What do you guys think of this steering/susp upgrade?

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NorthernSwede

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Hi!

I have myself a '66 Dart and the steering and suspension on the car has seen it's better days so I'm going to do some upgrades, as of now it's completely stock with no sway bars and so on.

It's a Smallblock stroker 392", 904 auto and 8.75 rear with KH discs in front and 10" Drums in the rear and I drive it as a daily driver/street car

I'd just like some opinions and thoughts on what to buy and don't

My shopping list looks like this right now

From P-S-T

Bilstein Mono shocks all corners
Polygraphite complete front end kit

From FirmFeel

Stage 1 Power steering box and rebuilt pump
0.940 Torsion Bars + Dust seals
Front and Rear sway bars
New Stock-ish Leaf Springs

From Summit

A set of 4 Wheel Vin. 15" Rallye
205/60-15 BF Goodrich TA front
235/60-15 BF Goodrich TA Rear

Anything obviously forgotten or overlooked? Anything that should be changed for something better or any other remarks are welcome! =D
 
everything looks good except i'm not a fan a polygraphite suspension components. maybe late rear disc brakes would be a further mod as it looks like your hotrod would be a great corner burner with your planned up-grades.
 
I like what you have planned except, I like to run the same size tires and wheels front and rear so I can rotate them on a regular basis. I think rear discs are a waste of money for most street cars. You might want to take a look at the Hellwig sway bars too. I haven't personally inspected the Firm Feel bars but I have the Hellwig ones and I do like the quality, geometry, and fit.
 
You might also want to consider using C-body end links. They are a bit thicker.
 
I have a set of Firm Feel 0.94 bars, 1 1/8th anti sway bar, six leaf rear springs, sub frame connectors, KH ten inch front disks, Firm feel stage two (feels like modern PS), and cheepo Monroematic gas shocks on my 67 Dart rag top. Car handles and rides very nicely. Steering is not over boosted, and twitchy like original PS.
No rear anti sway bar, and ten inch drum on the rear 8 ¾ Suregrip.

I have poly bushings on a set of tubular upper control arms, and nothing but squeaks, squeaks, and more squeaks; drives me nuts.
 
Decent approach so far!

From what I've heard about the FirmFeel steering boxes, most of the people I've talked to went with a Stage 2, and even they ended up wanting a Stage 3. I don't think I'd get a Stage 1, even for a daily.

.94" bars should be fine, although personally I'd get a set of 1" or 1.03" bars. That's just my preference though.

For a daily driver you may not want to mess with the poly front end kit, unless you're also going to switch the LCA pins to the greasable type. You'll end up with squeaks unless you grease all of the poly stuff frequently. I'd just get a normal rubber front end kit, but I'd throw in a set of Moog offset UCA bushings vs the stock kind or poly's. With the offset UCA bushing you'll be able to dial in more caster and maybe a little negative camber- both will help handling. The poly kits do tighten things up a bit, but on a street car they aren't really necessary, and you'll already be seeing a big improvement with the other things you have planned.

I wouldn't mess with rear disks at all, they're overkill on a street car. If I upgraded the rears at all I'd get a later set of BBP drums, even the later 10x2.5" drums are an improvement over the stock A-body 10 inchers. But you may not want to mess with that if you still have the SBP KH's up front. I run the later 11" drums on my Challenger, and will have them on my Dart as well- but I'm converting to BBP on my Dart. The 11" drums stop even my heavy Challenger just fine, especially paired with the later 11.75" disks.

And, if you haven't already, I'd get a set of sub frame connectors as well.
 
These are all some really good advice! =D Haven't really had time to read it all 'till now, working my *** of for a period...

Regarding the Poly bushings, how often do one have to grease them to keep them from squeking?

And as to the same tire size front and rear, sure, if I could fit a couple of 235's in front I would but it ain't happening as far as I know =/
Subframe connectors, that's one thing I've been thinking about for a long time, seems like it might be a good idea to get around to weld a couple in there...

Yeah actually, regarding to the FF stage 1 I have read the same thing all over FABO and I think I'll just go with the Stage 3 right off!

The offset UCA bushings was an interesting suggestion, I think I might look into that aswell, wasn't aware that these cars were that restricted in that area :O

And rear brakes - 10" drums are more than 'nuff, almost all the brake performance is in the front on all cars and a dart with a cast iron v8 even more so.
 
I would lose the power steering all together, for a manual steering box.
It free's up some weight and gives you more room for exhaust,ect.
Also free's up a little hp by shaking a belt off the motor.
 
I don't know really, this is a manual car from the start but im not that impressed with the manual :/ don't know but i think i'll just try ps and if it sucks i'll just get me a better manual box and bolt it in ;)
 
I don't like the brand of tire. To me, it has always been pointless to go for a suspension upgrade, then stick some "craptastic" tire on the car.

It really kills the gains you could be getting from the other upgrades.
 
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