WHY DO WE UPGRADE OUR SUSPENSION

Too often I see people purchasing parts without understanding why. I'll focus on most guys who want more modernized handling for the street, not all out Pro Touring or Drag guys. I'll give my take on each part. The Mopar Performance Chassis Manual touched on some interesting points which make a lot of sense even today. They claim the geometry of the front suspension was pretty good. This refers to camber curve, roll center and bumpsteer. They compromised miserably in the amount of tire, spring rate (roll couple). They elude to mild lowering of the ride height, but too much and the moment arm becomes very long inducing body roll.

UPPER CONTROL ARMS: The factory arms have limited caster and camber adjustment because bias pliƩs were the order of the day. With radials, increasing the adjustment range can be done to some degree by offset bushings. Tubular arms have more caster built in, so it can be an easier starting point for a modern alignment

LOWER CONTROL ARMS: Simply boxing the lower arm when a sway bar is used helps prevent twisting the arm. Its a great design, and the box plates work well.

LOWER CONTROL ARM BUSHINGS: The originals were good in the day. They are were designed to dampen the road and worked for mass production. They were cheap and didn't last long. Alignment shops loved Mopars. Upgrading to harder bushings creates precise movement of the lower arm. Since arms were designed to move up and down only, this can be viewed as an upgrade. Some get concerned about the arm sliding off the bushing. To prevent this, the T bar must be pushed all the way forward during installation. They usually stay put unless another force is acting on them.

STRUT RODS: The originals were long, to reduce arc and came with a soft bushing. Even Moog upgraded the bushing to have a tougher material and a larger footprint. This goes hand and hand with the lower arm. Today we have solid bushings to limit unwanted movement along with adjustable length help "dial" in the exact load on the lower arm during assembly. The technical term is brake reaction support which is its job. Keep the lower arms in line when braking forces are driving them backward.

ANTI SWAY BAR: Just about everyone knows what they do. Combined with the t bar rate, the resistance to twist have is called roll couple. The current bars are very beefy and should be matched with torsion bar rates and the width and type of tire.

SHOCKS: There are 2 types of shocks on the market, mono tube and twin tube. Generally, twin tubes are cheaper which makes them popular. Mono tubes are regarded as a higher quality design. Good shocks are matched to spring rate for proper damping of the suspension. Bigger t bar, more energy, more damping.

TORSION BARS: Back when Direct Connection was around they produced their own bars. Mopar recognized the need for more spring rate as cars modernized. Some type of upgrade is pretty much required at this point. How far you go really depends on the purpose of the car.

I hope some of these basics help people understand why they may need something. I don't want to get into reviewing other vendors products but happy to explain reasoning behind my offerings.