Need new suspension

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Sublime69

Sublime69

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So I haven't been on here for a looooong time. It time to upgrade my suspension. The 6 cylinder torsion bars are doing it for me anymore. What are options I can go with now. I havent really looked around. Just figured I would ask here first. I would like to stick with a stock style suspension if possible.

Thanks!
 
HDK has become a very popular "go to" option. Love your car.
 
We have many different front end kit available, shocks, as well has performance torsion. bars. We also offer a discount to members of the forum.

Thanks
James
 
I'd go to at least 1" torsion bars.

Just Suspension sells a 1" bar, which I ran on my Duster for awhile. They were still pretty plush as far as the ride was concerned, but still improved handling quite a bit. Personally, I thought the 1" JS bars were too soft even for what they are.

PST sells 1.03" bars, which should be a little stiffer, but should still be great from a ride quality standpoint. Plus as you can see PST is a vendor here and offers a discount, so, hard to go wrong there.

If you're planning a more serious handling car, I'd use Firm Feel 1.06" or 1.12" bars. I have the 1.12" bars on my Duster, and they're awesome. But, good shocks are a MUST with these bars, Bilstein's or better. I run the Hotchkis Fox shocks on my Duster, and even noticed the difference between those and the Bilsteins. With a good set of shocks the ride quality isn't bad at all.
 
Sublime: What size wheels & tires are those, and offsets or backspacing?

72: Glad to hear you like the 1.12 bars, I have a pair stashed for when my project gets that far, but have been wondering if I went too big. I have the full Hotchkis kit to pair with them & the US Car Tool stiffening kit.

James: Nice to hear about a discount, I will be wanting to replace all the wear parts come assembly time as well.
 
Roger Ram Rod said:
72: Glad to hear you like the 1.12 bars, I have a pair stashed for when my project gets that far, but have been wondering if I went too big. I have the full Hotchkis kit to pair with them & the US Car Tool stiffening kit.
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I don't think they're too big at all. The most important thing is making sure you run a set of shocks that was meant for that kind of wheel rate. Like I've said before, I think the Bilstein RCD's are the minimum for 1.06" bars or larger. The Hotchkis Fox shocks I run were still a noticeable improvement over the RCD's, which I ran for a bit with the 1.12" bars. I also run 18" rims, so there isn't much sidewall to absorb the bumps either.

I run Helwig sway bars front and rear, and have the car set up with subframe connectors, "J" bars (firewall to front frame rail with the shock towers tied in), a tubular radiator support brace and torque boxes on my car. All of the chassis work is in my build thread, link is in my signature. So the chassis is fairly stiff as well, but the ride quality is still tolerable. More on par with modern performance cars than an old musclecar though.
 
Ok so 1" minimum torsion bars and some good shocks. I have no sway bars either. What do you guys recommend? The car is also lowered just buy turning down the bars. What are my options as far as drop spindles? Or is there a better way?


Roger,
Front:

Rim Width 18X8
Rim Backspacing 5 3/4"
Tire size 245/40/18


Rear:

Rim Width 18X9
Rim Backspacing 5"
Tire Size 275/35/18
 
How much power does your setup make now? What is use of the car?

Hotchkis sway bars and shocks will make a huge improvement to even your current setup, but I have to agree stiffer t-bars will help too.
 
It makes just over 550. It was a drag car now I just want it to be more enjoyable on the street and make it corner well. Wont be at the track much.
 
You don't need drop spindles with larger torsion bars. You should be able to just set your ride height with the adjusters. Larger bars = less suspension travel. So, if you match your torsion bars correctly with the ride height you want, you don't need drop spindles screwing up your suspension geometry. Your car sits pretty low, so I would consider going with bars on the larger side of what I suggested. At least the 1.03's. Although I would imagine that your current set up bottoms out all the time if you have /6 bars and the standard spindles now, so anything would be an improvement.

I use Helwig sway bars on my Duster. The front is a hollow bar similar to the Hotchkis bars but at half the price. The rear is a solid bar, but is adjustable just like the Hotchkis bars. Again, at about half the price. I think they work pretty darn good.
 
72bluNblu said:
You don't need drop spindles with larger torsion bars. You should be able to just set your ride height with the adjusters. Larger bars = less suspension travel. So, if you match your torsion bars correctly with the ride height you want, you don't need drop spindles screwing up your suspension geometry. Your car sits pretty low, so I would consider going with bars on the larger side of what I suggested. At least the 1.03's. Although I would imagine that your current set up bottoms out all the time if you have /6 bars and the standard spindles now, so anything would be an improvement.

