64 Dart Suspension Upgrades

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chinze57

chinze57

Push Button tranny and a Slant 6 that'll never die
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Im looking at upgrading my suspension as much as possible in the next few months. My goal is to improve handling and comfort, as it’s a bit rough as-is with my worn suspension parts.

I found a kit that classic industries sells to convert my rear-end to coil overs from the stock leaf springs. I want to keep the ride height the same but I think that will bot only improve handling but give me a better ride all around over leaf springs. Does anyone have opinions about that?

As well, I see that a company called AJE makes a tubular k-member for the 62-66 A-bodies. I don’t know much about that brand, and am afraid it might not be worth the money.

I’d like to do coilovers all the way around, if possible, but I’m not sure what mods I’ll need to make to let that happen.

Edit: I’m considering the Hellwig sway bars as well. There’s a lot of body roll as it stands right now and it makes cornering tough. Everything is too soft

I figure if I do change over to tubular I-member, perhaps tubular control arms would be in order to improve strength over the stamped steel ones I have now.

As always, any thoughts, advice, etc. Are welcome. Thanks!
 
Look at US CarTool and stiffen up the chassis makes a big difference
 
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What is your intended use for the car?

And why do you want coilovers? The conversions cost a ton of money and don’t guarantee a better ride. For half the price of the conversions you can rebuild/replace all your old worn out parts with new, upgraded suspension components that will far outperform the factory stuff and require a lot less modification.
 
72bluNblu said:
What is your intended use for the car?

And why do you want coilovers? The conversions cost a ton of money and don’t guarantee a better ride. For half the price of the conversions you can rebuild/replace all your old worn out parts with new, upgraded suspension components that will far outperform the factory stuff and require a lot less modification.
Click to expand...

I daily drive the car and want to continue to do so. My goal isn’t to drag it or anything, but I’d like to get better handling out of it, and, if i decide later on to make performance upgrades, know that the suspension will be able to handle it.

Currently there’s a lot of nose dive and bump steering is intense.
 
I just put some basic upgrades to my 65 dart. PST torsion bars and bilsteins, boxed LCAs. Upgraded to kelsey Hayes brakes added stiff Afco rear leaf springs. 16:1 manual steering box and a front sway bar. I got an addco but should’ve gone Hellwig. My car drives so much better than it used to. That’s prob around 2k in parts. My Gerst tubulars front set up was 4700$ For my 69 dart so far lol.
 
Last edited:
So I upgraded the suspension on my '64 Dart to handle better, and this is what I have learned.

Do:
-Replace all the bushings, ball joints, and tie rod ends.
-Upgrade torsion bars to 1" bars
-KYB gas a just shocks if your cheap
-Bilstein shocks if your not cheap
-US car tool stage 2 chassis stiffening
-MP or Espo 6leaf rear springs
-Hellwig hollow sway bars front and back
-11.25" front disks
-dual pot master cylinder

Don't
-manual steering box 16:1 ratio
So this steering box does exactly what it's supposed to and does have a nice quick ratio. However, the ratio is not friendly for quick transition and greatly increase steering effort when the car has wide modern wheels and sticky tires. I'd suggest a firm feel quick ratio power box like a borgeson.

-Do not try to slam the car in search of increased handling. I did initially and had issues with bump steer and unloading the suspension in bumpy corners. Also it's hard to keep your pinion angle right and drive shaft from hitting the floor.

As you can see from the pics. I went higher and higher with mine over time. The car became significantly more enjoyable to drive.

For a true street car, suspension travel is key.

IMG_20180112_122234~3.jpg


MVIMG_20180221_151908~2.jpg


IMG_20190909_191703.jpg
 
Dartsun said:
I just put some basic upgrades to my 65 dart. PST torsion bars and bilsteins, boxed LCAs. Upgraded to kelsey Hayes brakes added stiff Afco rear leaf springs. 16:1 manual steering box and a front sway bar. I got an addco but should’ve gone Hellwig. My car drives so much better than it used to. That’s prob around 2k in parts. My Gerst tubulars front set up was 4700$ For my 69 dart so far lol.
Click to expand...

