Just installed new PST 1.03 bars

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340doc

340doc

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Got the bars with the new clocking and really satisfied, no problem getting height where I wanted and plenty of adjustment left.
 
I'll be putting mine in tomorrow. Not sure if I'll get it finished up but that will happen this week. Glad to hear they went in well.
 
340doc said:
Got the bars with the new clocking and really satisfied, no problem getting height where I wanted and plenty of adjustment left.
Click to expand...

Curious, what is the height you were aiming for? Factory? Lowered? Please let me know, as I'm interested in knowing what to expect from the new bars.

Thanks

Mark
 
I wanted a little over stock height, and the PST 1.03 bars did it easily with about half the adjustment left and the lever is about half way between the adjusting block and the frame rail.
With 15 inch 70's I have about 2 inches between the top of the tire and the fender lip on my 73 Dart Hard top.
They adjust between a little lower than stock to about 4 inches over stock.
 
Got my bars in today. I have not been able to get the wheels on it and set on the ground to check and see if I put them in right. They went in very easy, but I think Im going to have one issue. I have TTI headers and they are very very close maybe a 1/16th of a inch between them and the bar on the drivers side. I think I will have that dreaded rattle.

If I do, Im assuming Im going to have to get a torch and heat the header and beat the hell out of it arent I? Which sucks because they have a nice coating..
 
My hemi swap TTI headers are literally less than a 1/16th from my drivers torsion bar and I have no rattle or clunk. I have poly-loc engine mounts, so that may make a difference for engine mvmt and preventing any rattles/interference. Just a thought if yours makes noise...

Joe
 
joeboy said:
My hemi swap TTI headers are literally less than a 1/16th from my drivers torsion bar and I have no rattle or clunk. I have poly-loc engine mounts, so that may make a difference for engine mvmt and preventing any rattles/interference. Just a thought if yours makes noise...

Joe
Click to expand...

Its good to know Im not the only one that close. If I do have the rattle I was thinking of throwing on a torque strap or the mag style mounts from Mancini
 
straightlinespeed said:
Its good to know I'm not the only one that close. If I do have the rattle I was thinking of throwing on a torque strap or the mag style mounts from Mancini
Click to expand...

I have about an 1/8th also with rubber spool mounts and it doesn't touch.
The trick I think is good condition mounts, and polys even better if you don't mind the extra engine vibration transfer.
 
bighammer said:
Curious, what is the height you were aiming for? Factory? Lowered? Please let me know, as I'm interested in knowing what to expect from the new bars.

Thanks

Mark
Click to expand...

Hey Mark, I'm lower than stock just a bit. I got just over 1/2 inch clearance on lower bump stop.
 
340doc said:
Hey Mark, I'm lower than stock just a bit. I got just over 1/2 inch clearance on lower bump stop.
Click to expand...

So from what you have described, sounds like they're working great. If you were so inclined, could the car be dropped, say 2" lower than factory? That's what I'm shooting for.
 
bighammer said:
So from what you have described, sounds like they're working great. If you were so inclined, could the car be dropped, say 2" lower than factory? That's what I'm shooting for.
Click to expand...

I know you were asking 340doc, but I don't think they will drop that far.
Someone recently said they backed the adjusters all the way out of the blocks and it was just a little lower than stock.

It only takes about 3 turns of the adjusters once these bars are in to hold the car at approximate factory height.
If I remember correctly just raising the wheels off the ground pretty much takes all the load off the bars to where they are loose at the adjusters.
They don't twist much.
 
Previously everything was bone stock as far as suspension and brakes go, with the exception of the torsion bars being cranked down until they were within a quarter of an inch from the bump stops.

So I decided I wanted to keep my dart as low as possible with a static drop, and still maintain some suspension travel. I redid the front with everything from PST. Master front end rebuild kit, disk brake conversion, 2" drop spindles and the 1.03" torsion bars. Once everything was assembled, I adjusted the bars to about an inch off of the stock bump stops. Here's how low it is while still maintaining 1" of travel. The wheel tire setup shown are 205/60R15s on cop steelies.





 
TrailBeast said:
I know you were asking 340doc, but I don't think they will drop that far.
Someone recently said they backed the adjusters all the way out of the blocks and it was just a little lower than stock.

It only takes about 3 turns of the adjusters once these bars are in to hold the car at approximate factory height.
If I remember correctly just raising the wheels off the ground pretty much takes all the load off the bars to where they are loose at the adjusters.
They don't twist much.
Click to expand...

Yeah, agree with TrailBeast, I'm not sure you can even drop a stock front end 2" lower than stock. That's a lot, that would mean from factory there was MORE than 2" clearance from lower bump stop and that seems like a lot to me. JMO.
 
TrailBeast said:
I know you were asking 340doc, but I don't think they will drop that far.
Someone recently said they backed the adjusters all the way out of the blocks and it was just a little lower than stock.

It only takes about 3 turns of the adjusters once these bars are in to hold the car at approximate factory height.
If I remember correctly just raising the wheels off the ground pretty much takes all the load off the bars to where they are loose at the adjusters.
They don't twist much.
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing, that the adjuster bolts are going to be out quite a ways. I just want to double check my install with you guys.

