What torsion bars and leafs on a 74 Duster?

[74DusterRebuild]

So as I remember, my 74 Charger had a very spongy ride. This 74 Duster squats down a lot when you push down on the front. When you drive it feels like a boat. So in my view the bars are weak and I know that the leafs are bad.

OK, so my question is when I look for torsion bars they list from .810” to 1.14” diameter bars. What would be good bar for normal everyday driving and performance? I don’t need smooth/spongy, I need more of a G machine ride.

As for rear leafs, I see leafs that are heavy duty from 4 to 6 leafs.

One more question, does anybody use air shocks anymore?

Any suggestion would be appreciated.

Thanks

Luis

 

[EvilScamp]

Torsion bar size depends on what engine your running.
My Scamp is still running the stock torsion bars with the small-block.
My Duster with a 383 i'm gonna use .920 diameter bars.

Leaf springs i'm running 6 leafs in my Scamp and Super Stock are going into my Duster.
As for your car riding like a boat it just sounds like your shocks are shot!

And no one i know runs air-shocks any more,they make the cars ride to stiff!

 

[dgc333]

My 68 Barracuda came with the heavey duty \6 suspension which was the light duty small block v8 torsion bar and 6 leaf springs. With new KYB Gas shocks the car handled very well.

Last winter when I did the disk brake swap I upgraded to the big block A-body torsion bars up front. The car still handles very well and bottoms out less on large bumps and dips.

This winter I am installing a 360 and plan to stay with the same torsion bars but I have a v8 spool mount K-member and will use a larger than stock diameter late style sway bar.

 

[Cuda66]

I have the original torsion bars on mine, but added a sway bar. I also added the super stock springs in the rear. It doesn't have a harsh ride & handles great. Has a little sway in the back, but a sway bar back there will solve that..

 

[74DusterRebuild]

Some added thoughts..

When I had my 1974 Charger in 1977-1981, it was relatively new. At the time I added 60 series tires that were stock height. I remember that it used to bottom out all the time. I also remember that around 100MHP it would just float on the road. It handled high-speed great. I also remember that it was pretty scary with the floating feeling.

I have had many other cars that around 100 MPH would not feel like it is floating including my 56 Chevy truck with straight axle. I have since changed my 56 Chevy truck to a 77 Magnum cross member kit with torsion bars. I can tell you at 75 it feels like it is floating, at least the front half. It has KYB shocks and an anti-sway bar. The rear on the other hand is solid. It has 11 leaves on each side and the front used to have 9. I did this to handle a camper at one time. The sway and floating feeling that it used to have with the camper went away with the bigger springs and anti-sway bars front and rear.

So from this I believe that this Duster needs a little more than just a minor tweak. I would rather have a stiff ride than a luxury ride. I want this Duster to be more of street rod than a cush cruiser.

Thank a lot for your input

Luis