Exactly. A set of 1.03" torsion bars, new bushings, a good set of shocks and decent rear springs will make a HUGE difference. Add some sway bars and decent tires and you've got a great handling car. And depending on how crazy you go with those parts you can do it for half of what just the front coilover conversion will cost.

vntned said:
So I upgraded the suspension on my '64 Dart to handle better, and this is what I have learned.

Do:
-Replace all the bushings, ball joints, and tie rod ends.
-Upgrade torsion bars to 1" bars
-KYB gas a just shocks if your cheap
-Bilstein shocks if your not cheap
-US car tool stage 2 chassis stiffening
-MP or Espo 6leaf rear springs
-Hellwig hollow sway bars front and back
-11.25" front disks
-dual pot master cylinder

Don't
-manual steering box 16:1 ratio
So this steering box does exactly what it's supposed to and does have a nice quick ratio. However, the ratio is not friendly for quick transition and greatly increase steering effort when the car has wide modern wheels and sticky tires. I'd suggest a firm feel quick ratio power box like a borgeson.

-Do not try to slam the car in search of increased handling. I did initially and had issues with bump steer and unloading the suspension in bumpy corners. Also it's hard to keep your pinion angle right and drive shaft from hitting the floor.

As you can see from the pics. I went higher and higher with mine over time. The car became significantly more enjoyable to drive.

For a true street car, suspension travel is key.

View attachment 1715533041

View attachment 1715533043

View attachment 1715533045
Click to expand...

Pretty much agree with everything here except for the 16:1 manual box and KYB's.

I run a 16:1 manual box with 275/35/18's up front with +6.5° caster on my Duster, which is my daily driver. The slow speed steering effort is obviously pretty significant and it's definitely not my favorite car to parallel park, but at anything faster than 20 mph or so it's great IMO. But that's definitely a personal preference, I wouldn't recommend 16:1 manual steering for everyone. And a Borgeson would be great regardless, no argument there. They're just expensive is all.

KYB's are trash. With undersized torsion bars it's harder to notice, but with anything over 1" they're just awful. I ran them for YEARS on my Challenger, and I attributed the stiff ride to the 1.12" torsion bars I ran on that car, just part of the deal right? Wrong. I put a set of Bilsteins on there and not only did the car handle better, but it didn't rattle my eyeballs loose either. The only change was the shocks. People underestimate how important a good set of shocks can be. The Bilstein RCD's are a great shock. The Hotchkis Fox's are even better, but I think that's more noticeable with the really large torsion bars, say 1.06" or larger.

Ride height is definitely important for handling as well. But yes, "slammed" can be just as bad or worse than having the car too high. The best suspension geometry for radial tires with the torsion bar suspension is between about 1" and 2" lower than stock, basically so the control arms are parallel to the ground. It does depend on your torsion bars though, you can lose some suspension travel lowering the car so you have to run larger torsion bars to reduce the amount of travel that's needed. And make changes to the bump stops, using a shorter lower bump stop and a taller upper bump stop helps to re-center the range of travel around the new lowered height. Tire height has an effect too, especially for a daily driver. Anything that hangs down closer than about 3.5" to 4" off the ground makes life difficult on a daily, speed bumps and parking lot to street transitions get to be a real pain in the ***. I had a similar experience with my Challenger. At one point I had it down so that my header flanges were a little less than 3.5" off the ground. The more I drove it the more I realized that was too low for what I was doing with the car, I raised it up so it was a little less than 4" to the flanges from the ground and the difference was very noticeable. Still quite a bit lower than stock, but way easier to deal with.
 
72bluNblu said:
Exactly. A set of 1.03" torsion bars, new bushings, a good set of shocks and decent rear springs will make a HUGE difference. Add some sway bars and decent tires and you've got a great handling car. And depending on how crazy you go with those parts you can do it for half of what just the front coilover conversion will cost.



