Torsion Bar Upgrade for '65 Barracuda Formula S

4mulas said
Thanks, I’m in alberta and shipping and buying in usd is not fun, especially right now. I was looking at the afco unit you were using and noticed the lowest rate they offer now is 141lb -ish? (going from memory). The thing that tempts me about trying the mopar one is I can buy them in cdn dollars jobber through my contacts for a little less than half of what the afco’s list at….

I wonder why AR Engineering (Andy) lusts and sells the ar118 front hanger brackets? I was reading (incorrectly) that the spring was 1/2 longer overall with the extra inch on the front segment, but now I see it is the same length but has the locating pin 1/2’ further back. I guess his hanger would just pull the whole set up back to stock locations. Is it possible the diff gets too close to gas tanks and things or something?

I wish we had better spring selection up here for reasonable pricing like you guys have….

Yeah the closest thing AFCO sells now that I’m aware of is a 142 lb/in spring, a 20230 that has a 5 5/8” arch (zero) and a 20231 that has a 6 5/8” arch (+1”).

I wish the Mopar springs were decent, but I stopped recommending them because the quality was so hit and miss. The set I have isn’t as good as my AFCO’s, and other members got ones that looks worse than what I got. When they were decent quality it was a good low buck option. But MP started making them in Mexico, initially the quality wasn’t bad but I dunno if MP gave up quality checking or what but the quality fell off a cliff after a few years.

I don’t know why you’d run a shorter hanger with them, because you’d pull the rear shackle forward and upset that working angle because the overall spring length is the same. Unless you moved the shackle forward too. I ran my AFCO’s with 1/2” offset hangers and shackles for standard sprigs, the springs aren’t longer. I’ve since gone to sliders in the back instead of shackles but the front hangers are the same.

It does shift the rear axle back, but it’s not a full 1/2” because of the arch. Lots of drag racers used to space the hangers back anyway because it does center the wheel in the tub better so you can run a taller tire. The diff is closer to the gas tank but it’s not an interference issue.