completely rebuild front suspension?

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j par

j par

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I have a 73 Duster was originally slant 6 AC car and was told and no reason to not believe a 68 barracuda V8 K frame but retained the disc brakes of the 73 but did use the 68 V8 torsion bars. That I'm not exactly sure about or confirmed.
Honestly the front end feels just about as bad as it gets before something actually false off or breaks LOL so it's time to do something about it and I can't think of a better time than now with the motor and transmission out. I'm not exactly sure how to unload and take out the torsion bars and all that other suspension a arms I kind of get but I'm kind of back and forth on whether I ought to drop the whole K frame or not? Is there anything in there that I can't just do with it on the car? I know I want all the bushings pressed and pressed out and I'm not sure if there's some in the K frame? Will it be easier to take the K frame to someone or at least I can find a friend that has a press and do it myself which is what I prefer. And typical me I'll be using as cheap parts as I can to just tighten it up. And of course trying to do every bit of work myself as I know it's done right with my cheep parts.
thanks for any help....
 
Oh yeah and I wanted to ask you about handling procedure with the torsion bars? I hear people saying don't Nick them or all kinds of things like that but I imagine they're just greasy and nasty and I want to clean them really well and all the parts surrounding?
 
No reason to take out the K @PST has some great kits at decent prices, and a FABO discount to boot.
 
j par said:
Oh yeah and I wanted to ask you about handling procedure with the torsion bars? I hear people saying don't Nick them or all kinds of things like that but I imagine they're just greasy and nasty and I want to clean them really well and all the parts surrounding?
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You do not want to Knick them at all, they are very hard and can crack if knicked, easy to take out unload them, take the clip out of the back and sometimes they just pull out other times have to be tapped out. I use a wooden clamp on them and hit the clamp.
 
Hey there is a right and left side to the bars and mark the rear so they get installed the same way to keep the "twist" the same.
 
As said, you don't need to pull the K out. But I would/did. Depends where you are going with it... I sandblasted mine added and fixed a few welds, painted. Clean up bay, frame area, and so on....
To unload the bars. Get front end up. All weight off. then unscrew the adjusters in the lower arms till no pressure on them. Then start pulling things apart. Unscrew the upper ball joints with the arms still on the car for added leverage.
 
I did mine a few months back off the car.

20170704_220802.jpg
 
I'd pull that K for three reasons:
#1 you can't truly inspect it easily if it's in place, and given the tendency of these cars to crack lower control arm mounts and such, you'll end up welding washers on there and all that good crap if you know what's good for you. Gusseting the K and fully welding it does add a measure of stiffness that will be readily apparent when driving.

#2. You can completely and easily build the front suspension out of the car, which is far more comfortable with the K on work table or even a shop floor compared to laying under the car with crap falling in your eyes. A couple pieces of grit in your eye or a trip to the hospital (with requisite bill) will make you regret doing anything under car you don't have to, once you've done the job without it.

#3. It's easier to clean everything.

Unless you're the type to insist on rebuilding an axle under the car, pull the upper control pivots, pop the steering coupler and motor mounts (I lay a 2x10 across the fenders and hang the motor with ratchet straps), back off the adjusters and drive out the torsion bars, and pull the four K bolts. Easy as pie.

Pro tip: drill a 1/8" hole over each K bolt and douse with penetrating oil before you start. reapply hourly. Plug hole with silicone when you're done.

And you don't need to worry about the marking the rear of the torsion bars. They're handed and won't fit if swapped side to side, and the twist directional force applies the same way same regardless of which end faces front.
 
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I'm (assuming) since it's not the original K frame it's not going to be extremely difficult to get off.
 
j par said:
Will it be easier to take the K frame to someone or at least I can find a friend that has a press and do it myself which is what I prefer.
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If you haven't found a press closer to your location, I have a 12-ton and I'm reasonably in the neighborhood. Send me a PM if you need to use it.
 
