Drop spindle question
Changing the ride height doesn't change the spring rate. Your "ride is horrible" because you're constantly hitting the bump stops, your torsion bars need more suspension travel than your lowered car has. Even with low profile bump stops and the stock bars you don't have enough room to lower the car much before you start hitting the stops. At the factory stock ride height, the bump stops were intended to be used as part of the suspension travel. That's why they're triangular, they act progressively. So, changing to low profile bump stops with the stock bars was probably even worse that the stock bump stops. It delays when the bump stop first comes into play, but makes the "hit" more harsh. The stock bars have a wheel rate around 100 lb/in. That's it. You need pretty much every bit of the designed suspension travel with those bars, and then some, in the form of the stock progressive bump stops.
The "trick" to lowering your car is to match the wheel rate of the torsion bars to the amount of suspension travel you're going to have at the lowered ride height. The lower you want to go, the stiffer the torsion bars will have to be. And the stiffer the torsion bars get, the better your shocks have to be. But it's still cheaper to buy a set of 1.03" bars and a good set of shocks than it is to buy drop spindles.
I run my Duster at 25" from the ground to the top of the wheel opening in the front. That translates to about 1" of suspension travel between the frame and the low profile bump stops. With the 1.12" torsion bars I run (300 lb/in), I almost never hit the bump stops, just on really big potholes and the like. I also run it with Hotchkis Fox shocks. I think the ride is great, very much like a modern performance car.
Changing the ride height doesn't change the spring rate. Your "ride is horrible" because you're constantly hitting the bump stops, your torsion bars need more suspension travel than your lowered car has. Even with low profile bump stops and the stock bars you don't have enough room to lower the car much before you start hitting the stops. At the factory stock ride height, the bump stops were intended to be used as part of the suspension travel. That's why they're triangular, they act progressively. So, changing to low profile bump stops with the stock bars was probably even worse that the stock bump stops. It delays when the bump stop first comes into play, but makes the "hit" more harsh. The stock bars have a wheel rate around 100 lb/in. That's it. You need pretty much every bit of the designed suspension travel with those bars, and then some, in the form of the stock progressive bump stops.
The "trick" to lowering your car is to match the wheel rate of the torsion bars to the amount of suspension travel you're going to have at the lowered ride height. The lower you want to go, the stiffer the torsion bars will have to be. And the stiffer the torsion bars get, the better your shocks have to be. But it's still cheaper to buy a set of 1.03" bars and a good set of shocks than it is to buy drop spindles.
I run my Duster at 25" from the ground to the top of the wheel opening in the front. That translates to about 1" of suspension travel between the frame and the low profile bump stops. With the 1.12" torsion bars I run (300 lb/in), I almost never hit the bump stops, just on really big potholes and the like. I also run it with Hotchkis Fox shocks. I think the ride is great, very much like a modern performance car.