bottoming out

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iggys68dart

iggys68dart

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my 68 dart seems to bottom out and really does not have much resitance when pushing down on front end i replaced shocks but the littlest bump ine the road and its bottomed out where do i start to correct this :banghead:
 
well i bought monroe gasmatics and they didnt do anything for my prob so can anyone explain how the tbar works or better yet does anyone got a diagram or rotisserie pic
 
iggys68dart said:
well i bought monroe gasmatics and they didnt do anything for my prob so can anyone explain how the tbar works or better yet does anyone got a diagram or rotisserie pic
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Do you know what size torsion bars you have? Torsion bars are just springs, same as the coils found on other cars but with a different configuration. Movement of the suspension causes the torsion bar to twist, and the spring force of the bar resists that movement. Just like coil springs, they have advertised spring rates, but they're usually just referred to by their diameter, the larger the diameter the higher the actual spring rate. Torsion bar set ups are also height adjustable, and if your car has been lowered using the torsion bar adjusters it may also explain why your suspension is bottoming out. You may not have enough spring rate based on the amount of suspension travel you have left.

All of the torsion bars offered by the factory result in an undersprung front end. The V8 bars aren't as bad, but even they're not really big enough. And just because the shocks are new doesn't necessarily mean that they're the right ones for the job. More than likely though your torsion bars have reached the end of their life span. Check on eBay for Just Suspension's sales, they have their 1" torsion bars on sale on a fairly regular basis. This would not only help your bottoming out problem, but improve the handling of your car overall.
 
iggys68dart said:
my 68 dart seems to bottom out and really does not have much resitance when pushing down on front end i replaced shocks but the littlest bump ine the road and its bottomed out where do i start to correct this :banghead:
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Socks are not the problem. If you were to push down on the front end and it keep bouncing then that is shocks.


Your springs/Tbars are shot and or are not strong enough for the weight of your car.
 
When my socks keep falling down they are refered to a "quiters" and it's time to get new ones, I prefer Hanes... lol
 
Are the torsion bars installed correctly? I know when I rebuilt the front end on a Charger years ago I learned that they can indeed be installed incorrectly. lol

If they are then you need to get a fresh set.
 
well im clueless about these things amongst others lol but i know it was a /6 car and po had a 318 installed so im guessing adjusting what i have wont work and one more thing for you guys to consider it sits about 2 inches lower on driver side
 
iggys68dart said:
well im clueless about these things amongst others lol but i know it was a /6 car and po had a 318 installed so im guessing adjusting what i have wont work and one more thing for you guys to consider it sits about 2 inches lower on driver side
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Yeah I would highly suggest getting some V8 torsion bars.
 
Jackstands, 3/4" 1/2 drive pull handle and ratchet, out circlip pliers, marine grease, 2 pieces of 1/4" thick by 1" by 4" Alum, pipe wrench, 2 lb hammer, pull off the upper rebound, tape, magic markers, and beer.
some slide right out. Some po you so bad you get a torch, cut out the middle, and beat the back end out, then, the heck with the alum, wedge pipe wrench on front, and beat the living daylights out of it, to the rear.Massive beer, now.they slide out the rear, if still free.
 
I bought a 73 Dart for my 17 year old son last year. The thing would not even go over speed bump with out bottoming out. We figured it was the torsion bars and we were partly right. After we took the torsion bars out we found that the lower control arms bushings were waisted as well. They were so bad that the control arms were even ruined. After new control arms and bushings, and of course new torsion bars, the car is right again.
 
airkiller said:
I bought a 73 Dart for my 17 year old son last year. The thing would not even go over speed bump with out bottoming out. We figured it was the torsion bars and we were partly right. After we took the torsion bars out we found that the lower control arms bushings were waisted as well. They were so bad that the control arms were even ruined. After new control arms and bushings, and of course new torsion bars, the car is right again.
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with my luck this will be the case
 
Just Suspension is selling their 1" A-body torsion bars for $199 right now. I've seen them on sale as low at $159, but I'm not sure you'll see them offer that price again.

If the car was originally a /6, then you can bet it probably has those tiny /6 torsion bars in it, and that's probably a lot of your problem. But, if the bushings have never been replaced you should do that when you install the new torsion bars as well.
 
I would reccommend using a torsion bar tool, you can buy them at manciniracing.com, you just clamp it to your torsion bar, remove the C clips at the rear, and hammer on the tool and out come the torsion bars. Remember to first put the car on jack stands, and totally loosen off the torsion bar adjuster bolt, which can be found in the bottom side of your lower control arm. Replace with new torsion bars, use the tool to hammer back in, replace dust boots and C clips, and make sure to grease them up while hammering in. DO NOT use a pair of vice grips, as they can scratch the torsion bar badly and could splinter and blow up.
 
Take to a alignment specialist.... preferably one you can trust. I have in my area a alignment guy that has been aligning cars for a very long time. He knows more about aligning old cars I believe than he does new ones. I took my car to him when it started squeaking real bad (you'll know the squeak Im talking about if you ever heard it) and also my tires was wearing out quickly. He put it on the rack did some examination and told me my lower control arm bushing was wore out. He didn't charge me a dime but I told him I would bring it back once I get the front end rebuilt. I got the front end apart and started looking he was right. He got a $20 tip when he aligned it.
 
mullinax95 said:
Are the torsion bars installed correctly? I know when I rebuilt the front end on a Charger years ago I learned that they can indeed be installed incorrectly. lol

If they are then you need to get a fresh set.
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now have heard about this... i assume you mean indexing them?? if so please explain
 
805moparkid said:
now have heard about this... i assume you mean indexing them?? if so please explain
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green1 said:
Same side, front to rear same; so they twist as the same, as they have a memory.
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There's a left and a right. Stock mopar torsion bars have a 30 degree offset built in, take a look at the hex's on the ends and you'll see that they don't line up. The offset is to pre-load on the bars. If you switch them side to side the ride height will be wrong, as the bars will be offset 30*'s in the wrong direction.
 
This same thing happened to me. It was shot rubber bump stops. Look very closely. One was ripped completely off, so at first glance it appeared all was well. I'm sure you've checked this though. I felt like a knucklehead.

$10/10 minute fix.
 
Yep... I believe when mopar was building our cars they had strips around the bars indicating which goes where.
 
there was a stripe, but I can't remember what it meant/side.
We pulled both out of a 69 Charger last week, will clean them, and report back. Old timers disease at 60, crap.
 
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