Pretty much agree with everything here except for the 16:1 manual box and KYB's.

I run a 16:1 manual box with 275/35/18's up front with +6.5° caster on my Duster, which is my daily driver. The slow speed steering effort is obviously pretty significant and it's definitely not my favorite car to parallel park, but at anything faster than 20 mph or so it's great IMO. But that's definitely a personal preference, I wouldn't recommend 16:1 manual steering for everyone. And a Borgeson would be great regardless, no argument there. They're just expensive is all.

KYB's are trash. With undersized torsion bars it's harder to notice, but with anything over 1" they're just awful. I ran them for YEARS on my Challenger, and I attributed the stiff ride to the 1.12" torsion bars I ran on that car, just part of the deal right? Wrong. I put a set of Bilsteins on there and not only did the car handle better, but it didn't rattle my eyeballs loose either. The only change was the shocks. People underestimate how important a good set of shocks can be. The Bilstein RCD's are a great shock. The Hotchkis Fox's are even better, but I think that's more noticeable with the really large torsion bars, say 1.06" or larger.

Ride height is definitely important for handling as well. But yes, "slammed" can be just as bad or worse than having the car too high. The best suspension geometry for radial tires with the torsion bar suspension is between about 1" and 2" lower than stock, basically so the control arms are parallel to the ground. It does depend on your torsion bars though, you can lose some suspension travel lowering the car so you have to run larger torsion bars to reduce the amount of travel that's needed. And make changes to the bump stops, using a shorter lower bump stop and a taller upper bump stop helps to re-center the range of travel around the new lowered height. Tire height has an effect too, especially for a daily driver. Anything that hangs down closer than about 3.5" to 4" off the ground makes life difficult on a daily, speed bumps and parking lot to street transitions get to be a real pain in the ***. I had a similar experience with my Challenger. At one point I had it down so that my header flanges were a little less than 3.5" off the ground. The more I drove it the more I realized that was too low for what I was doing with the car, I raised it up so it was a little less than 4" to the flanges from the ground and the difference was very noticeable. Still quite a bit lower than stock, but way easier to deal with.
Click to expand...
vntned said:
So I upgraded the suspension on my '64 Dart to handle better, and this is what I have learned.

Do:
-Replace all the bushings, ball joints, and tie rod ends.
-Upgrade torsion bars to 1" bars
-KYB gas a just shocks if your cheap
-Bilstein shocks if your not cheap
-US car tool stage 2 chassis stiffening
-MP or Espo 6leaf rear springs
-Hellwig hollow sway bars front and back
-11.25" front disks
-dual pot master cylinder

Don't
-manual steering box 16:1 ratio
So this steering box does exactly what it's supposed to and does have a nice quick ratio. However, the ratio is not friendly for quick transition and greatly increase steering effort when the car has wide modern wheels and sticky tires. I'd suggest a firm feel quick ratio power box like a borgeson.

-Do not try to slam the car in search of increased handling. I did initially and had issues with bump steer and unloading the suspension in bumpy corners. Also it's hard to keep your pinion angle right and drive shaft from hitting the floor.

As you can see from the pics. I went higher and higher with mine over time. The car became significantly more enjoyable to drive.

For a true street car, suspension travel is key.

View attachment 1715533041

View attachment 1715533043

View attachment 1715533045
Click to expand...


Thank you for all of that detail y'all. That's good information.

I think I'll start with upgrading all of my shocks to bilstein and see how that feels. Currently on poorly maintained roads, I just can't do it. I avoid a shortcut to work because there's just so much rattle that's happening.

After that I'll replace my torsion bar with something like 1" or 1.06" and add in a front hellwig sway bar.

I'm considering the level 1 or level 2 chassis stiffening. I dont want to go overboard on a street car, to where it's not comfortable to drive, just want it to be more solid and deliver a little more of the power to the wheels.

My rear leaf springs right now I believe are 4 leaf, as that's what the manual lists as standard, but maybe 6 leafs and new bushings will be the way to go.

