Best Aftermarket Suspension Set-up

[scatpakman]

Ok so I'm looking for opinions on aftermarket tubular k-member set-ups. A little background on what I'm working with.
1968 Dart 560hp 499ci low deck. 727 TF, 3:91s, Mini tubbed, frame ties. If you've been on this site for a while the name John Dillenger may ring a bell. he engineered a homemade setup to eliminate t-bars with coilovers etc. I installed years ago and am looking to replace it with more scienced out setup.
QA1, Hemi Denny, RMS, AJE. What do you like what don't you like?

 

[Kern Dog]

 

[RustyRatRod]

View attachment 1716348815

With Mopars running quicker than 9s on stock type suspension, that's certainly one argument. IF I was going to go with one though, it'd be Hemi Denny. He's a great member here and a Mopar guy that designs parts specifically for Mopars. It's hands down a no brainer.

 

[Kern Dog]

I make jokes.
The Tony Soprano character was an opinionated guy that refused to change.

 

[davescuda]

With stock suspension, you will never get exhaust with headers up this tight. HDK Gen 2 Hemi. I can go on. A lot more pros than cons

 

[davescuda]

And if you want handling, stock suspension works great but it’s also not cheap to get it to handle good.

 

[RustyRatRod]

And if you want handling, stock suspension works great but it’s also not cheap to get it to handle good.

The HDK stuff ain't cheap, either, but the quality is outstanding and the benefits it gives are well worth the money if you can afford it. I'd do it all to Vixen if I could. But stock is all I'll ever be able to do and that's cool too. Dave, can you give us some good under car shots so we can see how good the exhaust fits with the suspension?

 

[go-fish]

I have an Alter-k-tion from Reilly Motorsports. It’s a high quality unit. High quality welds. It’s a proven suspension.
That being said, if I do another it would be HDK or another RMS and get the sealed hubs from CPP.

 

[72bluNblu]

With stock suspension, you will never get exhaust with headers up this tight. HDK Gen 2 Hemi. I can go on. A lot more pros than cons

Those don’t look any more tucked in than the Doug’s D453’s on my Duster. You can see 2/3 of the header flange below the frame rail.

What’s the distance from the top of the header flange to the floorboard?

Car looks like it sits high enough that header clearance isn’t much of an issue anyway.

 

[davescuda]

View attachment 1716348923

Those don’t look any more tucked in than the Doug’s D453’s on my Duster. You can see 2/3 of the header flange below the frame rail.

View attachment 1716348924

What’s the distance from the top of the header flange to the floorboard?

Car looks like it sits high enough that header clearance isn’t much of an issue anyway.

The flange is less then a 1/4 inch from the floorboard. The Dougs headers are very small. My primer tubes I bet are almost the size of you exhaust pipes. My headers are 2 1/4 with 4 1/2 collector.

The car was built to have 70’s style look, with rear tire size 390/45R15 but when I get over this 70’s stance. I will lower the car as much as I can. The trans pan will be the lowest part hanging down.

Correct the car does sit high enough that anything hanging down would not have no issues, but I can’t stand it not to look clean underneath. A little fab work goes a long way and looks great.

 

[davescuda]

The HDK stuff ain't cheap, either, but the quality is outstanding and the benefits it gives are well worth the money if you can afford it. I'd do it all to Vixen if I could. But stock is all I'll ever be able to do and that's cool too. Dave, can you give us some good under car shots so we can see how good the exhaust fits with the suspension?

Here is a picture for you.

