Torsion bar size effect

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Hotshot

Recovering GM owner
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What effect does increasing the size of the torsion bar have on the handling/ride of the vehicle. I want to put new bars on my 67 dart but I'm not ready to shell out $300.00. You can still get the 1.090 bars @the old price so I need some schoolin' on what happens with the larger bars.....
 
Bigger bars are stiffer which will improve handling to a point, but ride will suffer with too much bar diameter. Sway bars will make a huge difference without impacting ride quite as much. 1.090 bars are pretty hardcore stuff, and used alone will ride rough and cause massive understeer. You need to think balanced package here. Try to find a copy of Mopar's "Chassis" book. There are other chassis performance books out there as well.

.890 T-bars, HD rear springs (non-lift), front/rear sway bars and good shocks will make your car handle pretty decent without shaking itself or you to bits.
 
Ok, to translate to a GM context, a torsion bar is a coil spring that is "uncoiled".
 
I would venture s guess hat the 1.090 bars will be all together too stiff for a street car. I am running the .890 bars with a 1 1/8" sway bar and XHD springs on the back of my 68 Barracuda with KYB gas-a-just shocks. This gives a firm ride, stopped the bottoming in the front and the car handles like a modern car.
 
I have the KYB's and the new rear springs in the garage....I just wanted to see about the torsion bars b4 I added with the sway bar. I know what effect the sway bar will have, I was just not sure about the differences in the t-bars....OTOH, I have no desire to rebuild the control arms...at least in the forseeable future..
 
For a small block A-body street car I don't think I would go beyond the .92 bars. I have the .89s and have yet to install my 1 1/8 sway, but I can see where some people might want a bit stiffer front end of the .92s.

I think the 1.090s are circle track bars aren't they?
 
superdart said:
For a small block A-body street car I don't think I would go beyond the .92 bars. I have the .89s and have yet to install my 1 1/8 sway, but I can see where some people might want a bit stiffer front end of the .92s.

I think the 1.090s are circle track bars aren't they?
Click to expand...

I looked into 1" bars for a while, but I changed my mind quick after riding in my friend's Duster; he had these installed and the ride was almost unbearable. Not too mention that when you start running bars that thick, you must upgrade other suspension components to compensate for the drastic change in handling...
 
MY son's Barracuda had .990" bars with homebuilt rear springs and KYB shocks. It was pretty stiff, but not objectionably. The first sway bar we used was a factory big block a-body unit. Handling was excellent and predictable. We added a rear bar and larger front bar. Handling did improve. The next step was 1.14" bars. I never did drive it with the big bars, but my son said it wasn't bad. I don't think I'd buy torsion bars smaller than .920s.
 
.890" bars which are for a 383 car.
Kyb's all around.
JC Whitney stock replacement springs in the back.

Nice firm ride,handles very well.

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1 size larger than stock is a good bar to use in most cases and tastes for everyday driving. Along with upgraded shocks and thicker sway bars, use the widest tire you can get away with.
 
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