I like the idea of adding coilovers, and I know they're supposed to improve handling, but at nearly 2000 dollars for just the rear wheels, im not sure how worth it that is, given that I can replace my leaf springs for a few hundred bucks and an afternoon.

My questions then become, should I even look at adding a rear sway bar? Im not sure it would add enough, but perhaps ill be able to answer that once i've got everything else changed out. Is a tubular k-member more trouble than it's worth for a daily driver street car?

I've got front disc brakes that are sub par, and my rear drum brakes have so little power. I know wilwood makes a disc brake set for the early a bodies for both front, and rear parking brakes, that might be worthwhile.
 
chinze57 said:
Thank you for all of that detail y'all. That's good information.

I think I'll start with upgrading all of my shocks to bilstein and see how that feels. Currently on poorly maintained roads, I just can't do it. I avoid a shortcut to work because there's just so much rattle that's happening.

After that I'll replace my torsion bar with something like 1" or 1.06" and add in a front hellwig sway bar.

I'm considering the level 1 or level 2 chassis stiffening. I dont want to go overboard on a street car, to where it's not comfortable to drive, just want it to be more solid and deliver a little more of the power to the wheels.

My rear leaf springs right now I believe are 4 leaf, as that's what the manual lists as standard, but maybe 6 leafs and new bushings will be the way to go.

I like the idea of adding coilovers, and I know they're supposed to improve handling, but at nearly 2000 dollars for just the rear wheels, im not sure how worth it that is, given that I can replace my leaf springs for a few hundred bucks and an afternoon.

My questions then become, should I even look at adding a rear sway bar? Im not sure it would add enough, but perhaps ill be able to answer that once i've got everything else changed out. Is a tubular k-member more trouble than it's worth for a daily driver street car?

I've got front disc brakes that are sub par, and my rear drum brakes have so little power. I know wilwood makes a disc brake set for the early a bodies for both front, and rear parking brakes, that might be worthwhile.
Click to expand...

Rattling can be a symptom of many different issues. Worn out bushings, damaged suspension components, bottoming out the suspension on the bump stops (which happens a lot with the stock torsion bars, especially if the car is lower than stock). And of course just being an old uni-body with no reinforcement.

A set of torque boxes and subframe connectors will make a big difference. There's more out there that you can add, but that's a great start and those two by themselves probably make the biggest difference.

Coil-overs do not improve handling in and of themselves. That's a myth. There's nothing magical about them, they're just springs and shocks. Just like a torsion bar and a shock is a spring and a shock. People say they improved their handling because usually they're replacing old worn out factory torsion bar suspensions, they're not comparing their brand new coil-overs against a brand new rebuilt torsion bar suspension with modern components. If anything, the fact that these cars were not designed with coil-overs in mind places geometry and travel limitations on the coil over conversions that don't happen with the torsion bars.

A rear sway bar being needed depends on the rest of your suspension set up. From the factory the front suspension was more undersprung than the rear, so rear bars weren't really a benefit, they tended to make the car oversteer. However, if you upgrade your front suspension, you may find a rear sway bar comes in handy in keeping the suspension balanced.

Not sure what disk brakes you're running now, but Wilwood is just overpriced eye-candy. Their 3" hub diameter limits your wheel choices substantially, and they're far more expensive than kits that perform just as well. For a street car I'd rather have a more factory style kit with easy to find parts.
 
72bluNblu said:
Rattling can be a symptom of many different issues. Worn out bushings, damaged suspension components, bottoming out the suspension on the bump stops (which happens a lot with the stock torsion bars, especially if the car is lower than stock). And of course just being an old uni-body with no reinforcement.

A set of torque boxes and subframe connectors will make a big difference. There's more out there that you can add, but that's a great start and those two by themselves probably make the biggest difference.

Coil-overs do not improve handling in and of themselves. That's a myth. There's nothing magical about them, they're just springs and shocks. Just like a torsion bar and a shock is a spring and a shock. People say they improved their handling because usually they're replacing old worn out factory torsion bar suspensions, they're not comparing their brand new coil-overs against a brand new rebuilt torsion bar suspension with modern components. If anything, the fact that these cars were not designed with coil-overs in mind places geometry and travel limitations on the coil over conversions that don't happen with the torsion bars.