As already said, back the adjusters off on the lower control arms, there is a retaining clip located in the cross member in the rear that need to come out. Mopar did make a service tool for removing T-bars that you can hammer against to knock the bars out of the sockets; you can make your own tool with 2 U bolts and a piece of angle iron; I made mine out of a piece of 3 1/2x6x1/2 , if you want I'll mail it to you. On the lower control arms, the pivot and rubber bushing come out leaving the outer shell still in the arm, some weld large washers to the shell and them reach thru with a punch to remove it, others use air chisel to split the shell, FSM uses a large 1 3/8-12NF tap threaded into the shell and then you reach thru and push against that to remove shell. You can remove and install upper control arm bushings in a vice using a verity of sockets

Removing the "K" is a good idea as you can inspect it easier. A common failure point is the lower control arm mounting holes, the weld breaks around the reinforcing washer; if not too far gone, just reweld.
 
JBurch said:
As already said, back the adjusters off on the lower control arms, there is a retaining clip located in the cross member in the rear that need to come out. Mopar did make a service tool for removing T-bars that you can hammer against to knock the bars out of the sockets; you can make your own tool with 2 U bolts and a piece of angle iron; I made mine out of a piece of 3 1/2x6x1/2 , if you want I'll mail it to you. On the lower control arms, the pivot and rubber bushing come out leaving the outer shell still in the arm, some weld large washers to the shell and them reach thru with a punch to remove it, others use air chisel to split the shell, FSM uses a large 1 3/8-12NF tap threaded into the shell and then you reach thru and push against that to remove shell. You can remove and install upper control arm bushings in a vice using a verity of sockets

Removing the "K" is a good idea as you can inspect it easier. A common failure point is the lower control arm mounting holes, the weld breaks around the reinforcing washer; if not too far gone, just reweld.
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NAH, screw it, get an aftermarket kit ! We know all mopar guys are loaded ! Look at the prices they ask one another for used parts!
 
Torsion bar tools are a waste of money. Put it up on jacks, loosen the torsion bar adjusters, pull the shocks, separate the ball joints, remove the strut rod nuts. Pull the torsion bar clips, remove the LCA spindle nuts and use a dead blow hammer to knock the LCA back until the torsion bar hex end clears the rear socket. Knock the LCA forward off the bar, slide the bar out. No chance to scratch up the bar with some dumb tool, more cash in your wallet. And if you have larger torsion bars and/or headers the tools are pretty useless anyway. The don’t fit the larger bars at all, and with headers there’s very little room to work with to get them clamped on.

jos51700 said:
I'd pull that K for three reasons:
#1 you can't truly inspect it easily if it's in place, and given the tendency of these cars to crack lower control arm mounts and such, you'll end up welding washers on there and all that good crap if you know what's good for you. Gusseting the K and fully welding it does add a measure of stiffness that will be readily apparent when driving.

#2. You can completely and easily build the front suspension out of the car, which is far more comfortable with the K on work table or even a shop floor compared to laying under the car with crap falling in your eyes. A couple pieces of grit in your eye or a trip to the hospital (with requisite bill) will make you regret doing anything under car you don't have to, once you've done the job without it.

#3. It's easier to clean everything.

Unless you're the type to insist on rebuilding an axle under the car, pull the upper control pivots, pop the steering coupler and motor mounts (I lay a 2x10 across the fenders and hang the motor with ratchet straps), back off the adjusters and drive out the torsion bars, and pull the four K bolts. Easy as pie.

Pro tip: drill a 1/8" hole over each K bolt and douse with penetrating oil before you start. reapply hourly. Plug hole with silicone when you're done.

And you don't need to worry about the marking the rear of the torsion bars. They're handed and won't fit if swapped side to side, and the twist directional force applies the same way same regardless of which end faces front.
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Agree with everything except the torsion bars not fitting if you swap them side to side. They absolutely fit, and it has been done. It throws the ride height adjustments totally out of whack though because the bars are indexed, which is usually how it gets noticed. Stock torsion bars are numbered, odds on the left, even on the right.

Based on the description of how the car handles, I would drop the K, clean and inspect it at the very least. If the bushings are shot then the LCA pin tubes could easily be broken out or worn. I would also check all the factory welds, because I've seen factory welds crack at the steering box mounts. Personally I wouldn't ever reinstall a K member without fully seam welding and gusseting the steering box and LCA pin mounts, but that's just me.
 
