Best next suspension upgrade?

[MopaR&D]

Since I got my '70 Duster back in 2007 my plan has been to build it into a pro-touring-esque road racing machine. When I swapped in a built 360 I pulled the whole front end and put in 1" T-bars as replacement, huge difference from the stock 318 bars obviously. I also added leaves to the rear springs but the rear sits a bit too high now, I know that needs to be fixed but I can't lower it until I get smaller tires or they rub the fenders. So for now I'm looking at a few options; A) buy a set of double-adjustable ViKing shocks (decided for sure I'm not going with non-adjustable ones a la Bilsteins, Hotchkis etc.), B) get a pair of QA1 tubular upper control arms and/or adjustable strut rods, or C) Hellwig sway bars front and rear.

I'm leaning towards the shocks because the ones on it now don't really seem to do anything but they are $10 Monroes after all. But I have an annoying "clunk" sound coming from the front end when I brake or steer sometimes (usually when changing from forward to reverse or vice-versa) even after pulling apart the front suspension multiple times and I think the strut rods are too long (I put in Poly LCA bushings and over time the bushings slid back slightly on the pins). The sway bars I want because the car has NONE and sharp cornering at high speed makes lots of body roll.

 

[72bluNblu]

You need to figure out what's wrong before you start throwing parts at it. If the LCA's moved on the pins, either something is wrong with the LCA bushing installation, or the strut rods are in fact too long. Have you had the alignment checked recently? Did you check the LCA pivot pin mounts in the K frame when you installed the new bushings in the LCA's?

If something is wrong there, your next purchase should either be delrin LCA bushings, adjustable strut rods, welding up the LCA pivot mounts, or maybe even all of the above. But only after determining which one is the culprit.

As for the rest of your wish list, I'll say this. You can't get the right length shocks until you lower the car. The shocks that will fit your car right now might not fit when you lower it, because it appears your car is sitting fairly high. And if you're lowering for a pro-touring style car, (ie, low)you will probably need shorter shocks than standard. So, don't buy fancy expensive shocks until you lower the car. Which in your case means you should look for rims with the right specs first.

Sway bars are easy. They will fit the car now, they will fit the car later. Some end link adjustment will probably be necessary when you lower the car, but otherwise not much changes. So, you can add sway bars anytime. But I would recommend finding and fixing your front end issues first, because I assume you're not on an unlimited budget.

 

[MopaR&D]

The alignment was done when I replaced the LCA bushings, it tracks perfectly straight at least I think it's OK. The pin mounts in the K member looked fine when I pulled it apart. Would it be possible the noise could be coming from the steering linkage? It has all new tie rod ends (inner and outer) but the idler and pitman arms are still the same ones that were on the car when I got it (probably original). Also about 4 years ago I put offset bushings in the original UCAs for more caster, I have a feeling those could be going bad too but would that cause any noise?

I just remembered the car does like to pull to the left when hitting the brakes hard, this is why I replaced the LCA bushings in the first place as the rubber one on the driver side was trashed (it pulled to the side really bad as in borderline dangerous but still pulls a bit now). It seemed to fix the clunk for a while but it came back and it seems to be slowly getting worse.

 

[BrianT]

Sub frame connectors were the best improvement I've made in the way my car handles. I'd get that clunking in the front end sorted out before I did anything else though.

 

[Oldmanmopar]

The first thing you need to do is get rid of the lower poly bushings and install rubber. also factory style strut bushings. I have seen many with this clunk.

 

[longarm]

Fix what ever needs it, front bar, frame ties, then shocks.

 

[72bluNblu]

The first thing you need to do is get rid of the lower poly bushings and install rubber. also factory style strut bushings. I have seen many with this clunk.

There are two problems with poly LCA bushings.

