Benefit of Dynamic Strut Rod (and other Suspension Q’s)
Thank you for the excellent information. It sounds like no matter what I do, properly tuned adjustable strut rods are the way to go. I’ll also plan to install sway bars as well. However, I am a bit confused as to how they mount in the rear, is that something you can provide insight on?
I'll see if I can get some pictures of the rear sway bars. It does depend on if they're frame or axle mounted. Hellwig and Hotchkis are both axle mounted and need end link mounts added to the frame.
I use rubber bushings and factory upper and lower control arms with stock strut rods. MOOG makes heavy duty strut rod rubber bushings. I ran Poly bushings for decades and got tired of the noise and harshness. Went back to heavy duty rubber bushings everywhere, except the sway bar links, and love the feel. Check your lower ball joints for wear as well as your idler arm and tie rod ends, especially the outers. Look at the A Body high performance cars suspension. 6 leaf rear springs, .88 torsion bars, front sway bar, rarely do you need a rear bar on an A Body, and good shocks. If everything in the front suspension is good, that will put a smile on most drivers faces.
Moog does not currently make strut rod bushings for the 73-76 strut rods. They are out of stock everywhere. I have recently had my orders of the Moog K7068 strut rod bushings cancelled by Jegs, Amazon, Summit and Rock Auto. Regardless, you don't want to just add stiffer strut rod bushings in the original style. That's why I don't recommend poly strut rod bushings. The strut rod bushing deals with motion in two primary directions, up and down as the suspension travels, and forward and backward with braking and acceleration. Having a stiffer bushing for braking and acceleration is good, it would limit the LCA moving around. But, having a stiffer bushing for the up and down travel of the suspension is BAD. It will add binding at the ends of the range of suspension travel, and that's not what you want. The adjustable strut rods solve both of those issues- they constrain the front and back movement of the LCA and move freely up and down.
There is
nothing high performance about .88" torsion bars. A car with .88" torsion bars is still dramatically undersprung for handling purposes, even without wide front tires. I ran my Duster with 1" torsion bars, boring old monroe replacement shocks, and 225/60/15 tires. It was still undersprung in the front, with lots of front end dive and body roll. Now, the 1.12" torsion bars I run now would have been too stiff for the grip I was getting from the 225/60/15's, but work great with the 275/35/18's I have now. But even the 1" bars weren't enough for more performance minded handling with 225/60/15's, and those tires weren't anything extreme.
Poly bushings will not make noise if properly lubricated. If your poly bushings are making noise, you're not maintaining them properly. Period. There is no argument there, it's just the facts.
Properly maintained poly bushings do not make noise. If they're squeaking they're either dry, dirty, or worn out. Usually they're worn out because they dried up. The MUST be lubricated. I have also run them for decades, and mine have never made noise when I have taken care of them as they should be.
The rear sway bar thing is also BS. Whether or not your car needs a rear sway bar has almost nothing to do with it being an A-body and everything to do with how the suspension on the rest of the car is set up. Yeah, with .88" torsion bars a rear sway bar will rarely be necessary because the front of the car is undersprung. Adding a rear sway bar will make the rear of the car stiffer than the front and put you in oversteer. But it's not because the rear is too stiff, it's because the front is too soft. My Duster absolutely needs a rear sway bar to balance the suspension front and rear.
