Are these torsion bars gonna be too big for me?

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cam.man67

cam.man67

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I'm looking to upgrade my handling in my street-driven '68 Dart. Just looking to make it corner with a little less body roll, stiffen up the ride a bit. A while back I bought a set of 1.03" Hotchkis torsion bars...and I guess now I'm wondering if these are gonna be too stiff for my car, being a /6 and all. Thoughts?
 
A stabilizer bar would serve better than larger torsion bars in corners. Afterall torsion bars are the front springs. Are those springs too stiff for your liking ? I dont know fi we can answer that one.
 
WEll, I guess what I am asking, is, for a /6 car is a 1.03" bar gonna shake fillings loose over rough pavement? It is my DD, so I don;t want to sacrifice my ride too much, though I would like it to handle better. I'm wondering if maybe something in the .920 range would be better suited for my car, and if so, where can I get a more affordable set than the Hotchkis ones?
 
I'm running. 360 and the 1.09 bars....handles well considering no sway bar.
Also have sub frame connectors and a 6 point cage.
 
cam.man67 said:
I'm looking to upgrade my handling in my street-driven '68 Dart. Just looking to make it corner with a little less body roll, stiffen up the ride a bit. A while back I bought a set of 1.03" Hotchkis torsion bars...and I guess now I'm wondering if these are gonna be too stiff for my car, being a /6 and all. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
I did the same thing to mine and seemed thoses were too stiff. I'm going back to the one's just under 1.0.
 
cam.man67 said:
WEll, I guess what I am asking, is, for a /6 car is a 1.03" bar gonna shake fillings loose over rough pavement? It is my DD, so I don;t want to sacrifice my ride too much, though I would like it to handle better. I'm wondering if maybe something in the .920 range would be better suited for my car, and if so, where can I get a more affordable set than the Hotchkis ones?
Click to expand...
The .920 would be a smoother ride and still beef it up. Like I said, the ones over 1 inch ride real stiff. I have Bilsteins and sway bars. Super stiff seems to defeat the purpose of my Bilsteins.
 
Too stiff for a 6 cyl. A sway bar would be better. I think the 6's had .810 bars originally.
 
I think they'll be fine. It really depends on your own personal preference. I wouldn't run anything less then 1" on an A-body, but that's just me.

As far as what they came with from the factory, all Mopars from the era were drastically undersprung.

As far as the torsion bars improving cornering, they'll help A LOT. Body roll is largely dependent on the spring rates. True, a sway bar will help body roll without effecting your ride quality as much. But, its kinda like all the antacid commercials- a sway bar helps body roll after it starts. Larger torsion bars will prevent a lot of the body roll from ever happening in the first place.

A 1.03" bar should work out to be around 200 to 225 lb/in. A 1" bar should be between 190 and 200 lb/in, its really not a huge difference. And the rates do vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, that's why I listed ranges. I think I 1.03" is still a streetable bar, even in a /6 car.
 
One inch bar will give a modern feeling ride. I have 0.940” Firm Feel bars on my 67 rag top, six leaf springs out back with sub frame connectors, and car is softer sprung than my 07 300 C AWD.

Bolt on a front anti sway bar with a 1” plus set of bars, and your car will corner nice and flat. Also you may want to beef up the rear spring rate to better balance the new front spring rates, and install a set of sub frame connectors. You will be happy.
 
When running big torsion bars, it's all about the shocks.

1" bars with KYB's SUCK. Add pair of Bilsteins and it'll ride/handle more like a modern car.
 
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