Strange torsion bar issue on my 1965 barracuda. Please Help.
Great answers!!!! I reached out to Bergman Auto Craft they recommended 1.08 torsion bars, Bilstein shocks Dynamic strut rods and offset upper control arm bushings to increase camber. I am concerned about 1.08 dia torsion bars being too stiff.
Any thoougts?
Who else sells torsion bars for the 65 cuda
Torsion bars for a '65 Barracuda are the same as all A-body torsion bars. Besides BergmanAutoCraft, you can also get torsion bars from PST, Firm Feel, Sway Away and even some Mopar Performance bars are still sold at places like Summit.
As for the 1.08's being too stiff, if you run them with Bilstein shocks they shouldn't be. It really depends on what you're after. These cars came with wheel rates around 100 lb/in, which is ridiculously soft by any modern standard. Most modern cars have wheel rates around 200 lb/in, and those are just basic commute cars not sports handling stuff. I honestly wouldn't run anything smaller than 1" on these cars, even for just a basic cruiser. I actually had 1" bars on my Duster for awhile, with just plain old replacement shocks from Monroe and 225/60/15's all the way around. And even with that set up the car was quite soft.
The factory bars are so soft that ride quality is actually compromised, even near the stock ride height the suspension will bottom out quite frequently. The bump stops are progressive, so it's not always noticeable, but every time your get into the bump stops the effective wheel rate changes dramatically.
PST is a site sponsor, and they sell 1.03" bars which are pretty popular. I've been running 1.12" bars on my Duster for years and tens of thousands of street miles, I don't think they're too stiff. Much more along the lines of how modern sports/muscle cars are set up. But those are probably "too stiff" for what most people want on these cars.
