suspension upgrades?

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mopar56

mopar56

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is there any kind of suspension upgrade kit or components available for a 74 duster?, as my son is working through upgrading this basically stock Gold Duster, the 40 year old suspension just doesn't help the car through corners at all, now I know these never cornered good even when new but what are people using? urethane bushings, springs, or?, budget is a concern so air ride isn't going to happen here..ideas...?
 
Subframe connectors, poly bushings, stiffer torsion bars, sway bars and decent shocks are fairly budget friendly recipe for what difference it makes in how the car handles.
This is a decent low cost and worth every penny upgrade.
Of course one can go way beyond that into rediculous expense.
 
Build it to 67 Formula S specs, Moog parts, torsion bars, sway bar, good alignment, good shocks, and really good wheels and tires.
 
Your question would be much more easily and accurately answered if you could tell us what the intentions are for the car. In some cases, a suspension "upgrade" is not an upgrade for what you intend to do.

So, anyone who gives an answer at this point, is shooting in the dark.
 
Ok, good point about the usage, basically this is a summer time daily driver now it may simply be that because the suspension components are dried up and worn out, ( Arizona car) that simply replacing all the suspension components may help but wondered if any urethane bushings replacements or ball joint upgrades were available any where? were these cars available with factory sway bars? if so can I simply add one if I can find one?
 
I've tried Urethane bushings and prefer Moog HD bushings and components. Sway bars are available, factory and aftermarket. Ball joints should be replaced only if worn, typically lowers, rarely uppers. Use the C body tie rod ends and sleeves. Adjust the steering chuck and make sure the pitman and idler are tight. Check out Firm Feel and others to get a feel for what is available. What brakes and engine do you have?

http://www.firmfeel.com/a_body_mopar_parts.html
 
steering chuck?, the coupler going into the box?, also the moog bushings you mentioned, they are not urethane then?, good info, thanks for the link, the car is off the road for the winter and we will be working on it after xmas, I will check the bj's then
 
If you have been driving it, and all the suspension components are worn out - just replacing them with new is going to be a huge improvement.
Don't forget the rear suspension. Some new leaf spring bushings and most likely the shackle bushings are shot. You might also consider adding a leaf back there to restore some ride height and handling improvement.
Regarding sway bars. Many of our cars came from the factory with front sway bars. You cannot just buy one and hang it on your car though, unless your lower control arms have the sway bar tabs. Something you might think about prior to your buying and installing the lower ball joints and lca bushings. Look around and you might find someone selling a complete set of lca's and sway bar together.
If you consider a rear sway bar, factory one's are pretty scarce. You can buy aftermarket or modify other bars but for a daily driver you may not find it needed. I would suggest some homework and study before doing that. You could add that at a later date with minimal hassle.
Last couple things I will mention is the age and experience of your son and whether you have power steering or not? If your son has never driven one of our old cars - it can be a big leap from today's rack & pinion new cars to an old car with 1/4 turn of "slop" in the steering that is just the old time steering, and nothing wrong!
C
 
clhyer said:
If you have been driving it, and all the suspension components are worn out - just replacing them with new is going to be a huge improvement.
Don't forget the rear suspension. Some new leaf spring bushings and most likely the shackle bushings are shot. You might also consider adding a leaf back there to restore some ride height and handling improvement.
Regarding sway bars. Many of our cars came from the factory with front sway bars. You cannot just buy one and hang it on your car though, unless your lower control arms have the sway bar tabs. Something you might think about prior to your buying and installing the lower ball joints and lca bushings. Look around and you might find someone selling a complete set of lca's and sway bar together.
If you consider a rear sway bar, factory one's are pretty scarce. You can buy aftermarket or modify other bars but for a daily driver you may not find it needed. I would suggest some homework and study before doing that. You could add that at a later date with minimal hassle.
Last couple things I will mention is the age and experience of your son and whether you have power steering or not? If your son has never driven one of our old cars - it can be a big leap from today's rack & pinion new cars to an old car with 1/4 turn of "slop" in the steering that is just the old time steering, and nothing wrong!
C
Click to expand...

Good advice on the swaybar tabs, there are different solutions. I prefer the original LCA from 73 to 76 with the sway bar tabs, but that is not the only way to go. Rear suspension is also good advice, besides replacing the shackle bushings, you may want to look at new rear springs. High Performance springs had 6 leaves. If your suspension is good, you will not have any slop. And unless you get matching set of swaybars, stick with a front only.
 
Hellwig front and rear sway bars are THE BEST aftermarket bars available. Just do a thread search. I helped Dave from Hellwig do prototype installs to help hom make sure his design fit as he planned. They are an absolute awesome upgrade. Doesnt matter if you have the sway bar tabs or not.