I use Helwig sway bars on my Duster. The front is a hollow bar similar to the Hotchkis bars but at half the price. The rear is a solid bar, but is adjustable just like the Hotchkis bars. Again, at about half the price. I think they work pretty darn good.
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Used to sell parts,Hellwig has a damn fine product for the money.
 
I have the 1.06 Firm Feel bars, Hotchkis/Fox shocks, and the hotchkis sway bars.

I liked the mounting method with the hotchkis sway bars better, despite being harder to install (welding). They also clear front mounted calipers which could be something important to you.

I have 275-35-18's all the way around and live in SE Michigan where the roads really suck. The ride quality is quite good with my setup and it feels totally on rails.

Another important item is "rod end" style strut rods. I have the RMS ones, which are just great IMO.

My bumpstops are cut too. That's an important factor.
 
I probably should have mentioned that I have the 73-76 style K frame, so the front sway bar is different and I think the Helwig and Hotchkis front sway bars are more comparable for the 73-76 cars. I also had LCA's with tabs already so no welding would have been needed in the front regardless.

The Helwig rear bar is axle hung instead of frame hung, and although you can weld the mounting tubes into the frame where the dogleg bolts go through you don't have to, so the Helwig bar can be installed without any welding. Frame hung rear sway bars like the Hotchkis piece do have some advantages (less weight hanging on the axle), but like everything suspension related there are always trade offs.
 
I gotta go dig around in the closets now to find them, I didn't know the Hotchkis rears were frame hung.
 
You might check out www.gerstsuspensions.com if you decide you want to do away with T bars completely. I have one and its the best thing I've ever done to my car.
 
goldduster318 said:
I have the 1.06 Firm Feel bars, Hotchkis/Fox shocks, and the hotchkis sway bars.

I liked the mounting method with the hotchkis sway bars better, despite being harder to install (welding). They also clear front mounted calipers which could be something important to you.

I have 275-35-18's all the way around and live in SE Michigan where the roads really suck. The ride quality is quite good with my setup and it feels totally on rails.

Another important item is "rod end" style strut rods. I have the RMS ones, which are just great IMO.

My bumpstops are cut too. That's an important factor.
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Can you post some links to what you have? What brand bars do you have? Thanks!
 
If you don't already have them, subframe connectors are a must. For street I love Bilsteins. Add a front sway bar and have fun!
 

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Sublime69 said:
Can you post some links to what you have? What brand bars do you have? Thanks!
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The torsion bars are firm feel 1.06:
http://firmfeel.com/a_body_mopar_torsion_bars.html

Sway bars are the Hotchkis 67-72 style. This is with a stock 1970 k-frame:


http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hss-22385/overview/year/1970/make/plymouth/model/duster

This is how the bar mounts to the chassis in the back. I'd consider this to be similar but not the same as the hellwig bar. I think the mount is stronger.


I also have the Hotchkis subframe connectors.
 
After seeing what the angle of the ball joint looks like with the rubber boot off when the factory suspension is lowered, you might consider other options. Maybe it works ok but I sure don't like the look of it. I can post a pic if you like.
 
Idaho said:
After seeing what the angle of the ball joint looks like with the shock boot off when the factory suspension is lowered, you might consider other options. Maybe it works ok but I sure don't like the look of it. I can post a pic if you like.
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Are you talking about stock vs. drop spindles? Pics would be great! Thanks!
 
Idaho said:
After seeing what the angle of the ball joint looks like with the shock boot off when the factory suspension is lowered, you might consider other options. Maybe it works ok but I sure don't like the look of it. I can post a pic if you like.
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Maybe you don't like the look of it, but works just fine. I have had zero ball joint issues on my cars, and all of the ones on the road are lowered significantly.

Not only that, but your suspension geometry is just as bad with drop spindles. Not at the ball joints, but everywhere else. I ran drop spindles on my Challenger for awhile. I'd never do it again. They're unnecessary (my challenger sits just as low now as it did with drop spindles), and the suspension geometry is better without them. The best roll center, camber curves, and bump steer numbers occur when the UCA is roughly parallel with the ground.
 
I don't doubt your experience. I guess it means the parts were built strong enough to function in a position that would normally be the result of upward deflection. Are your control arms about level after lowering?
 
Spun Bearing said:
Really? From what I understood you don't even have an engine in your car yet.

Why don't you give us your personal ride and drive report on the GTS suspension?
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^Jackass alert. As usual 72blunBlu killed this thread dead with his excellent suspension prose! Vote for best posts; and /thread.
 
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