Torsion bars for better handling; your experience?

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Mojoe9955 said:
I just did the PST 1.03 torsion bars on my Duster, as well as stock upper control arms with Moog problem solver bushings. The lowers I used the stiffening plates with the Delrin bushings and pivots. as well as QA adjustable strut rods from BAC and a 1" or so Hellwig sway bar. KYB gas shocks on all 4 corners which made a big difference, but the verdict is still out on them. I'm still riding on funky 15" wheels and tires like 275/60 on the back and 215/60 on the front which looks cool, but leaves room for improvement. I'm using going to 17" Mustang Bullet wheels all around which are not my first choice, but at $25 a piece I couldn't pass them and gives it the Torq Thrust look which is my favorite wheel anyway. I did think of spending big money on "tubular" stuff which looks cool and probably works great in the right application but after taking the invaluable advice of @72bluNblu who has some great ideas I decided to throw a little money at what I already have and save the money on stuff we probably don't need for something else like my 72 Demon project which will be getting pretty much the same treatment as well as a slant 6/904 to a nasty 340/727 that a buddy is swapping for a 500 inch motor in his Duster
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definitely +1 on the mustang bullet wheels all around. After months of checking offset numbers and measuring everything I mistakenly went with the torque thrusts on my 72 duster and they were hangin' out past the fenderwell up front (forgot to account for the tracking increase due to my 13" brake upgrade up front) - so the mustang bullets were a second purchase (whoops) but they look great. Jealous of your 340 coming in! should be fun!
 
I wasn't crazy about the Bullet concept at first, but picked them up as transitional wheel. After all is said and done though I think it turned out pretty good.

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I don't love the Bullitt wheels,but those are nice. What's the width and what tire size do you run?

@Mojoe9955
 
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abodyjoe said:
mine were 17x8 with 5.72 backspace. i was running RMS front and rear suspension though.
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The fronts would work with a standard 73+ Mopar suspension, a small spacer (1/8” or less) might be needed on some cars depending on the brakes and outer tie rod end.

In the back with an A-body 8 3/4 rear axle with BBP axles you’d need a 1” spacer. Or a wider rear axle like something from a B-body, or 8.8, etc.
 
While the bigger 1.03 bars make the car handle really well there really was not much room for my cheap headers. There is even less when I just finished putting in some Doug's ceramic coated header,s. While they don't rub, now there is barely room to slip a piece of card board in there.
 
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Mojoe9955 said:
While the bigger 1.03 bars make the car handle really well there really was not much room for my cheap headers. There is even less when I just finished putting in some Doug's ceramic coated header,s. While they don't rub, now there is barely room to slip a piece of card board in there.
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There really isn’t much clearance there regardless, if you think about a .82” stock bar and the 1.03’s the difference in the clearance to the headers is only .1”. Not that .1” off clearance can’t be the difference between clearing and rubbing, but it’s also not much of a dimple to put in the header. I added a couple of small dimples to my Doug’s headers, but I run even larger 1.12” torsion bars.
 
HemiDenny said:
sorry...I should have said ...suspension, not shocks. and was only guessing with a soft suspension, it is necessary to control the body roll with a big anti-roll bar.

for Autocross....what are the basics for tuning the shocks? I appreciate your input.
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It's more than a sway bar that controls roll. Taller spindles or ball joints move the roll center up and closer to the center of gravity. This really helps control the roll and inspire confidence while auto crossing and open track. The combination of shock AND spring rate dictates ride quality. This and chassis stiffness play the largest roll in doing so. We tested all this at XV which everyone has forgotten by now. As far as bolt in shocks we only have 2 decent choices that are mono tube style and neither one are double adjustable. The good stuff costs. Years ago we did a program with AFCO to get this dialed in.
 
Mojoe9955 said:
While the bigger 1.03 bars make the car handle really well there really was not much room for my cheap headers. There is even less when I just finished putting in some Doug's ceramic coated header,s. While they don't rub, now there is barely room to slip a piece of card board in there.
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This is why God made hammers. :D Don't be shy and give them a whack for clearance. Definitely touch them up with some high temp paint incase the header's coating cracked in that spot.

Evidently, unless you're really crushing the tube, performance isn't measurably affected by dings and dents which is admittedly counterintuitive.
 
I was looking to get rid of the 70's float and sway for a more modern driving experience. I went with 1.03 PST's and Bilstein shocks all around and, so far, am thrilled with how it drives. My rear springs are still stock but seem well matched from what I can tell. I will say that I also did a full front-end rebuild including reinforcing the K-frame, boxing the LCA's, offset upper bushings, Delrin lower bushing, adjustable strut rods, and reused the 1 1/8" Hellwig front sway bar. I also went from 14" tires to 17". I don't consider the ride to be harsh at all although my daily driver is a 3/4 ton GMC truck so my tolerance may be a little skewed. I took my wife for a drive a couple nights ago and she was impressed with how it felt from shotgun although she has not been behind the wheel yet. Now I need better front seats as the car stays planted but the bench seat is fairly useless for going around corners!
 
1973dust said:
I was looking to get rid of the 70's float and sway for a more modern driving experience. I went with 1.03 PST's and Bilstein shocks all around and, so far, am thrilled with how it drives. My rear springs are still stock but seem well matched from what I can tell. I will say that I also did a full front-end rebuild including reinforcing the K-frame, boxing the LCA's, offset upper bushings, Delrin lower bushing, adjustable strut rods, and reused the 1 1/8" Hellwig front sway bar. I also went from 14" tires to 17". I don't consider the ride to be harsh at all although my daily driver is a 3/4 ton GMC truck so my tolerance may be a little skewed. I took my wife for a drive a couple nights ago and she was impressed with how it felt from shotgun although she has not been behind the wheel yet. Now I need better front seats as the car stays planted but the bench seat is fairly useless for going around corners!
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Awesome! Glad you enjoy the upgrades!
 
1973dust said:
I was looking to get rid of the 70's float and sway for a more modern driving experience. I went with 1.03 PST's and Bilstein shocks all around and, so far, am thrilled with how it drives. My rear springs are still stock but seem well matched from what I can tell. I will say that I also did a full front-end rebuild including reinforcing the K-frame, boxing the LCA's, offset upper bushings, Delrin lower bushing, adjustable strut rods, and reused the 1 1/8" Hellwig front sway bar. I also went from 14" tires to 17". I don't consider the ride to be harsh at all although my daily driver is a 3/4 ton GMC truck so my tolerance may be a little skewed. I took my wife for a drive a couple nights ago and she was impressed with how it felt from shotgun although she has not been behind the wheel yet. Now I need better front seats as the car stays planted but the bench seat is fairly useless for going around corners!
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Not enough people can see this! It's all about picking the correct parts to work together and the results are worth it. Far too many people will tell you to go spend $6K on a coil over suspension when you can be satisfied with the performance at a fraction of the price.
 
racerjoe said:
Not enough people can see this! It's all about picking the correct parts to work together and the results are worth it. Far too many people will tell you to go spend $6K on a coil over suspension when you can be satisfied with the performance at a fraction of the price.
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We've been saying this for years. That's why we put togther the most complete torsion bar based suspension kit on the market.
Bergmanautocraft.com
 
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