A rear sway bar being needed depends on the rest of your suspension set up. From the factory the front suspension was more undersprung than the rear, so rear bars weren't really a benefit, they tended to make the car oversteer. However, if you upgrade your front suspension, you may find a rear sway bar comes in handy in keeping the suspension balanced.

Not sure what disk brakes you're running now, but Wilwood is just overpriced eye-candy. Their 3" hub diameter limits your wheel choices substantially, and they're far more expensive than kits that perform just as well. For a street car I'd rather have a more factory style kit with easy to find parts.
Click to expand...

Wilwood sure is overpriced, and it sure is eye-candy, but boy do they look good. I'll keep searching for the right brakes to use, as I'm looking to convert my rear drums to disk.

You're right about the coilovers. I'm still new to cars, so I'm finding it hard to get good, reliable information about important components to upgrade and change. I'm going to stick with just changing out my shocks and torsion bars first, then look at other components and potentially replacing all of my bushings.

I'll do torque boxes and subframe connectors to start, as well as a front sway bar.

Does this look like the right shocks? Their website said they didnt have anything compatible with my dart, but i know that cant be true.
 
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vntned said:
So I upgraded the suspension on my '64 Dart to handle better, and this is what I have learned.

Do:
-Replace all the bushings, ball joints, and tie rod ends.
-Upgrade torsion bars to 1" bars
-KYB gas a just shocks if your cheap
-Bilstein shocks if your not cheap
-US car tool stage 2 chassis stiffening
-MP or Espo 6leaf rear springs
-Hellwig hollow sway bars front and back
-11.25" front disks
-dual pot master cylinder

Don't
-manual steering box 16:1 ratio
So this steering box does exactly what it's supposed to and does have a nice quick ratio. However, the ratio is not friendly for quick transition and greatly increase steering effort when the car has wide modern wheels and sticky tires. I'd suggest a firm feel quick ratio power box like a borgeson.

-Do not try to slam the car in search of increased handling. I did initially and had issues with bump steer and unloading the suspension in bumpy corners. Also it's hard to keep your pinion angle right and drive shaft from hitting the floor.

As you can see from the pics. I went higher and higher with mine over time. The car became significantly more enjoyable to drive.

For a true street car, suspension travel is key.

View attachment 1715533041

View attachment 1715533043

View attachment 1715533045
Click to expand...

I'm seeing these as the Espo springs. Can I ask how high your final photo is and how that relates to the stock ride height? Just so I can get an idea of what I'm shooting for. Thanks! These seem nice, and are less than half the price I was seeing for springs from classic industries, which is a relief.
 
Springs N things is good for leafs. I’d get a gold membership here (gold members get 10% off PST) or wait for a sale from PST they have the bilsteins on there and get 10% off. PST prob have a sale this weekend.
 
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As it sits currently. Front has 2" drop spindles with the 1.06" tbars turned back up. Front tire is a 185/65R15. Rear suspension is stock Mopar xhd springs and the tire is a 245/60R15".

IMG_20200522_154433.jpg


IMG_20200522_154409.jpg


IMG_20200522_152551.jpg


IMG_20200522_152538.jpg
 
vntned said:
As it sits currently. Front has 2" drop spindles with the 1.06" tbars turned back up. Front tire is a 185/65R15. Rear suspension is stock Mopar xhd springs and the tire is a 245/60R15".

View attachment 1715533109

View attachment 1715533110

View attachment 1715533111

View attachment 1715533112
Click to expand...

Great info. I’ve got 15” rims as well (a previous owner installed the 15” MoPar rallye wheels) but P195/75R14 tires. So it would seem my tires aren’t the right size for my wheels.

Currently my ride height is at 22” in the rear on one side and 19” on the other, so I’ll keep it stock but I’ll definitely be replacing those leaf springs soon to correct that droop.
 