For a better handling daily driver


Suggestions:

Stiffer Tbars-Firm Feel
Sway bars-Hellwig(Summit Racing)

New rubber bushings up front
New balljoints
C body tierods/sleeves
 
i would start out by just rebuilding the front end using quality parts. while at it i'd also install bigger torsion bars. i'd go with the .920 bars at a minimum. firm feel,just suspension, pst, hotchkins can all sell ya good torsion bars. then i'd look into upgrading the rear springs. don't forget good shocks too... then i'd do sway bars.

you will be surprised how much bigger bars,good rear springs and shocks will help.. sway bars can be installed last and will just be icing on the cake..

only thing that will hold ya back is tires then.. though it will still be light years better then now..
 
Upgrade to 1.00" or 1.03" torsion bars, increase rear suspension spring rate, add front and rear sway bars. About a 1" front bar and 3/4" rear bar.


Always have more spring rate in the front than the rear. (the front should be stiffer).


There's an old out of print book:

"Mopar Suspensions" by Mike Martin.

Maybe google search it and get a copy. It has some good tips on improving the old mopar suspensions.
 
I am going to eventually be going through my 74 Dodge Dart Sport. It will be a complete resto-mod, so I am not worried about keeping anything correct/original. I have no personal experience with the set up, but am looking seriously into a Magnum Force tube K frame and front suspension. This will give it coil over shock suspension and rack & pinion steering. This is fairly high dollar - perhaps beyond your son's budget and is not an option if he is trying to keep it original. http://www.magnumforce.com/magnumstore/shop/item.aspx?itemid=3
 
Also look into Reilly Motorsports and their Alterktion setup.

I hear Hemidenny on this forum makes a nice HDK k frame replacement too.
 
but am looking seriously into a Magnum Force tube K frame and front suspension.
Click to expand...

stay far away from that thing. search the mopar boards abut their front end and you'll see the issues with them..

if you want a tube front end then go RMS alter-k-tion. its one stop shopping. everything you need to drive into the garage and drive out the next day except for bearing grease and brake fluid. its an awesome front end. best one on the market in my opinion. awesome customer service too..
 
abodyjoe said:
stay far away from that thing. search the mopar boards abut their front end and you'll see the issues with them..

if you want a tube front end then go RMS alter-k-tion. its one stop shopping. everything you need to drive into the garage and drive out the next day except for bearing grease and brake fluid. its an awesome front end. best one on the market in my opinion. awesome customer service too..
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input!!! That is a nice looking system!
https://www.reillymotorsports.com/store/product.php?productid=16182&cat=269&page=1
 
wow! thanks for all the good info, I really like the hellwig sway bar kits they are reasonable and dont require the tabs, I think we will go that direction, funny you mentioned the book by Mike Martin, actually one popped up on a used site that was just about 75kms from my house and my other son just happened to be driving back from that direction yesterday and picked it up for $15.00 sounds like we got a score! I will read through it, as for rear springs they may be a bit flat but the car has air shocks, my son is 20 and your right about the difference in cars his daily ride is a neon r/t so big suspension difference, he knows the Duster cant be that good we just want to make it a little firmer, I think we will start with fresh suspension components and then a sway bay, thanks
 
mopar56 said:
is there any kind of suspension upgrade kit or components available for a 74 duster?, as my son is working through upgrading this basically stock Gold Duster, the 40 year old suspension just doesn't help the car through corners at all, now I know these never cornered good even when new but what are people using? urethane bushings, springs, or?, budget is a concern so air ride isn't going to happen here..ideas...?
Click to expand...

You have been given good advise so far, but you are wrong about ONE thing. Compared to other cars from there time period, Mopars handled perfectly fine, there is NO inherent design problems with the torsion bar suspension. Keep it simple, rebuild what you have, upgrade torsion bar sizes and sway bars as mentioned....WAY cheeper than those aftermarket systems...
 
Just like everyone else here has said, a general rebuild of the front and rear suspension bushings and joints will make a night and day difference. I used pst 1.03 bars, cheap Monroe shocks, urethane bushings, new ball joints and tie rods, hotchkis rear leaves and fabbed up some subframe connectors. By far the best handling old Mopar I've owned. Mine had a factory swaybar, and it got even better after I put it back on. I'm definitely pleased, and it didn't cost an arm and a leg.
 
My advice is simple. Rebuild the suspension with high quality stock pieces. Use rubber bushings. Urethane bushings will transmit too much road vibration to the body.

The only change from stock I would recommend is the Moog offset upper control arm bushings for additional caster. This will make a nice steady road feel going down the road. Anything more for everyday street use is a waste of money, IMO. The stock Mopar suspension is really good like it is.
 
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