Dipping on Passenger side with passengers

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TLEllis

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Hi All,

I picked up a 74 dart swinger about 6 months ago. She's in really great shape for 40 years. I drive it daily to work 80 miles both ways. I'm usually the only person in the car. About a month ago I started noticing that the passenger side dips a lot more than the driver's side when I have a passenger. The car sits level when no one is in the car. When just a driver is in the car it still sits pretty level but when a passenger gets in it dips about 2 inches on the passenger side. Am I correct in thinking this is a torsion bar/bushing issue?

Forgive my stupidity, I know more about engines than I do car bodies/suspension.
 
The guy I bought it from told me he put new shocks on it a few months before I bought it. They look new. I thought the shocks controlled the rate of decent when it compresses, not the actual height it sits at. Am I wrong? Do the shocks and the torsion bars control the ride height?
 
I had to adjust the torsion bars on my 73 Duster, it was leaning to left in the front. But that was with and without anyone in it. I am new to the A body myself. Hopefully someone with more experience will chime in.
 
any ideas on this from anyone? I've inspected all of the suspension components and the torsion bars visibly look ok. I think the bushings are slipping when 150+ pounds are added but I'm having a difficult time verifying this. I don't have access to an open pit. Can anyone tell me if worn torsion bar bushings will cause this problem?
 
Down and dirty. Bounce up and down on the pass side door sill. Listen for any noises. Should help you zero in on the problem.
 
Really hard to diagnose "imagining." Bushings, however do not slip. Might be something cracked, how is the car for rust? Noise?

Check the suspension height for "even" both sides. The adusters are threaded under the lower control arms, sometimes they do strip.
 
ragtopfury said:
Weaker torsion bar, or maybe even weaker rear springs on the right side....
Click to expand...

X2, bushings are not going to cause this. In my experience on the 40 y/o cars it's the right rear that always seems weak. Check the front spring eye carefully.
 
"The car sits level when no one is in the car. When just a driver is in the car it still sits pretty level"
Is this eyeballed or tape measured?

Its more likely that there is something wrong with the drivers side that is preventing the suspension from settling on that side.
 
Brings back memories of my younger partying days. This very heavy-set girl had a 73 Dart Sport with a 318 that she had driven for several years. She was heavy enough that just sitting the left side of the car sat probably 3 or 4 inches lower than the right side.
A buddy dropped me off late one night with a long 1/2 ratchet and a long 3/4 socket and a can of WD40. I cranked the right side up about as far as it would go, and the left side down as far as I could get it. It just about looked like it was going to tip over.
Sad thing was, we didn't get to see her drive it like that even though we know she did.
I went back the next week-end and leveled it out so it sat better than it did before. I never asked her about it because she probably would have beat the hell out of me.
 
Ragtopfury and Georgeh are spot on. I started doing some more checking and it looks like the passenger leaf spring is sagging. It's only about a half inch so I didn't notice it but I believe there's my problem.

I'm running an all stock 225 so I don't feel like I need high end springs. I'm going to get a set of standard springs from springsnthings for $185 and since I'm already doing that, I'm going to get a set of torsion bars from pst. I'm hearing good things about the 1.03 for this car. Anyone have any input on that?
 
I bought the PST bars based on the info on this site. Not in my car yet, but I have confidence in the rewiews posted here and I'm sure they'll be fine for my application.
 
It's time to go through the whole suspension of the car.
The first thing i would do is inspect the areas in the crossmember where the torsion bar mounts are welded on at the factory. These are notorious for not being properly welded from the factory or fatiguing over time. They are known to rust out as well.
Next, i would inspect the area in the k-member where the torsion bar goes into the hex end and the mounting rod goes through it.
These are also notorious for being weak/cracking/ovalling out. A lot of 340 and big block cars have washers welded over these holes to give it more strength.
There's no use installing the heavier duty torsion bars if there are any problems in these areas.
Then check the rear springs and spring eye bushings, as well as the rubber bushings in the rear shackles.
If everything is fixed/checks out good after that, then install the new springs, torsion bars, and i would recommend a good set of shocks and a wheel alignment if all of your front suspension is verified good.
I've seen old torsion bars break, springs break, bad bushings, etc. even on low mileage cars......
Check it all out thoroughly, at least you will have peace of mind.
 
TLEllis said:
from pst. I'm hearing good things about the 1.03 for this car. Anyone have any input on that?
Click to expand...

If you are "going to spend money" on bars I would certainly not buy "stockers." Several people on here are running PST and other bars with good results. As has been said, you want to "go through" the suspension, replace wear parts, and make certain there's no breakage or cracking.

The bars in mine are unknown aftermarket .......were in a parts car I bought, and are somewhere between .9 and 1". They are "plenty stiff" but not "rough." While I would not want much stiffer, I would not give up the handling, either.
 
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