As prices go for the HDK (That I follow and learned a lot from)versus doing a 73 K frame set up with all the goodies in my new project 73 Duster with 6.4 Gen 3 Hemi. The Parts end up just as much if not a little more than the HDK set up. I follow 72bluNblu and leaned so much from him and love that he does it with a stock k frame (Very impressive) but the good parts add up quick. So I am trying to decide witch way to go with this one. On my 68 Barracuda with Gen two Hemi it was a no brainer

 

[abodyjoe]

Ok so I'm looking for opinions on aftermarket tubular k-member set-ups. A little background on what I'm working with.
1968 Dart 560hp 499ci low deck. 727 TF, 3:91s, Mini tubbed, frame ties. If you've been on this site for a while the name John Dillenger may ring a bell. he engineered a homemade setup to eliminate t-bars with coilovers etc. I installed years ago and am looking to replace it with more scienced out setup.
QA1, Hemi Denny, RMS, AJE. What do you like what don't you like?

the best and most proven on the market today is the RMS unit. one stop shop.. great customer service too..

 

[scatpakman]

I appreciate everyone's input here. It's why I when I'm looking for honest opinions you guys are the best. Over the years, I've talked to Denny regarding his set-up on more than one occasion. QA1 is in my backyard and have always answered my questions and I currently have RMS UCAs on the Dart. All quality setups and that's what why came to you guys. HDK it is for me. Time to make the call.

 

[tonysrt]

If torsion bars were so great, why did Ram Trucks go to Coil springs? I'm no engineer, but I think the length of the bars in some way make movement further from the front end to the rest of the car. Coil springs are limited to insolated control arms with rubber bushings.

 

[Kern Dog]

If torsion bars were so great, why did Ram Trucks go to Coil springs? I'm no engineer, but I think the length of the bars in some way make movement further from the front end to the rest of the car. Coil springs are limited to insolated control arms with rubber bushings.

I don't know the answer to that but the need to implement catalytic converters close to the exhaust manifolds pose a problem. The extreme heat from the converters are not good being so close to the torsion bars, hence the entire reason for the FMJ series cars having the transverse torsion bar design.
To make torsion bars work in them, the bars would have to be spaced further apart which affects the length of the lower control arms or front wheel track.

 

[MopaR&D]

If torsion bars were so great, why did Ram Trucks go to Coil springs? I'm no engineer, but I think the length of the bars in some way make movement further from the front end to the rest of the car. Coil springs are limited to insolated control arms with rubber bushings.

Not a great example, torsion bars can't work with a live front axle and anything is better than front leaf springs if ride and handing matter. Look at late-model GM trucks and Dakotas, they used torsion bars for packaging reasons so there could be space for the CV shafts for IFS and 4x4. Other makes (Toyota for example) use coilovers on their 4x4 trucks but it's designed in a way to make room for the CV shafts and is arguably a bit more complex/expensive.

By themselves torsion bars aren't much better than coil springs, it's just that the original Chrysler front suspension design was very good in terms of geometry and dynamics especially compared to GM and Ford cars of the same era. It can be upgraded in stages and comes very close to modern cars in terms of handling with the right mods.

If you need extra room for exhaust and oil pan, want to set the engine further back, be able to use rack-and-pinion steering etc. then coilover is the way to go.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Here is a picture for you.

As prices go for the HDK (That I follow and learned a lot from)versus doing a 73 K frame set up with all the goodies in my new project 73 Duster with 6.4 Gen 3 Hemi. The Parts end up just as much if not a little more than the HDK set up. I follow 72bluNblu and leaned so much from him and love that he does it with a stock k frame (Very impressive) but the good parts add up quick. So I am trying to decide witch way to go with this one. On my 68 Barracuda with Gen two Hemi it was a no brainer

View attachment 1716348938

That looks mighty nice.

 

[72bluNblu]

If torsion bars were so great, why did Ram Trucks go to Coil springs? I'm no engineer, but I think the length of the bars in some way make movement further from the front end to the rest of the car. Coil springs are limited to insolated control arms with rubber bushings.

If coil overs are so great, why do F1 cars use torsion bars?

Oh, right. It's because the entire weight of the torsion bar is sprung, and they can be mounted lower. So unsprung weight is reduced and the CG is lowered. They also have a motion ratio of 1, so, basically more efficient than coil springs when it comes to suspension design. Their drawbacks are all space related, not performance related.