Riding low up front...need help

Wilson340 said
Hi all,

I have a 73' Duster 340. It recently started sitting low in the front left to a point where if I turn the wheel it catches the fender. Initially I thought it was a bad torsion bar but I can't find any issue with it. During that inspection I found my shocks were shot so I upgraded both to QA1 Drag "R" Series Stocker Star Shocks.

I tightened the Torsion Bar Bolt 3 turns on the left side. After, each wheel measured 2.5 inches from the top of the tire to the fender. Given that was plenty spacing I took her for a ride. When I got back it sagged on both sides to just about .5 inches between the tire and fender (a little to close for comfort).

I cant figure out how to keep it up at that 2-2.5 inches above the tire.
Do I just increase the shock stiffness or continue to increase the torsion bar bolt until it rides higher? Any help would be appreciated.

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So, a few things.

First, shocks don't control the ride height. Making the shocks stiffer won't raise the car.

Next, did you measure your 2" to 2.5" above the tire right after you let the car down onto the ground? Because the wheels have to roll before the suspension will settle down to ride height. You can jump up and down on the bumper to "bounce" or "jounce" or whatever you want to call it all you want, but when you roll the wheels the car will still settle a little more. If you measured the ride height you wanted before the wheels rolled, then what you need to do is add a few more turns to the torsion bar adjusters. It should sit a little higher than you want it when you first set it down, but the suspension will still settle once you roll the car.

Torsion bars do sag over time. Unlike a leaf or coil spring it's not really something you see, the bar looks the same but the ride height changes and you end up using the adjusters to raise the car back up. At some point you either need to buy new torsion bars, or send your current set out to be reconditioned.

And all of that assumes nothing is broken, like the torsion bar anchors breaking loose from the crossmember. Or the LCA bushings wearing out to the point that the LCA pin is flopping around in the mount.