Hello suspension experts. I've been looking to upgrade my suspension on my A body and there is so many different components(control arms, leaf springs/4 link system, shocks etc..), what is the most noticeable upgrade I can do to make my A-body ride better?
What is the best to upgrade A-body suspension?
- Thread starter Hansen
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Get it running well.
How do i make my mopar a daily driver??
When that's done, you can go over the suspension. Do all the checks in the service manual. When you're done insuring the suspension is within specifications, greased, and then aligned you can move on to the next two steps.
Depending your tire choice and steering ratio, lower the front suspension a 1/4 to 1/2" (Chrysler method of measurement). Remeasure the caster and camber. Set them even side to side if your roads are not heavily crowned. Try that and see how you like it.
Install a front sway if your car is not already so equiped. See how you like it.
That's all you need.
If something bugs you after that - then address it.
Jim Lusk
Well-Known Member
Ride better or handle better? Big difference in the minds of many.
The first thing is to get all of "what's there" in good condition. Bushings, ball joints, tie rod ends. Then look at upgrades. To me one of the nicest upgrades are sway bars front and rear.
Rebuilding the steering coupler on my 66 Barracuda really surprised me with how much difference it made.
A small but important piece of it all. .
A small but important piece of it all. .
^^^This.^^^^
If I didn't say it clearly, this is what I was saying.
And none of it will make a hoot or holler bit of difference if it doesn't run right.
What are your plans for the car?
Before you replace anything, decide how you’re going to use it. A good handling street set up is different than an all out AutoX set up which is different again than a street/strip set up. You don’t want to start replacing anything without a plan. Even basic replacement stuff could be extra, if you buy new UCA’s you get ball joints and bushings with them, no need to duplicate that. If you buy new springs you get new bushings with them. Even replacing basic parts could lead to duplication and wasted money if you don’t start with a plan.
So what’s the goal for the car?
Before you replace anything, decide how you’re going to use it. A good handling street set up is different than an all out AutoX set up which is different again than a street/strip set up. You don’t want to start replacing anything without a plan. Even basic replacement stuff could be extra, if you buy new UCA’s you get ball joints and bushings with them, no need to duplicate that. If you buy new springs you get new bushings with them. Even replacing basic parts could lead to duplication and wasted money if you don’t start with a plan.
So what’s the goal for the car?
Lots of good advice and good thread!
Get it running good and reliable, do some suspension research and avoid duplicate purchases. You could probably get all new from Rock auto, but do you want to?
Get it running good and reliable, do some suspension research and avoid duplicate purchases. You could probably get all new from Rock auto, but do you want to?
Handle i guess, in norway we have very little straight roades, roundabouts everywhere and turns between them
My goal for the car is to make it a daily/street car. I have a compcam xe274 in it and 10:1 compression, j heads with 1.88/1.60 valves and dougs headers. 727 trans with manual valve housing. Also some real nice chrome pulleys which adds around 250hp. Front swaybar and bigger torsion bars, 8 3/4 rear end with 3:23 gear. I have a 84 D150 to use in the winter so it mostly stays in the garage at that time unless something breaks on the pickup.
Never thought about this, mine doesn't even have the cap on.
67Dart273
Well-Known Member
........And you'd be surprised what a few cheap upgrades can do. Radials, if you don't have, for one. I rebuilt the rear springs on mine by taking a second set out of a junker, took both sets apart, and used the longest leafs out of both sets to build one set, until I had 1 more leaf than original. Made it quite stiff and just right height. If you don't have a front anti-sway bar, look around and get one. They make a TREMENDOUS difference in cornering.
Standonit1972
Well-Known Member
MOPAROFFICIAL
Oogliboogli
from my six-cylinder cars to my V8 cars the most noticeable Improvement was putting polyurethane bushings in the front end upper/lower control arms and putting polyurethane shackle bushings only in the rear Leafs and using a rubber eyelet bushing 'the one in the front' I like to keep the road noise down that drones from the trunk..which is like a resonator/speaker box amplifying the noise. Much more responsive to the steering wheel movements..handled better, and didnt bottom out so easily on dips in the road...that was also because i chose a stiffer shock absorber than stock replacement. Felt solid and safer.
Now if you want a comfortable ride stay with a tall series Tire 70 series let's say.
What I ended up deciding on was keeping rubber in the strut rods... even with 6 cyl t bars....which are a softer more comfortable ride than 340 bars. ..they let it bounce more , travel further to take up the jolt to the drivers seat.
Now if you want a comfortable ride stay with a tall series Tire 70 series let's say.
What I ended up deciding on was keeping rubber in the strut rods... even with 6 cyl t bars....which are a softer more comfortable ride than 340 bars. ..they let it bounce more , travel further to take up the jolt to the drivers seat.
This is a ‘69 that we’re talking about?
Does it still have the 5x4” SBP and are you looking to keep it or go BBP?
1.03” torsion bars would be great, good sway bars and shocks (bilstein’s or hotchkis fox’s) would make a big difference.
Does it still have the 5x4” SBP and are you looking to keep it or go BBP?
1.03” torsion bars would be great, good sway bars and shocks (bilstein’s or hotchkis fox’s) would make a big difference.
Just depends how much you want to spend and what you are looking for. All new bushings would be the first thing then new tires and disc brakes. Once you take care of those basics I'd go with stiffer torsion bars, really good shocks (Bilsteins or Koni) and a big front anti-sway bar. Keep working on it and you'll eventually end up here:
I re did my suspension with all new parts because it was simply worn out in a big way. I really like the PST Poly Graphite stuff. Once the suspension and brakes were back up to excellent, for ride feel & handling, I did;
Wider tires. Not taller.
QA1 road shocks
Bigger front and rear anti sway bars
New rear springs and torsion bars.
Wider tires. Not taller.
QA1 road shocks
Bigger front and rear anti sway bars
New rear springs and torsion bars.
Still has the 5x4 SBP, was hoping to keep this as i already bought new wheels for it, it has a 1" torsion bar and a front swaybar from an unknown producer.. shocks are stock tho..
sounds good, gonna upgrade the shocks.
This looks like alot of fun! we don't have autocross like this here in norway.
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