Stupid question? Can I replace my torsionbars and leafsprings for coilovers?
- Thread starter kma
- Start date
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Hell... just flip the front spring hangers and get 1 " shorter rears....then back off the front torsion bars and re align.. then if you want better handling install front and rear swaybars like Harrison suggested.
Cheap and effective !
Cheap and effective !
Thanks guys for all opinions , tips and tricks. Some people more helpful than others ;)
Got a grip what to do/not to do.
Got a grip what to do/not to do.
A couple of things-
Don't use random coilovers off the shelf. You won't like the results. The length needs to be right, the amount of travel has to match the suspension, and the springs need to be matched to the weight and intended use of the car. There is a reason why the coilover conversions use custom K members and Mustang II based components, the geometry of the Mopar suspension does not lend itself as well to substituting coilovers. And, you'd still need a custom LCA, because the stock LCA's can move backward off the bushings without a torsion bar in place. If coilovers are really what you want, buy one of the systems out there that have been designed to have proper geometry.
The next thing is, there is no real handling advantage to using coilovers. You gain torsion bar clearance, header clearance, and the possibility of using a rack and pinion, but there's no big handling advantage. The CG is moved up because torsion bars carry the spring weight really low and they're unsprung weight, the like-to-like weight difference isn't as big as most people think, and you need chassis reinforcement to do it right. The chassis wasn't designed to carry the suspension loads in the vertical plane, it was designed to have the suspension loads carried in the K frame and torsion bar crossmember. Which is one of the reasons the front clip on these cars is kind of flexy to begin with, it didn't need suspension reinforcement in that direction.
The last thing is, a lot of people's reviews on switching to coilover suspensions are based on switching from old, worn out, original suspension components to coilovers. The whole "it was a totally different car" response comes from this. It's not really a fair comparison, you're comparing 100% brand new components to 40+ year old worn out parts. If you replace the original suspension components with 100% brand new, aftermarket torsion bar suspension components that are matched to what you want to do with the car, the differences pretty much disappear except for some of the clearances gained and the addition of a rack and pinion. And you can replace EVERYTHING in the torsion bar suspension now with brand new parts if you want, and do it for half as much as it will cost to do a coilover conversion.
For a cost comparison of replacing everything in the torsion bar suspension compared to a RMS system, see my post here. I made up an itemized list of everything I used on my Duster which has pretty much every tubular, adjustable, Hotchkis/Hellwig/SPC made stuff there is. There's only a couple pieces I saved some money on compared to what's out there, and it's still a huge price difference.
[URL="https://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/threads/frame-or-chassis-options-for-a-bodies.339333/page-3#post-1971128989"]Frame or chassis options for A bodies[/URL]
For the weight differences, see this post [URL="https://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/threads/anybody-running-the-rms-alterkation-was-it-really-worth-the-cost.378109/page-5#post-1971737125"]Anybody running the RMS AlterKation? Was it really worth the cost?[/URL]
Don't use random coilovers off the shelf. You won't like the results. The length needs to be right, the amount of travel has to match the suspension, and the springs need to be matched to the weight and intended use of the car. There is a reason why the coilover conversions use custom K members and Mustang II based components, the geometry of the Mopar suspension does not lend itself as well to substituting coilovers. And, you'd still need a custom LCA, because the stock LCA's can move backward off the bushings without a torsion bar in place. If coilovers are really what you want, buy one of the systems out there that have been designed to have proper geometry.
The next thing is, there is no real handling advantage to using coilovers. You gain torsion bar clearance, header clearance, and the possibility of using a rack and pinion, but there's no big handling advantage. The CG is moved up because torsion bars carry the spring weight really low and they're unsprung weight, the like-to-like weight difference isn't as big as most people think, and you need chassis reinforcement to do it right. The chassis wasn't designed to carry the suspension loads in the vertical plane, it was designed to have the suspension loads carried in the K frame and torsion bar crossmember. Which is one of the reasons the front clip on these cars is kind of flexy to begin with, it didn't need suspension reinforcement in that direction.
The last thing is, a lot of people's reviews on switching to coilover suspensions are based on switching from old, worn out, original suspension components to coilovers. The whole "it was a totally different car" response comes from this. It's not really a fair comparison, you're comparing 100% brand new components to 40+ year old worn out parts. If you replace the original suspension components with 100% brand new, aftermarket torsion bar suspension components that are matched to what you want to do with the car, the differences pretty much disappear except for some of the clearances gained and the addition of a rack and pinion. And you can replace EVERYTHING in the torsion bar suspension now with brand new parts if you want, and do it for half as much as it will cost to do a coilover conversion.
For a cost comparison of replacing everything in the torsion bar suspension compared to a RMS system, see my post here. I made up an itemized list of everything I used on my Duster which has pretty much every tubular, adjustable, Hotchkis/Hellwig/SPC made stuff there is. There's only a couple pieces I saved some money on compared to what's out there, and it's still a huge price difference.
[URL="https://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/threads/frame-or-chassis-options-for-a-bodies.339333/page-3#post-1971128989"]Frame or chassis options for A bodies[/URL]
For the weight differences, see this post [URL="https://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/threads/anybody-running-the-rms-alterkation-was-it-really-worth-the-cost.378109/page-5#post-1971737125"]Anybody running the RMS AlterKation? Was it really worth the cost?[/URL]
Wow. Thanks
I am going to stop this before it starts. This is a suspension thread. Go play in the N&P section if you feel the need.
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