Best torsion bars for Daily Driver/Road Racer

-
racerdude5

racerdude5

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 18, 2012
Messages
426
Reaction score
10
Location
Ventura
What do you believe is the best torsion bar for a smallblock Duster that will give it the best possible handling in turns on a road course but will also be tolerable enough to be a daily driver?
 
I bought the new PST 103 bars for my GTS resto. But it is a 383 car. Heard great things about them.
 
I have Firm Feel 1.12" torsion bars on my Duster, which is almost my daily driver at this point. I don't think they're too stiff for street driving at all, although I did notice an improvement in ride quality when I went from Bilstein shocks to the Hotchkis Fox shocks. The key to large torsion bars is a good set of shocks. I also have a Hellwig 1.125" front sway bar and 18" rims, so even less cushioning than most. And my Duster has a 340, manual steering, no-A/C, manual trans, and has been converted to early bumpers etc, so its not a heavy car.

Ride comfort is a very subjective issue, it really depends on what you're used to and what your plans are for the car. I had 1" Just Suspension bars on my Duster before I went to the 1.12" bars, I thought the 1" bars were pretty soft- too soft for the performance I was looking for. I have a set of 1.06" Firm Feel bars for my EL5 GT, although I haven't had those on the road yet. Not that I don't love the 1.12's, but the GT is going to be a little less performance orientated than the Duster. Not that it won't handle great, it will, it's just less likely to see the track than my Duster and its a number matching car so I will be keeping it more stock and a little easier to drive (power steering, A/C, 300hp instead of 400+, etc).

If you're planning track time, I wouldn't go smaller than 1.03" bars. 1.06" or 1.12" would be my suggestion, but keep in mind if you pair that with a set of KYB's or other non-performance shocks you will not enjoy the ride quality nearly as much as if you go with a set of Fox's or Bilsteins.
 
.920 minium... 1' FROM JUST SUSPENSION ARE NICE AND I'VE HEARD GOOD THINGS ABOUT EVEN LARGER ONES.. don't be afraid of the large bars. good shocks are a must with any size bar though..

damn cap button..lol
 
I'm on a tight budget so I'm looking at bars that are under $250. So the most expensive bars I am willing to get are the Just Suspension Bars (1.00). The other option I have are the PST 1.03 Bars for $230. Does anyone else have any bars for sale in the price range I'm looking for? Or these same bars that I mentioned but for less $$$? Thanks
 
racerdude5 said:
I'm on a tight budget so I'm looking at bars that are under $250. So the most expensive bars I am willing to get are the Just Suspension Bars (1.00). The other option I have are the PST 1.03 Bars for $230. Does anyone else have any bars for sale in the price range I'm looking for? Or these same bars that I mentioned but for less $$$? Thanks
Click to expand...

If those are your options, I would get the PST 1.03" bars. PST does have a discount for FABO members too, and they're a site sponsor.
 
We put 1.00" Just Suspension on our Valiant because PST was out of 1.03" and didn't know when they would get more...


I would recommend the 1.00" Just Suspension or 1.03" PST....
 
The 1" JS bars are really too soft for "performance handling" on a road course.

Don't get me wrong, they're a good upgrade from anything stock, but if autoX or road courses are in the plans I wouldn't bother. I think the 1.03's are about the minimum for that application, and I even balked on the 1.03's when it came to my GT and went with FFI 1.06's, and it likely will be a street only car.

Take a look at what the guys running road and autoX events are running. Autoxcuda is running 1.14" bars (320 lb/in wheel rate). GmachineDartGT is running 1.04's last time I checked (250 lb/in wheel rate). Tomswheels's runs 1.06's on his Valiant, 72BBSwinger has 1.06's on his Swinger. Tim Werner's 68 Valiant had 1.22" bars (350+ lb/in)!!!

While a rate on the 1" JS bars isn't published, I'd bet it's no more than 200 lb/in based on the experience I had running them, probably between 190 and 200 lb/in. The 1.12" FFI bars I have now are 300 lb/in.
 
I daily drive with 1" bars and will be upgrading to 1.12" firmfeels soon.
Hotchkis adjustables on the front and QA1 adjustables on the rear. Hellwig sway on the front.
 
I really like the 1.03 pst bars in my car, I was worried they would be too stiff for daily use but they definitely aren't. I just have cheap Monroe's and factory sway bar, so there is definitely room for improvement.
 
1.03 PST Bars it is!!! Thank you so much guys for the input and advice! How do you get the discount for FABO at PST?
 
racerdude5 said:
1.03 PST Bars it is!!! Thank you so much guys for the input and advice! How do you get the discount for FABO at PST?
Click to expand...

Call them and talk to them about it and you will get them for about $110 shipped.
I just recently got a set and love em.
I'm right at 200 lbs and if I sit with most of my weight on the fender they compress about an inch.
I pulled 890's out and they compressed about 3 inches under the same conditions.

Just to help give you an idea of the difference.
 
its hard to describe how they improve the car but i one thing i can tell you is you are gonna love the new feel.
 
TrailBeast said:
Call them and talk to them about it and you will get them for about $110 shipped.
I just recently got a set and love em.
I'm right at 200 lbs and if I sit with most of my weight on the fender they compress about an inch.
I pulled 890's out and they compressed about 3 inches under the same conditions.

Just to help give you an idea of the difference.
Click to expand...

You sure about that price TB? <typo>?
 
Alright, awesome! Thanks. I have one more question; the main reason I'm getting new bars is because my old drivers side bar is sagging to the point that the adjuster bar is rubbing the frame. So the whole purpose of getting new bars is to creat a larger distance between the frame and the adjuster. Will the clocking on the PST bars still allow them to effectively do this?
 
Technically your torsion only have to big enough to not bottom out, you can go with bigger anti roll bars to make up the difference if you wish.

You can't just pick suspension parts at random, every course and car and driver needs a different setup.
Are you trying to be competitive?
Or just have fun?
I was trying to do an one car can do it all, but I realized I need two cars one for the street and one for the track if I want to win.
 
The suspension isnt bottoming out, the torsion bar adjuster finger is rubbimg the side or the frame.
 
racerdude5 said:
What do you believe is the best torsion bar for a smallblock Duster that will give it the best possible handling in turns on a road course but will also be tolerable enough to be a daily driver?
Click to expand...



Just my opinion on a decent street setup.
1" T bars, good swaybars, decent shocks, frame ties.
You can't get the nose up on a straight launch with
heavier bars.
Its always a trade off.
Most guys can't/rarely drive at their cars potential anyway.
 
273 said:
Technically your torsion only have to big enough to not bottom out, you can go with bigger anti roll bars to make up the difference if you wish.
Click to expand...

In theory, sure.

But unless you make custom sway bars, you're not going to find much larger than the Hotchkis 1.25" front bar. I run a Hellwig 1.125" front sway bar AND 1.12" torsion bars, and I still don't think I'm maxed out for the effective spring rate, even running street tires.

The other issue is that if you've lowered the car, you need a larger bar to keep from bottoming out. The lower the car sits the bigger the bars are going to have to be.

longarm said:
You can't get the nose up on a straight launch with
heavier bars.
Click to expand...

If you're worried about getting the nose up, you're not building an autoX/road course car.
 
racerdude5 said:
The suspension isnt bottoming out, the torsion bar adjuster finger is rubbimg the side or the frame.
Click to expand...

Could be the t-bars are installed one hex off, or there is something worn or broken. Maybe totally shot lower control arm (LCA) bushing, even as severe as a broken K-member LCA stud mount, or...

Figure out what is wrong before buying ANY extra hipo stuff. Especially if you are working with any sort of budget.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top