Huh. I'm with Marshalearp on this one. No argument here at all, just one of the more informed discussions on suspension systems and design on this board, with guys that have actually built suspensions commenting on both sides.
As far as mopar stuff being sacred, it really isn't. Yes, I'm a proponent of the "original" torsion bar suspension, but only because it really does have a few advantages over a coil-over conversion. And I say "original" because there isn't a single OE part in my torsion bar suspension other than the spindles. Not to say that coil-over conversions don't have advantages too, they do. And in some cases I think the coilover conversion really is the way to go, it just depends on what your plans are. And I've said as much more than once. It just seems like most people are of the mistaken opinion that the original torsion bar system is somehow inferior because it's an OE system (so is the MII coilover design that everyone uses), or because they really don't understand how it works (they're just springs people).
Were they truly inferior, I wouldn't run torsion bars. Pretty much nothing on else on my car is stock, so why would I bother? I'm the last guy to say that OE is sacred, just take a look at the build thread on my Duster, aka Demon tribute. You know, the one with the '68 340, 4 speed conversion, B body 8 3/4, 13" brakes, 18" wheels, etc, etc. Or look at the Hotchkis Duster build. They could have custom built their own suspension if they thought they couldn't compete with the torsion bars. And that car is intended to compete, not just have fun on the weekend. I seriously doubt they'd be building a car to run Pikes Peak and spending skads of money if they really thought the torsion bars would be a major handicap.
As for all the "saving people from coilovers" comments, that's not at all my intent. If every Mopar owner on the face of the planet wanted to spend $5k on a suspension system they don't really need, more power to them, and I'd send them all to Denny because he's awesome. All I'm doing is trying to tell some folks that have obviously fallen for the advertising, magazine and TV show builds, that there's really nothing inherently wrong with a torsion bar suspension. Torsion bar suspensions are capable of handling just as well, and running just as fast, as any of the coil over conversions out there when properly tuned. And sure, properly tuning a torsion bar set up takes more work. But since members on this board, and in this very thread, have posted faster times with their torsion bar set ups than $150k full chassis-cars with coilovers, I don't see how my opinion is based on "nostalgia", or some kind of OE mopar worship. The fact is that I'm 35, so I was born AFTER all of these cars were on the road. I didn't grow up driving them or even riding around in them. I didn't even start my car hobby working on muscle car era Mopars. My intent is only to help folks understand that there's nothing wrong with torsion bars, your car can be fast and competitive with them, and you'll probably spend less money keeping the original design (but not the original parts ;) )
