qa1 level 2 handling suspension kit

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dusterkid71

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I am looking for a suspension kit for my 71 duster and came across QA1 who says their it requires no cutting or fabrication. I was wondering if anyone has used them before and if it is really a true bolt in no fabrication fit for the car. Also if there is any other kit you would recommend?
 
@dusterkid71 wondering about some suspension kits my self. Mostly front rebuild kits as well as adding a sway bar to the front end to help correct bad over steer and lean etc I upgraded to super stock springs in back and with the worn out front end it don't handle to well.... At all. Good luck I'm interested in hearing others opinions. Mine is a 75
 
the Qa1 is a tubular version of your factory K and utilizes ALL your factory components as well as most factory replacement upgrades..... not sure if there is any weight savings, I do not there is....but (IMO) looks cool.

Several on here have them and I have yet to read a bad word by an actual user of the product.
 
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Thanks for your responses. I have been doing a bit of research on them as well and the tubular has come out as a pretty good way to go about the front end.
 
this? not sure i see the point in it. still uses a stock style suspension.. why not just weld up and brace the k-frame and box the lower arms.. can use tube upper arms and adjustable strut rods still. maybe if it was a drastic weight savings but it seems like a lot of money to just have a basically stock suspension. if i'm doing that much i'm going with a rack and coil overs..

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this? not sure i see the point in it. still uses a stock style suspension.. why not just weld up and brace the k-frame and box the lower arms.. can use tube upper arms and adjustable strut rods still. maybe if it was a drastic weight savings but it seems like a lot of money to just have a basically stock suspension. if i'm doing that much i'm going with a rack and coil overs..

View attachment 1714976206

Ok sounds fair enough. Now what kind of other work needs to be done in order to change over to a rack and coilover?
 
Ok sounds fair enough. Now what kind of other work needs to be done in order to change over to a rack and coilover?

just be a different complete system and more money. thats why i suggested welding up and reinforcing the stock k-frame and lower arms..

if you want a rack and coil overs then go with the most proven complete system out there.. the alter-k. not cheap but its well proven out on the street, and customer service is awesome. Reilly MotorSports, Inc. ::...
 
1" PST torsion bars
RCD bilstein shocks
RCD/qa1/firmfeel Tubular UCA's
1 1/8" helwig front sway bar
Borgensen steering box

Stock k-member, stock LCA's

Will feel like a completely different car. Compare that total cost to the qa1 kit MINUS the steering box (qa1 needs it too).

What tire size/model do you plan to run?
 
Tubular upper control arms a good thing because of the additional caster that's built into pretty much all the tubular control arms on the market. But, unless you're planning on running really wide rims and tires up front you can just use a set of Moog 7103 offset UCA bushings with the stock UCA's to get much better alignment numbers. If you've got a '71 you probably want BBP brakes, so, you need large ball joint UCA's anyway so it might make more sense to just buy the tubulars. For someone with the 73+ LBJ UCA's already the Moog 7103's are a great option as long as you're not going to run 9" wide rims up front.

The tubular K might save a small amount of weight, but the QA1 retains all the stock locations. So, other than looking cool I don't know what it gets you. I don't know the specifics but I have heard that it's not worth much in the weight savings department. You'd be much better off just seam welding the stock K, boxing the steering mount and gusseting the LCA pivot tubes. Do that and the stock K will be just as stiff as the QA1, if slightly heavier.

The tubular LCA's aren't really necessary. They save about 8 lbs compared to the stock LCA's. Their biggest advantage is their shorter profile, they basically allow for an extra inch of suspension travel at the frame. Which means if you're planning on lowering the car a lot, they could be helpful. I have a set for my Duster that I've yet to install. They're nice pieced, but unless you're planning on lowering to the point that header clearance becomes a significant issue they're not a must have. A set of boxing plates to gusset the stock LCA's (and fix the play on the LCA pivot as per Jim Lusk's video) and you're in business.

I run adjustable strut rods on all of my cars, as far as I'm concerned they're a must have if you're running anything other than the stock LCA bushings. And even if you're running the stock LCA bushings they're very helpful in fine tuning your suspension so that there's no binding.

Sway bar should be on anything that's intended for a handling application

Solid tie rod adjusters are a good thing, but not a mandatory thing.

Biggest items to improve handling aren't included in that kit. TORSION BARS. You need bigger torsion bars. Even plain on street drivers need bigger torsion bars. Any kind of handling application needs much bigger torsion bars. As autoxcuda said, at least 1" torsion bars. I would never run smaller than that again. PST's 1.03's are a great, less expensive option.

You need shocks to match those bars. I'm sure the QA1's are fine, but I prefer the Bilstein RCD's from PST or FirmFeel. Hotchkis' fox shocks are also amazing and a step up from the Bilsteins, but they're priced like they are too.