1- they depend on the tolerances of the old LCA bushing shells, which are not exact

2- they get installed by people that think they can just slap them in there and they'll work (without bothering to check the fit of the bushing or the location of the LCA on the pin)

If the poly LCA bushings are installed properly, ie, the fit on the bushing shells is checked and the LCA is located properly by what usually has to be an adjustable strut rod, the poly bushings work fine. Greaseable pivot pins help too, as most were designed for use with poly bushings so they don't have an inner shell that is pressed onto the pin, so the outer diameter of the pin where the LCA bushing rides is constant. They also have a different style shoulder on the pin for retaining the bushing, and of course you can add grease if the poly bushing starts to squeak.

None of my cars squeak or clunk, and they all have poly LCA bushings at the moment. They also all have adjustable strut rods and greaseable pivot pins.

 

[MopaR&D]

There are two problems with poly LCA bushings.

1- they depend on the tolerances of the old LCA bushing shells, which are not exact

2- they get installed by people that think they can just slap them in there and they'll work (without bothering to check the fit of the bushing or the location of the LCA on the pin)

If the poly LCA bushings are installed properly, ie, the fit on the bushing shells is checked and the LCA is located properly by what usually has to be an adjustable strut rod, the poly bushings work fine. Greaseable pivot pins help too, as most were designed for use with poly bushings so they don't have an inner shell that is pressed onto the pin, so the outer diameter of the pin where the LCA bushing rides is constant. They also have a different style shoulder on the pin for retaining the bushing, and of course you can add grease if the poly bushing starts to squeak.

None of my cars squeak or clunk, and they all have poly LCA bushings at the moment. They also all have adjustable strut rods and greaseable pivot pins.

Cool I got the full kit for my car from Hotchkis with the greasable pins too. I think I'm going to replace my idler and pitman arms then put in the adjustable strut rods. When I put the poly bushings in the old shells it was a tight (but not too tight) press-fit but they slid in all the way.

Another question what do you think of the roller bearing idler arm kit that Firm Feel sells?

 

[72bluNblu]

Cool I got the full kit for my car from Hotchkis with the greasable pins too. I think I'm going to replace my idler and pitman arms then put in the adjustable strut rods. When I put the poly bushings in the old shells it was a tight (but not too tight) press-fit but they slid in all the way.

Another question what do you think of the roller bearing idler arm kit that Firm Feel sells?

That's about how the poly bushings should fit, it should take a light press to install them onto the pins and again into the outer bushing shells. If they just slide in they're too loose.

The stock strut rods really need all of the rubber bushings. The length of the stock strut rods is a "one size fits most" kind of deal, which means they really don't fit most cars all that well. They depend on the extra movement in the original rubber LCA and rubber strut rod bushings to work. If you go all poly bushings the length of the strut rods has to be more precise, because the poly bushings don't have that amount of give, they eliminate the slop. Which is good, but only if you get the length of the strut rods right.

As far as the roller bearing idler support kit, I don't have one so I can't give you a ton of info. Pretty much everything that Firm Feel makes is great stuff, I have no complaints with any of the parts I've ever gotten from them. My feeling on the idler support kit is that it's probably not something that most people would really notice. I'm sure it probably improves the wear and tear on the idler, and should make the whole steering action a little smoother. But it's a detail piece, not a game changer. It will definitely add something, but to me it seems like one of those extras you add after you've already done everything else.

 

[MopaR&D]

For sure, thinking back now I do remember when I was putting things back together the strut rods were definitely pushing back on the LCAs as I was tightening everything up. BrianT I totally forgot about subframe connectors that's on my list too.

At this point my plan is fix the steering linkage and put in adjustable strut rods first. I'd do more but that's probably all I can afford for now. Thanks for the help guys!

 

[skizzo]

For sure, thinking back now I do remember when I was putting things back together the strut rods were definitely pushing back on the LCAs as I was tightening everything up. BrianT I totally forgot about subframe connectors that's on my list too.

At this point my plan is fix the steering linkage and put in adjustable strut rods first. I'd do more but that's probably all I can afford for now. Thanks for the help guys!

Clunk is probably the idler arm. Yeah sfc's help quite a bit, I kinda felt like I was gonna taco the car without them (first thing I put on, about 3 days after I bought it).