Another Torsion Bar question:

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eestatic

eestatic

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Are there any/what differences in Torsion bars on a '74 Dart with a 318 and a '65 Barracuda with a 273...?

Thanks Fabo!
 
The earlier car MAY have a thinner bar, but I doubt it. Small block V8 cars got the same bar size. 340's got a bigger bar.
The difference MAY be in the year of the car, but, I doubt it.

I'm just not 100% on it.
 
65 Barracuda v-8 had .85" diameter bars

73 Valiant 318 had .85" diameter bars standard, but .87" with A/C....

Per the 65 Plymouth and 73 Dodge service manuals...

But the length is the same and they are all interchangeable...
 
rumblefish360 said:
BAMM! Thanks Carl.
Click to expand...

I was surprised to see that they added an extra .02" diameter with A/C in the later years when I looked it up...

You were right that the base v-8's got the same diameter bar...
 
Both are factory AC cars. I measured the '74 Dart & thought it was ~7/8"...will verify once thoroughness of cleaning is verified.

What is the effect of putting a .87 bar in a car that has a .85 bar in it?
 
I am guessing here though I don't see what amount of ride quality increase there is, but...

A thicker bar is stiffer, less up and down movement. So, the "I guess" comes in here... I guess it is due to the added weight of the A/C system, the ever so slightly thicker bars being back what the company wanted. A very certain level of stiffness.

What is your goal?
 
eestatic said:
Both are factory AC cars. I measured the '74 Dart & thought it was ~7/8"...will verify once thoroughness of cleaning is verified.

What is the effect of putting a .87 bar in a car that has a .85 bar in it?
Click to expand...

slim to none in my opinion. both at too small for a good street car in my opinion
 
Well, I'm lining up thoughts and parts on my upcoming disc brake swap...and on a "practice" dry run on the 74 Dart parts car, I used a homemade torsion bar removal tool to ascertain to difficulty of removing T bars.

Then I got to thinking (if ok on fitment), I would clean/paint those T bars & install the demon boots that everyone seems fond of to increase efficiency of this task.

The 65 Barracuda T bars has had gravity working on them for 9 more years, just thinkin'...
 
OK, sooooooo, are we building a drag car-ish thing or a Pro Touring-ish ride or just upgrading over OE parts?
 
rumblefish360 said:
OK, sooooooo, are we building a drag car-ish thing or a Pro Touring-ish ride or just upgrading over OE parts?
Click to expand...


97.6 % just evening/morning tool around town & make some tire smoke and racket on the Occasion..upgrade/enhance the OE stuff..
 
Adding a sway bar will make a greater difference is how the car drives than the torsion bar increase. Good shocks will also have a greater impact, but the bigger bars are still an improvement, but bigger IS better. How much of your money do you want us to spend?
 
Jim Lusk said:
Adding a sway bar will make a greater difference is how the car drives than the torsion bar increase. Good shocks will also have a greater impact, but the bigger bars are still an improvement, but bigger IS better. How much of your money do you want us to spend?
Click to expand...
 
The bars are numbered on the ends, look at 'em, it's that simple. 892R & 893L and you've got .870 units, 890R & 891L and they're .850 jobs. Rust and miles driven would be
more of a deciding factor than years condition-wise. I'm with abodyjoe, unless you're tite on cash, new .920 units are great all around street use.....and new. As Jim Lusk said,
you will gain a lot of cornering manners from a frt. stab. bar, and quality shocks are a must!
 
The bars were spiffy clean & car had ~80 kmiles...I 'm gonna see how it feels with the new front end & then assess larger bars when I pursue the stabilizer bar set up.

Thanks all!!
 
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