Questions about torsion bars?

[LovetheA's]

I don't understand why Firm Feel lists a set of their 1.00" torsion bars for $339.00 and PST has a set of 1.03" bars for $239.00. Is there a big difference in quality? Or should I go with a set of mopar performance .990" or 1.040" bars didn't check prices on them yet. The car is a real 67 383 Dart, 4 speed, manual steering 16:1 ratio firm feel box and has 6 leaf springs in the back. I want the car to handle good but not pound me to death when driving. Maybe I will eventually upgrade upper and lower control arms at some point and I will be switching from kyb's to bilstein's or fox shocks.

Carl

 

[dukeboy440]

I don't understand why Firm Feel lists a set of their 1.00" torsion bars for $339.00 and PST has a set of 1.03" bars for $239.00. Is there a big difference in quality? Or should I go with a set of mopar performance .990" or 1.040" bars didn't check prices on them yet. The car is a real 67 383 Dart, 4 speed, manual steering 16:1 ratio firm feel box and has 6 leaf springs in the back. I want the car to handle good but not pound me to death when driving. Maybe I will eventually upgrade upper and lower control arms at some point and I will be switching from kyb's to bilstein's or fox shocks.

Carl

Quality, supplier , forger , brand etc. 1.03 bars would do you fine along with a set of bielstien shocks.

 

[72bluNblu]

Firm Feel forges their own bars in house. PST has them made in large batches by a forge. Firm Feel also makes a bunch of different diameter bars, while PST only makes the 1.03's for A bodies. So it's mostly just a manufacturing thing, PST benefits in the cost department from running a larger manufacturing run of the same size bars. There are probably other factors, but I bet that makes most of the difference.

And if you don't want to be "pounded to death", don't run the KYB's with any of the larger bars. You won't be happy. No real reason to upgrade the LCA's beyond changing the bushings and welding on a stiffening plate, I have the tubular LCA's from QA1 and the benefits are pretty minor. You can skip the tubular UCA's too depending on your planned use of the car, the Moog K7103 offset bushings will get you enough caster for a street car if you're keeping the 15" rims and tires. Especially with the 16:1 manual steering, you probably don't want to run a whole lot of positive caster as it will further increase your steering effort. You can definitely run more, I run almost +7* of caster with a 16:1 box, but I do a lot of things that most people that drive these cars don't like.

 

[ConValiant64]

I don't understand why Firm Feel lists a set of their 1.00" torsion bars for $339.00 and PST has a set of 1.03" bars for $239.00. Is there a big difference in quality? Or should I go with a set of mopar performance .990" or 1.040" bars didn't check prices on them yet. The car is a real 67 383 Dart, 4 speed, manual steering 16:1 ratio firm feel box and has 6 leaf springs in the back. I want the car to handle good but not pound me to death when driving. Maybe I will eventually upgrade upper and lower control arms at some point and I will be switching from kyb's to bilstein's or fox shocks.

Carl

I recently installed a set of PST's 1.03 bars in my '64 Valiant without changing the shocks. Sits up nice and aggressive with no impact to the ride. Highly recommend this less expensive option.

 

[TrailBeast]

I don't understand why Firm Feel lists a set of their 1.00" torsion bars for $339.00 and PST has a set of 1.03" bars for $239.00. Is there a big difference in quality? Or should I go with a set of mopar performance .990" or 1.040" bars didn't check prices on them yet. The car is a real 67 383 Dart, 4 speed, manual steering 16:1 ratio firm feel box and has 6 leaf springs in the back. I want the car to handle good but not pound me to death when driving. Maybe I will eventually upgrade upper and lower control arms at some point and I will be switching from kyb's to bilstein's or fox shocks.

Carl

I bought a set of the PST 1.03 bars and am really happy with them still after 5 years.
They brought the tension up so I don't hit the bump stops all the time on our crappy streets, and they cut down on the body roll quite a bit.
With a 318 and 5.9 both, the 1.03's are tight enough that I needed a small ding in the header tube. (1/8 inch)
Also if you decide on the PST's we get a discount that makes them about $200, but you have to call them to get the FABO member discount.

 

[LovetheA's]

I bought a set of the PST 1.03 bars and am really happy with them still after 5 years.
They brought the tension up so I don't hit the bump stops all the time on our crappy streets, and they cut down on the body roll quite a bit.
With a 318 and 5.9 both, the 1.03's are tight enough that I needed a small ding in the header tube. (1/8 inch)
Also if you decide on the PST's we get a discount that makes them about $200, but you have to call them to get the FABO member discount.

Thanks everyone for the advice. Looks like PST wins

 

[Abodybomber]

Firm Feel forges their own bars in house. PST has them made in large batches by a forge. Firm Feel also makes a bunch of different diameter bars, while PST only makes the 1.03's for A bodies. So it's mostly just a manufacturing thing, PST benefits in the cost department from running a larger manufacturing run of the same size bars. There are probably other factors, but I bet that makes most of the difference.

And if you don't want to be "pounded to death", don't run the KYB's with any of the larger bars. You won't be happy. No real reason to upgrade the LCA's beyond changing the bushings and welding on a stiffening plate, I have the tubular LCA's from QA1 and the benefits are pretty minor. You can skip the tubular UCA's too depending on your planned use of the car, the Moog K7103 offset bushings will get you enough caster for a street car if you're keeping the 15" rims and tires. Especially with the 16:1 manual steering, you probably don't want to run a whole lot of positive caster as it will further increase your steering effort. You can definitely run more, I run almost +7* of caster with a 16:1 box, but I do a lot of things that most people that drive these cars don't like.

Truthful...

 

[72bluNblu]

Truthful...

I try!

I do love the Firm Feel torsion bars. The only issue I've ever had with them is they powder coat the hex ends of their bars when they powder coat the bars. It's great on the bars, but the additional thickness on the hex ends can make them harder to install on some cars. I just strip the powder coating off the hexes before install them now. I run FFI 1.12" bars on my Challenger and my Duster, and have a set of 1.06's for my EL5 GT. I've got 60k miles on the set in my Challenger with no issues at all. They are more expensive, but they're great. I'm sure the PST bars are too, lots of folks happy with the 1.03's from PST and as I said before I'm sure most of the price difference is in the manufacturing quantity, not the quality.

 

[Abodybomber]

72blu,I appreciate your honesty. I have driven Trailbeast's beast,with 1.03 bars..He raves about them,and personal driving the car: It's a win/win! It was decent riding,and actually handled well,no sway bar.

 

[PST]

72bluNblu is correct in quantity is one of the major factors in the pricing of our 1.03" bars. They are forged in the USA and because they are our most popular bar we are able to make larger quantity runs. Which in turn reduces the price and we pass along the savings to you the customers. Second we do not do a full powder coating of the bars you will find with ours that the ends are left clean so there is no interference with fit. We do take the quality of our bars very seriously and make it a priority to listen to our customers.

Thanks
James From
PST