. A little grease remover and a pressure wash and you're on your way. I've posted several "lists" with varying different levels of components, not a single one was more expensive than an AlterK. Not even the one that included 100% new parts. I'm not arguing that you didn't spend more, I'm just saying you don't have to in order to have a suspension that will compete with a coil over conversion.
i used the power rack.. i don't care what steering box you put in a car, there is just no way its gonna feel like a rack. too many parts to develops even the slightest bit of slop with a box and its related equipment,, that dart felt like a modern car going down the road.
I just don't see the need for a rack at all. I drive cars and trucks with them, and I drive cars and trucks with worm/ball boxes. I mean, I guess they're nice and all but I wouldn't bother swapping any of my worm/ball steering box vehicles over to rack and pinions unless it got me better suspension geometry or something else along the way. Racks just aren't a performance improvement.