I'm sure it's going to be ugly. The entire car is a hodge podge of miss matched mopar parts (just the way I like it) and the front suspension is no exception. I should be getting into iin anytime within the next week.
 
I didn't read through all of this, but generally you'll need a press for the upper and lower control arm bushings. It's a snap to remove torsion bars, just back the adjusting bolt off all the way and remove the clip in the back. New upper and lower ball joints with new upper and lower control arm bushings makes a huge difference, along with the strut rod bushings. A few tricks along the way, nothing you couldn't do. You'll need a front end alignment when done.
 
Dang man. If you weren't on the other side of the planet, you could bring that beeotch over here and I would show you the way. It ain't real hard though.
 
From what I read, a factory slant 6 w/ ac build got the same torsion bars as V8 w/o ac. Then V8 with ac got a step up in torsion bars too. Pretty much every build with ac weight added got a bump up in torsion bars. You should find numbers and clocking to photograph at the back end of the bars.
We can't know if your K member needs repairs/welding. I don't think there is a statistic for that. I can say for the K members I have here, 1 of the 3 needs repair ( a lower arm pivot pin hole and a strut rod hole ). It's a little more than 4 more bolts to remove the K though. You'll have to unbolt the steering column ( 4 screws, 6 bolts, and 1 pin ) to back it off the steering gear box. Then 3 bolts out of the steering gear box for easier K member handling if nothing else.
 
72bluNblu said:
Torsion bar tools are a waste of money. Put it up on jacks, loosen the torsion bar adjusters, pull the shocks, separate the ball joints, remove the strut rod nuts. Pull the torsion bar clips, remove the LCA spindle nuts and use a dead blow hammer to knock the LCA back until the torsion bar hex end clears the rear socket. Knock the LCA forward off the bar, slide the bar out. No chance to scratch up the bar with some dumb tool, more cash in your wallet. And if you have larger torsion bars and/or headers the tools are pretty useless anyway. The don’t fit the larger bars at all, and with headers there’s very little room to work with to get them clamped on.



Agree with everything except the torsion bars not fitting if you swap them side to side. They absolutely fit, and it has been done. It throws the ride height adjustments totally out of whack though because the bars are indexed, which is usually how it gets noticed. Stock torsion bars are numbered, odds on the left, even on the right.

Based on the description of how the car handles, I would drop the K, clean and inspect it at the very least. If the bushings are shot then the LCA pin tubes could easily be broken out or worn. I would also check all the factory welds, because I've seen factory welds crack at the steering box mounts. Personally I wouldn't ever reinstall a K member without fully seam welding and gusseting the steering box and LCA pin mounts, but that's just me.
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I've tried before (ignorantly) to install the bars on the incorrect side. Putting them in opposite seems like it's REALLY hard work, but now I know. Thanks for the tip!
 
Another thing.........upper ball joints screw in, DO NOT try to press them out.... need a special socket to R&R the joint, best done while the upper control arm is still on the car due to the leverage needed to remove them and install new, also there are 2 different sizes......73 SHOULD be large BJ, otherwise its small, measure across the flats, let us know.
 
JBurch said:
Another thing.........upper ball joints screw in, DO NOT try to press them out.... need a special socket to R&R the joint, best done while the upper control arm is still on the car due to the leverage needed to remove them and install new, also there are 2 different sizes......73 SHOULD be large BJ, otherwise its small, measure across the flats, let us know.
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Correct. I bought the large and small socket in a set off of ebay for like 35 bucks. I also have a 48" breaker bar that comes in handy for them. I also like to pre-soak all that stuff a couple days ahead in something like PB-blaster.
 
I can feel this little ball of gumption boiling up inside of me saying get out in the garage and try to get those damn torsion bars out! Okay maybe a shower maybe I'll take the front tires off and start making some room under there it's already up on 4 jack stands and motor and transmission been plucked. Oh man I worked a physical 12 hours yesterday and it's a cool rainy day in Portland in a nice warm fire in the fireplace and this is hard. Who put the LED in my shoes damn it!
 
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