What torsion bars and leafs on a 74 Duster?

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

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! :)

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.

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..

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