Dartsun said:
Springs N things is good for leafs. I’d get a gold membership here (gold members get 10% off PST) or wait for a sale from PST they have the bilsteins on there and get 10% off. PST prob have a sale this weekend.
Click to expand...

Thank you! I found this kit from PST for Bilstein shocks. Seems good. I’ll order it in the next few weeks as I sus out everything I plan to get. I think that plus leaf springs to start and then adding torque boxes and such should get me a healthy suspension upgrade for around $1k.

Edit: Links are not my friend
 
72bluNblu said:
Rattling can be a symptom of many different issues. Worn out bushings, damaged suspension components, bottoming out the suspension on the bump stops (which happens a lot with the stock torsion bars, especially if the car is lower than stock). And of course just being an old uni-body with no reinforcement.

A set of torque boxes and subframe connectors will make a big difference. There's more out there that you can add, but that's a great start and those two by themselves probably make the biggest difference.

Coil-overs do not improve handling in and of themselves. That's a myth. There's nothing magical about them, they're just springs and shocks. Just like a torsion bar and a shock is a spring and a shock. People say they improved their handling because usually they're replacing old worn out factory torsion bar suspensions, they're not comparing their brand new coil-overs against a brand new rebuilt torsion bar suspension with modern components. If anything, the fact that these cars were not designed with coil-overs in mind places geometry and travel limitations on the coil over conversions that don't happen with the torsion bars.

A rear sway bar being needed depends on the rest of your suspension set up. From the factory the front suspension was more undersprung than the rear, so rear bars weren't really a benefit, they tended to make the car oversteer. However, if you upgrade your front suspension, you may find a rear sway bar comes in handy in keeping the suspension balanced.

Not sure what disk brakes you're running now, but Wilwood is just overpriced eye-candy. Their 3" hub diameter limits your wheel choices substantially, and they're far more expensive than kits that perform just as well. For a street car I'd rather have a more factory style kit with easy to find parts.
Click to expand...

Went through and created a list with links and prices of everything I plan to get. Adds up to around $1,900. All told- that’s a lot better than what I was expecting to spend, it’s roughly equivalent to just converting the rear springs to coilovers.

Of course, I’ll be buying in stages, starting with new rear springs and a full set of shocks, because I have other things to get done simultaneously (replace and repair interior floor pans, sound deaden, and do a complete rewire)

Thank you all for the information. It has been incredibly informative, and I’m looking forward to getting this done. This should get it handling much better and it’ll get more power actually being directed to the wheel and ground out of my setup.
 
Mine is not far off daily driver status, handles nicely without being too bumpy... This is what I did, and won't cost you an arm and a leg:
FRONT: I replaced all the usual stuff (ball joints, tie rod ends, control arm bushes, rubbers) with good brand parts. Koni "Special D" shock absorbers, VG Valiant sway bar (required a minor modification to lower control arms. At the same time fitted (Australian) VG Valiant disc brakes and tandem master cylinder.
REAR: Replaced spring shackle bushes (nolathane), Koni "Special D" shock absorbers.

D_0043.JPG
D_0059.JPG
 
If you have worn suspension parts now, replacing the entire suspension with something else is a very BIG move. The stock suspension under these cars is pretty dang good when in good condition. What are your intentions for the car? Just a fun street car? The stock suspension maybe lowered a little will suffice for that.
 
Sounds like you're on the right track following the suggestions that have been made. Be sure to do the subframe connectors as those made the most noticable improvement in my cars. 1"+ torsion bars, heavier rear springs and all new suspension bushings (including the offset upper A arm bushings to get some decent caster) certainly helped mine but the subframe connectors made the cars feel like I was driving entirely different and improved cars. New quality shock absorbers, torque boxes, lower control arm stiffening plates and sway bars are a notable improvement too.
 
RustyRatRod said:
If you have worn suspension parts now, replacing the entire suspension with something else is a very BIG move. The stock suspension under these cars is pretty dang good when in good condition. What are your intentions for the car? Just a fun street car? The stock suspension maybe lowered a little will suffice for that.
Click to expand...

