Big Block Abody with factory front suspension

[Duster Drag Car]

wondering how your Big Block Abodies handle with the factory front suspension mine is a 73 duster 440 with a modified k frame and motor mount someone cut the kframe for clearance and boxed it in by welding plates to the cut out area and welded 2 posts with a hole drilled through them for the motor mount bolts and i have a turn buckle on the drivers side from frame to motor for torque. the 440 actualy fit in nicely has no fenderwells but the roll cage extends to front frame rail but the hooker headers fit in nicely i thought the fabricator did a good job of meausering anyways besides 3 way drag shocks and drilled and slotted rotors the front suspension is factory. i did a little road testing and the car didnt handle well when acellerating it seemed to skate and pull, I am replacing the manual steering gear even after adjusting it, still had a lot of play front tires are skinny radials with bias ply slicks in rear that doent help this is a drag car so i know its not gonna handle like a sports car but i was just wondering how your big block abodies handle be it street or strip.

 

[George R]

Sounds like an alignment problem from here. What size torsion bars are in it?
I have the 1" bars, manual steering and a 440 and the car handles great with the skinny bias ply front tires. It's no Corvette in the corners, but more than comfortable driven normally on the street.

George

 

[rumblefish360]

There is also how the car hooks at the rear. If your not set up just right, it can have an Effect

 

[Demonracer]

My suggestion would be to get it up on stands and start measuring to see if the car is twisted out of shape.

 

[Old Man Mopar]

It probably doesn't like the radial/bias-ply mix very well.
That may not be the whole problem but you might try bolting
a pair of radials on the rear and see if there is a change.

This is still a rear steer isn't it?

 

[Duster Drag Car]

It probably doesn't like the radial/bias-ply mix very well.
That may not be the whole problem but you might try bolting
a pair of radials on the rear and see if there is a change.

This is still a rear steer isn't it?

im thinking change the front tires to the bias ply drag tires by phoenix fx which is the same as the old firestone slicks in the rear there made of the same compound. the size will be 24.5 x 4.5 x 15 it now has a 185 or 165 x 90 x 15 radial im sure the previous ower bought them because they were cheaper than a real drag tire they also rub the headers when turning i think betwwen the tires and the steering gear and a alignment it will be better.

 

[Duster Drag Car]

Sounds like an alignment problem from here. What size torsion bars are in it?
I have the 1" bars, manual steering and a 440 and the car handles great with the skinny bias ply front tires. It's no Corvette in the corners, but more than comfortable driven normally on the street.

George

yes she drives ok cruising im talking lauching or even hard acceleration in the give or take 600 hp range.

 

[wjajr]

Sloppy frontend parts along with worn out steering gear will cause crappy handling under acceleration, and hard braking. A bodies don’t handle real well with the rear end jacked up equipped with under sized torsion bars. However because this is a drag car, choice of torsion bars will be dictated by track performance over road handling.

When I got my 67 Dart, a former drag queen with a tarted up /6 it had a /6 bar on driver’s side, and a SB V8 bar on right side, a set of worn out SS springs & bushings, and a worn out steering gear . It handled like crap, no it handled like less then crap…

With the power, and extra 300 pounds of a BB out front, any deficiencies in soundness of suspension & front end parts will be magnified. I would decide if you are going to employ any special track suspension tricks, or keep the car more of a street build, and then make sure every bushing, suspension part, spring, steering gear etc. is in like new condition.

I’m assuming you have installed sub-frame connectors, under radiator bracing, and torque boxes to tie the four corners of the car together. Anything less will allow too much body/frame deformation under hard acceleration twisting car exacerbating bump steer that adds more strange handling problems.

And as others have mentioned, mixing bisply with radials causes additional handling issues that can’t be overcome until all tires are of a single type.

A number of years ago Mopar published a book on upgrading suspensions that could help you better tune your car for street and track, or all out racing.

 

[bad440]

It probably doesn't like the radial/bias-ply mix very well.
That may not be the whole problem but you might try bolting
a pair of radials on the rear and see if there is a change.

This is still a rear steer isn't it?

bingo! get radial slicks or bias ply fronts 100% better

 

[Lonewolf3165]

Any handling problem has to be approached from tires first & then alignment. Mixing the bias ply & radial tires is a poor combination & would actually fail inspection in some states. I'd correct the tire mis-match & then do a thorough inspection of the front & rear suspensions followed by alignment.

 

[66fs]

All Formula S Barracudas handled well. I've had 3 for decades, most daily drivers at some point. My Original 383 Fastback is no slouch. I run high performance radials, same size, all around with Bilstein shocks. The suspensions are stock and have been gone through, no tricks. The 383 car has the original 15/16 front sway bar and torsion bars with 6 leaf rear original leaf springs. Yes, it rides rough. They are not Drag cars. They are not trailered road race cars. But they handle well enough to keep up with most street cars, in the curves or straights. The radial fronts and bias rear tires are the kiss of death. Fix that first. A lot of good advice above.