I had the LCA's laying on the k-member at about a 45* angle. I had the adjusters backed all the way out. Then had to twist the socket for the TB in the control arm and it actually raised the lever out of the arm then slid the bar in. I pushed the control arm to touch the TB and it was about half the distance it was before say about 20* or closer to being level.

Does that sound correct to you guys?
 
Thanks Dave! What started out as a blown wheel cylinder on my daily driver has snowballed into a complete suspension and brake overhaul! Every piece on the suspension has been replaced or rebuilt! The rear suspension got new 2" drop leafs from Espo, adjustable front perches and new rear hangers. For now I threw on new KYB GasAJusts for shocks, with Bilsteins slated for the future. The brakes are all new with 11" front disks and 10" rear drums, new dual pot master cylinder, and all stainless brake lines front to back. I even swapped in an Abody 8.25" with a 3.55 and a SureGrip! I'm also gonna pull the three speed off the column and put a 4spd OD in to see what the little 170ci will get mpg wise!

My plan is to essentially make my ratty old dart my ultimate daily driver. With reliability, safety and economy as key points to ensure its sensibility to the wife.
 
straightlinespeed said:
I was thinking the same thing, that the adjuster bolts are going to be out quite a ways. I just want to double check my install with you guys.

I had the LCA's laying on the k-member at about a 45* angle. I had the adjusters backed all the way out. Then had to twist the socket for the TB in the control arm and it actually raised the lever out of the arm then slid the bar in. I pushed the control arm to touch the TB and it was about half the distance it was before say about 20* or closer to being level.

Does that sound correct to you guys?
Click to expand...

In all honesty I don't think you can put them in wrong witout it being REALLY obvious.
They are clocked at 30 degrees, so could you imagine putting them in 30 degrees out of place and not noticing?

Yea, me either. :D
 
Well the 17x8s fit under the back with room to spare! Looks like I'll be able to go down another inch in the back!





 
TrailBeast said:
I wanted a little over stock height, and the PST 1.03 bars did it easily with about half the adjustment left and the lever is about half way between the adjusting block and the frame rail.
With 15 inch 70's I have about 2 inches between the top of the tire and the fender lip on my 73 Dart Hard top.
They adjust between a little lower than stock to about 4 inches over stock.
Click to expand...

Man you are not kidding about the couple of threads. I was finally able to get everything buttoned up and the car on the ground. I spun the adjusting bolt in until it was flush with the bottom of the LCA. Dropped it down and it was sitting high enough I could crawl under it with out jacking it up, after I rolled it about 5-6' forward and back about 4 times. So I readjusted it until the bottom of the head of the bolt (near the threads) was flush with the bottom of the LCA. Dropped the car again and this time it was much closer to where I had it prior to starting. Except I really only have about 2-3 turns of it being snug on the arm with it suspended. This isnt going to cause a problem is it?

I measured both sides from the pivot shaft and the bottom of the lower ball joint. Both measured exactly the same. 11-1/2" from the pivot pin and 8-1/4" from the ball joint. Im curious because the LCA bump stop is about a 1/2" from the pad on the drivers side and about a 1/4" on the passengers. Why the difference?

I've heard the bars will relax some as I drive it so Im wondering if I should maybe raise it up a little bit to compensate or just do that at a later time when I notice its dropped? How will that affect the alignment?
 
straightlinespeed said:
Man you are not kidding about the couple of threads. I was finally able to get everything buttoned up and the car on the ground. I spun the adjusting bolt in until it was flush with the bottom of the LCA. Dropped it down and it was sitting high enough I could crawl under it with out jacking it up, after I rolled it about 5-6' forward and back about 4 times. So I readjusted it until the bottom of the head of the bolt (near the threads) was flush with the bottom of the LCA. Dropped the car again and this time it was much closer to where I had it prior to starting. Except I really only have about 2-3 turns of it being snug on the arm with it suspended. This isnt going to cause a problem is it?

I measured both sides from the pivot shaft and the bottom of the lower ball joint. Both measured exactly the same. 11-1/2" from the pivot pin and 8-1/4" from the ball joint. Im curious because the LCA bump stop is about a 1/2" from the pad on the drivers side and about a 1/4" on the passengers. Why the difference?

I've heard the bars will relax some as I drive it so Im wondering if I should maybe raise it up a little bit to compensate or just do that at a later time when I notice its dropped? How will that affect the alignment?
Click to expand...

My bars sure didn't settle any that I noticed, but still you don't want to be realigning it again anyway do you?
If you pay for alignments, just set the height about where it used to be and go trounce on it a little (bumps and dips for 10 min) and then get it realigned
If mine settled at all it had to be in the first 5 min. (but I couldn't see any difference)
Been a month now and they seem to be in exactly the same place.

The bump stop clearances could be almost anything down there.
Whole car
front framerails
K member
Control arm
Bumpstop wear

The only way I think the short travel of the adjuster will matter much is that if you were to go over a hump fast enough where the wheels would come off the ground.
It could cause the adjuster arm to come away from the adjuster bolt a little, but the blocks the adjuster bolts go through settle into thier saddle pretty well and don't move much.
I would like to think the bolt would still be in the right place when it came back down again. :D
 
I have had mine for a while now with little to no settling. I really like them, much better than my 50 plus year old stockers.
 
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