I intend to try and get it handling a little better, while still being a fun daily driver. I have no intention of doing lots of performance mods to the engine, but if I can get my suspension to handle the power it puts out a little better, then I’ll do that.
 
grimreaper said:
Sounds like you're on the right track following the suggestions that have been made. Be sure to do the subframe connectors as those made the most noticable improvement in my cars. 1"+ torsion bars, heavier rear springs and all new suspension bushings (including the offset upper A arm bushings to get some decent caster) certainly helped mine but the subframe connectors made the cars feel like I was driving entirely different and improved cars. New quality shock absorbers, torque boxes, lower control arm stiffening plates and sway bars are a notable improvement too.
Click to expand...

I think all of the recommendations have been great. They make a lot more sense than what I was considering. My passenger side rear leaf spring is sagging so the springs will be the first to be replaced, followed shortly by shocks. Then I’ll just slowly but surely get thicker torsion bars and chassis stiffening and a sway bar as I work on my other projects on this car
 
chinze57 said:
I intend to try and get it handling a little better, while still being a fun daily driver. I have no intention of doing lots of performance mods to the engine, but if I can get my suspension to handle the power it puts out a little better, then I’ll do that.
Click to expand...

I understand. A lot of guys either have forgotten or just don't know that the Valiants of 1960 won a then new compact car NASCAR series. They didn't just win. They placed in the first seven spots. All of that was done with stock or near stock suspensions, because they didn't have all the fancy stuff we have today. So be careful shopping around at what's called an "upgrade".
 
RustyRatRod said:
I understand. A lot of guys either have forgotten or just don't know that the Valiants of 1960 won a then new compact car NASCAR series. They didn't just win. They placed in the first seven spots. All of that was done with stock or near stock suspensions, because they didn't have all the fancy stuff we have today. So be careful shopping around at what's called an "upgrade".
Click to expand...

the Green Brick 69 Valiant out performed many high dollar sports cars in the one lap of America race with some well thought out simple upgrades
 
dodgedifferent2 said:
Ok I found my magazine from mopar action with the following information now in checklist form

  • 73-76 stock a body pieces
  • Tension strut rod bushings changed to urethane
  • Moog k7103 problem solver upper control arm bushings
  • Gusset upper control arm mount from bracket to rail
  • Weld heavy washer to k member around nose of lower control arm stud tube
  • Frame connectors
  • Gusset upper control arm/shock tower bracket to fender apron
  • Gusset steering box mounting bracket to k member
  • 74 and up C body tie rods 11/16 bolt in
  • Urethane sway bar frame bushings
  • Box lower control arm
  • 920 torsion bars
  • 1 inch sway bar
  • Koni shocks on full firm
  • 16:1 manual steering box (firm feel)
  • Eliminate bump steer in the chassis book
Alignment specs from the green brick 1.5 degrees negative camber
2.5 positive caster
1/16 to 3/32 toe in

Rear end
  • De arched ss springs
  • Koni shocks and rancho kicker shocks from offroad dodge pickups which controls wheel hop
Brakes
  • 76 up 11.75 x 1" rotors
  • 73 up drum brake steering knuckles for large wheel bearings
  • 73 up big ball joint upper control arms
  • Viper caliper from 92 -02
  • AR engineering adapters
  • 10" x 2.5 drums on rear.
Tires were his number one improvement
  • Light weight aluminum 15 x 8 rims
  • Tires temp rating of A
  • Traction rating AA or A
  • No m&s, all season or plus 4 tires
  • Treadwear rating the lower the better. Under 100 is a weekend warrior. 100 to 240 good compromise for daily street corner carving. Over 250 soccer mom's minivan or grandmas car.
  • Wider tire equals more rubber on road. 225 fits good on dart 40-45 and 15 inch. 225/40/15
Engine is a highly tweaked 340 with w2 heads and I would have to dig deeper for the engine build.
Click to expand...
 
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