Adjustable strut rods - durability for street use
Haha calm down guys, I would rather not have this thread deleted before I can read the replies and learn something. It's OK to disagree and I will take on all information for and against these parts into consideration to help me make up my mind.
If you want to improve the suspension . The proper way to is to buy a complete fabricated suspension. eliminate the steering box and the t-bars.
This is not in my budget for this car, these aftermarket kits are very expensive to purchase over here in Australia and it gets a lot more involved than just a regular front end re-build.
Our registration laws are also fairly strict with regards to these types of modifications so they would want engineering reports, weld x-rays and such when I take the car in for inspection (more $$$). My daily is 2022 Kia Stinger GT so i will use that for when I want to do twisty mountain roads at high speed. For the valiant I just want to improve on what is there.
I have a set of bilstein shocks, MP 0.94" torsion bars, 27mm sway bar, roller bearing idler arm, variable ratio steering box, braced LCAs and bigger brakes to go on it. One of my STD struts has a bit of a bend in it and it's getting hard to find the rubber bushes now that's why I was looking at these vs stock replacement struts.
Have you or someone you know had a bad experience with these?
Not directly answering your question, but before you invest in adjustable strut rods, be honest with yourself about your front end shop's abilities- most have no clue how to adjust a Chrysler t-bar suspension to begin with, and once you throw adjustable strut rods into the mix, they're totally lost. You're throwing another step into a process that they already don't understand.
So, unless you do your own alignments or have total faith in your shop, you may not get the full benefit from your investment.
Yeah shop's that can do a propper alignment on these are few and far between. I have a shop semi-local to me that do a good job - couple of older guys that did their apprenticeship when these cars were still fairly new, so they are familiar with them. I'm not intending to use the adjustable struts as an alignment tool, more to free up movement in the front end (and replace my bent strut). I would like to have a go at doing my own alignments and have some good threads on here bookmarked to read through some more.
You’ll need a race based alignment shop or one that does custom work. Or be willing to do it yourself. At the very least you should be willing to become familiar with how to do the install and tuning, because you will need to be knowledgeable about the process to make sure it was done properly.
They’re like any high performance aftermarket part- they can improve the performance and function of your car when used properly, but if they’re not used properly they can create issues.
Not adverse to installing and setting them up myself - I would imagine one would start at the same length as the stock strut then adjust as necessary to keep the LCA perpendicular to the frame rail and be able to travel between the bumpstops without any binding?
Would the torsion bars need to be in place to help locate the LCA or is it done with just the spindle & upper/lower arms installed?
Did you notice a much harsher ride after installing them?
Any more feedback welcome.
Cheers,