Front Shock Recommendation

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So I just looked and it looks like the previous owner removed the LCA bumpers completely. Never crossed my mind to check before posting this thread.
 
Do you know what bars you have and rear leafs ? Reason I ask is how is the ride that low. I’d like to get mine an inch lower, but if I lower the ft the rear will come up.

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Tony Barracuda said:
Do you know what bars you have and rear leafs ? Reason I ask is how is the ride that low. I’d like to get mine an inch lower, but if I lower the ft the rear will come up.

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Rear leafs are from Hotchkis, which lower 1" from factory (part 24385). Torsion bars, not too sure but they looks to be 1" or slightly smaller.
 
Working on installing interior, when I get that done and get the car running I’ll see how it rides and start making changes.
 
I put some KYBs on my Duster and it raised the front end about 1/2 inch. I had to turn the adjusters back on the torsion bars to get back to initial ride height before installation.
 
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Mcfarlrm said:
Looking for some front shock recommendations for my 68 Barracuda. Currently, the shocks installed seem to be bottoming out when hitting bumps. Front is sitting lower than stock (about 23 1/2" from floor to bottom of fender) Tires - P205/60R15. Not too sure what other details I can provide here to make a solid recommendation. Looking for something a bit more stiff I'd imagine so I don't bottom out.
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First we all need to know what engine your car was built with and what engine it has in it now. Chrysler used THREE different torision bars depending on whether or not the car had a/c and the engine installed. Plain /6 cars got the smallest bar. /6 cars with a/c and 318 non a/c cars got a bigger bar. 318 cars with a/c and 340 cars got a bigger bar yet. These bars are .892". They should likely be your minimum bar. For shocks, I've always relied on and loved KYBs. I've had Gabriels and hated them. Does your car have front and rear sway bars? If not it should. If they're mounted in rubber, they should be mounted in polyurethane. AND most important, the front sway bar HAS to be bigger than the rear bar. Unless you're anxious to kill yourself. Chrysler designed their cars to understeer straight out of the factory. Adding a front bar reduces that. Adding a rear bar puts it back in. Having a rear bar bigger than the front bar is a recipe for monstrous snap oversteer that you'll never catch.
 
We have some pretty rough roads in Australia, all Valiants here were fitted with .880 bars (v8s and sixes) and weren't a problem.

You have the ability to adjust your ride height, just screw it up a bit if it's needed.

The bump rubbers have a job to do, they protect the car, don't fiddle with them too much. We always found the Koni dampers did the best job of controlling the suspension, but I'm sure other brands have caught up a bit since the seventies.

One thing to watch, don't go for dampers which have too much rebound resistance, they might tend to hold the suspension down over a series of bumps.
 
kmccabe56 said:
First we all need to know what engine your car was built with and what engine it has in it now. Chrysler used THREE different torision bars depending on whether or not the car had a/c and the engine installed. Plain /6 cars got the smallest bar. /6 cars with a/c and 318 non a/c cars got a bigger bar. 318 cars with a/c and 340 cars got a bigger bar yet. These bars are .892". They should likely be your minimum bar. For shocks, I've always relied on and loved KYBs. I've had Gabriels and hated them. Does your car have front and rear sway bars? If not it should. If they're mounted in rubber, they should be mounted in polyurethane. AND most important, the front sway bar HAS to be bigger than the rear bar. Unless you're anxious to kill yourself. Chrysler designed their cars to understeer straight out of the factory. Adding a front bar reduces that. Adding a rear bar puts it back in. Having a rear bar bigger than the front bar is a recipe for monstrous snap oversteer that you'll never catch.
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Car was originally a slant 6 without AC. It now has an LA360. No sway bars at this time.
 
Ordering front/rear sway bars here soon. Looking at Hotchkis and QA1. Any recommendations one over the other or another brand? Hotchkis - front 22385F , rear 22385R. QA1 - front 52861 , rear 52830. However, QA1 may be specific to a QA1 K member.
 
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I put PST's 1.03 torsion bars on my 74 Duster. Then used QA1 NA 'Stocker' front shocks.
1.03" Torsion Bar - A Body
QA1 TN501 QA1 Stocker Star NA Shocks | Summit Racing
Made a world of difference vs. the .89 T-bars & KYB shocks I had earlier.
My Duster handles extremely well in the twisties and has a decent civilized ride.

But again I also have a ton of other aftermarket goodies (which are fairly costly) on my front suspension:
(Disclaimer: These are not necessary for every day street driving, I just wanted her to have better canyon carving handling combined with decent streetability)
QA1 tubular K-member, upper control arms, anti-sway bar & strut rods,
Prothane polyurethane bushings.
I welded reinforcement brackets on the stock lower control arms as well.
I've been using these for over 8 yrs with no issues. (daily and some 'spirited' driving)
 
Mcfarlrm said:
Ordering front/rear sway bars here soon. Looking at Hotchkis and QA1. Any recommendations one over the other or another brand? Hotchkis - front 22385F , rear 22385R. QA1 - front 52861 , rear 52830. However, QA1 may be specific to a QA1 K member.
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Yes, the QA1 front sway bar is specifically to be used with their K-members. But also note that it can be used with stock lower control arms HOWEVER it has be ones from 73 and up with sway bar tabs.
 
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Cuprum-74 said:
Yes, the QA1 front sway bar is specifically to be used with their K-members. But also note that it can be used with stock lower control arms HOWEVER it has be ones from 73 and up with sway bar tabs.
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Noted. My LCA's are 68 so no go on the QA1's.
 
abodyjoe said:
thats supposed to be the best on the market but also looks like a freaking locomotive cattle guard hanging from the front of the car. i had one and sold it because of that before even installing it.
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Does it come with all the necessary hardware? May check it out regardless of aesthetics.
 
Mcfarlrm said:
Ordering front/rear sway bars here soon. Looking at Hotchkis and QA1. Any recommendations one over the other or another brand? Hotchkis - front 22385F , rear 22385R. QA1 - front 52861 , rear 52830. However, QA1 may be specific to a QA1 K member.
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Hellwig

Try to get the front one made for wide front tire clearance. Might not need it now, but could in future

Rear sway bar adjustable version
 
autoxcuda said:
Hellwig

Try to get the front one made for wide front tire clearance. Might not need it now, but could in future

Rear sway bar adjustable version
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Currently running 205/60R15's with rear mounted calipers. Is the wide tire clearance sway bar a must with this setup?
 
Mcfarlrm said:
Currently running 205/60R15's with rear mounted calipers. Is the wide tire clearance sway bar a must with this setup?
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Also, not too sure if this matters but this is the rest of the front suspension setup.

  • 67 K-member
  • 67-72 centerlink
  • 67 only idler arm
  • 67-72 pitman arm
  • 73-76 disk brake conversion with rear mounted calipers **
  • 73-76 lower ball joints
  • 73-76 upper ball joints
  • Hotchkis UCA's
 
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