what size torsion bars should I buy?

-
D

dans4door1970

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2013
Messages
160
Reaction score
39
Location
colorado
I have a factory 318, 1970 Dart. Going to replace the torsion bars since I am pulling out anyway. PST sells a 1.03 size and a .89. Their chart shows the .89 for a big block and the 1.03 for a small block. Do you guys agree before I order and is PST a good product. Also should I replace the adjusters? the car has 160,000 miles
Thank you
 
What do you want to do with the car? When I was still running the stock setup I ran .875 bars on my big block Gt.
 
I would never put anything smaller than 1" on any Mopar ever again. The original bars were for bias ply levels of grip and aren't even enough for old design and compound radials like BFG T/A's, let alone modern design tires and compounds.

The catch is that if you run them with cheap shocks like KYB's the ride quality will suffer. But that's just physics, the dampening rates of the shocks have to be matched to the spring rates of the torsion bars. If you do that by running bilstein rcd's, Hotchkis fox's, Vikings or similar shocks designed for use with larger bars the ride quality is great.

A lot of people run the 1.03's and love them, there are several threads on this board about them. I ran 1" bars from Just Suspension on my small block Duster for awhile and found them to be too soft even when I had 225/60/15's on the car. Sure it was a big handling improvement from stock, but there was still a ton of body roll. I upgraded to 1.12" bars, but my car is set up for aggressive street handling and autoX and obviously isn't everyone's cup of tea.
 
I have 1.03's from PST on mine with the RCD Bilsteins and love the ride. It's a big block car though.
 
At minimum I say 1". Anything less isn't worth it in my opinion.

Pure track car would be a different story.
I'm running 1" bars and kyb shocks (next on the list to change) and they feel too soft to me. Have a sway bar to install. I'll see how I like them after that. May go bigger
 
Last edited:
1.03 for sure.



dans4door1970 said:
I have a factory 318, 1970 Dart. Going to replace the torsion bars since I am pulling out anyway. PST sells a 1.03 size and a .89. Their chart shows the .89 for a big block and the 1.03 for a small block. Do you guys agree before I order and is PST a good product. Also should I replace the adjusters? the car has 160,000 miles
Thank you
Click to expand...

they're recommending the smaller .89 bar for the big block cars?!
 
PST 1.03 with a small block here, and love em.
Car stays a lot flatter in the corners, and driveway dips and bumps are not a problem any longer.
The only real way I might be able to explain the 1.03 bars is if I push down on one fender with both hands and putting most of my weight on it the fender dips about 1-1.5 inch.
 
dans4door1970 said:
Street cruiser and occasional track
Click to expand...

It doesn't really matter what you run for bars then. Even /6 bars would give you the ride height you need. The smaller bars are better at the track. THe larger bars, assuming you have shocks and tires to match will give you better handling on the street. There is no free lunch.
 
This is very subjective.I replaced my 340 .870 bars with nos .890's and the ride
was still oozy.I now have .920's with Bilstien shocks and it has a more modern feel
but you will notice rough roads.I think 1 inch would be unpleasant on our terrible roads.
..with the .920's and Bilstiens you can actually push it a bit and i think the ride is great
on decent roads.If you are blessed with lots of new pavement 1" would probably be nice.
 
Running 1.03" with a small block in a '74 Duster with Bilstein shocks. It rides well, but you'll definitely notice any holes or bumps in the road especially with low profile tires. You'll hit those obstacles and you'll hear the "BANG" permeate throughout the car, but that could be because I have the front suspension set too low. It does handle better though. I'm still dialing in the suspension.
 
ir3333 said:
This is very subjective.I replaced my 340 .870 bars with nos .890's and the ride
was still oozy.I now have .920's with Bilstien shocks and it has a more modern feel
but you will notice rough roads.I think 1 inch would be unpleasant on our terrible roads.
..with the .920's and Bilstiens you can actually push it a bit and i think the ride is great
on decent roads.If you are blessed with lots of new pavement 1" would probably be nice.
Click to expand...

It is a subjective subject. But I ran 1" bars on my small block Duster with bilsteins and it was still soft with tons of body roll even with crappy 225/60/15's.

I run 1.12" bars now with Helwig sway bars and Hotchkis shocks, with a small block, manual steering, no A/C, headers, aluminum intake, alumimum radiator, manual trans, etc. I drive it daily, the roads here suck, and I still wouldn't go with smaller bars. The ride is fine, very similar to newer sports/performance cars.

JoesEdge said:
Running 1.03" with a small block in a '74 Duster with Bilstein shocks. It rides well, but you'll definitely notice any holes or bumps in the road especially with low profile tires. You'll hit those obstacles and you'll hear the "BANG" permeate throughout the car, but that could be because I have the front suspension set too low. It does handle better though. I'm still dialing in the suspension.
Click to expand...

If you're getting a "bang" like that you need to find what's causing it and change it. That's not right, it's not a symptom of your torsion bars or shocks. You're probably bottoming out your suspension.
 
Last edited:
I got .890 bars. PO put them on. To me they are too soft. Cornering has way to soft pillow feel to it. I am going to be doing new shocks/swaybars/torsion bars and when I do I am going 1.03 bars at least. Maybe a little more.
 
I will be doing my whole front suspension. I am going with 1.03 with my slant and Viking warrior double adjustable for the shocks. This is a street DD
 
72bluNblu said:
If you're getting a "bang" like that you need to find what's causing it and change it. That's not right, it's not a symptom of your torsion bars or shocks. You're probably bottoming out your suspension.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that (bottoming out due to being too low) is possibly what it might be. I think the front is set low also I need new rear springs too. Those are next on my to-do list. Once I get the rear springs (which I should soon), I'll reset the front end and do an alignment again. I know it's lower than before my upgrade because I can't fit my jack underneath the car now. I'll fix it soon.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top