The Borgeson steering box is probably really nice, I run a 16:1 Flaming river manual box. Even with 275's up front. It's fine. Requires some arm strength for parking and slow speed maneuvers, but over 10mph its spectacular.

To me it looks like QA1 set up their kit like Hotchkis did. Some really cool stuff, but you don't need half of it and half the stuff you really need isn't in the kit. As far as the coilovers go, they have not been proven to handle any better than the torsion bar suspension when tuned properly. The fastest Mopar autoX and road race cars have been, and still are, torsion bar equipped cars. The rack and pinion steering is nice, but that's a ton of money for a rack and pinion. And ALL coilover conversions need chassis stiffening in the front of the chassis, the factory design was not intended to carry vertical suspension loads outside of the shocks.
 
I used their lower CA's and RMS upper CA. They are very nice pieces. No complaints here.
 
I stepped up from rear Bilstein RCD shocks to adjustable QA1's like in the pic above, which were a definite improvement.
The Bilsteins are a very good shock for classic cars for general use, but IMO the QA1 / Hotchkis / Fox shocks are a step above that, especially the adjustable versions.

My daily Dart has Hotchkis adjustable shocks up front, adjustable QA1 shocks at the rear.
Borgeson power steeringbox, 1" torsion bars from JustSuspenion, Hellwig front swaybar, 11.75" C-body discbrakes and 17" wheels.

Personally I don't see any use for an aftermarket suspension kit that just replaces factory items with different designed parts that don't even give better geometry or weightsavings.
 
I stepped up from rear Bilstein RCD shocks to adjustable QA1's like in the pic above, which were a definite improvement.
The Bilsteins are a very good shock for classic cars for general use, but IMO the QA1 / Hotchkis / Fox shocks are a step above that, especially the adjustable versions.

My daily Dart has Hotchkis adjustable shocks up front, adjustable QA1 shocks at the rear.
Borgeson power steeringbox, 1" torsion bars from JustSuspenion, Hellwig front swaybar, 11.75" C-body discbrakes and 17" wheels.

Personally I don't see any use for an aftermarket suspension kit that just replaces factory items with different designed parts that don't even give better geometry or weightsavings.

Right on board with you until you said "C-body 11.75" brakes". While I have seen C-body brakes used, they are completely different pieces requiring different spindles, rotors, calipers, upper ball joints, and lower ball joints too unless the spindles are modified. They require some custom fabrication. The first page of this thread shows the differences between the C body spindles and brakes compared to 73+ stuff. Using C-Body spindles on an E-Body ( and A-Body LCA's & Viper calipers)

The 11.75" rotors that are used with 73+ A and FMJ spindles are from B and R bodies, not C bodies. :D
 
yeah but, yeah but.... I mounted '73 C-body rotors on my '73 Dart's discbrake spindles.
Just a spindle-collar to match the C-body outer bearing size and 2 simple washers behind the bracket adapter was all that's needed to mount it up.
Added bonus was that the wheel track was about a 1/4" narrower on each side, compared to the stock 10.7" discbrakes I had before that.

But I don't really consider the C-body parts a real 'upgrade', as they weigh probably even more than the stock setup.

Reason for me to use a C-body rotor is that I had a pair on stock to play with.


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yeah but, yeah but.... I mounted '73 C-body rotors on my '73 Dart's discbrake spindles.
Just a spindle-collar to match the C-body outer bearing size and 2 simple washers behind the bracket adapter was all that's needed to mount it up.
Added bonus was that the wheel track was about a 1/4" narrower on each side, compared to the stock 10.7" discbrakes I had before that.

But I don't really consider the C-body parts as an 'upgrade', as they weight maybe even more than the stock setup.

Reason for me to use a C-body rotor is that I had a pair on stock to play with.

Crap. Sorry, I forgot you did that.

Just trying to keep it clear that the B/R body 11.75 rotors are the ones that bolt on, I see them mislabeled enough that I thought that's what was going on.
 
IMHO....

The key to handling is great ($$$) shocks, big anti-swaybars, good low profile /wide tires and a good brake package....regardless of K....Lowering the car (center of gravity) is a big plus.

The key to room for hot rod builds is getting rid of the torsion bars and steering box....as in aftermarket k. The fact that most aftermarket Ks utilize a modern (and out of the way/ compact) rack and pinion can be a plus....or a win / win
 
Maybe I'm lazy but after having done some disc brake conversions I just can't use the stock stuff anymore. I now use the Wilwood setup with the small bolt pattern drum spindles along with tubular upper A-arms.

Just didn't seem worth going through all the hassle of using the factory disc parts anymore.

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