Which Torsion Bar?

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GJUK

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Hi guys,

I have a 400 big block in my 68 dart which was a drag race car, I'm trying to adapt the car to roads here in the UK.

I am thinking of getting a set of QA shocks and some Torsion bars which are uprated from standard.

Can you advise what Torsion size I should be looking at considering the big lump of metal up front in the engine bay.
The car is mini tubbed with 295/60/15 tyres on the rear, 185/55/15 on the front.

At the moment it corners like a ferry, I've not looked at what size torsion bars are on the car.

Thanks,

Jon
 
1.03" or bigger. With a 400 up front I wouldn't even hesitate with a set of 1.06" bars from Firm Feel. I have 1.12" bars on my Duster, and it has a 340, manual steering, no A/C, aluminum radiator, intake, headers, etc. Still has iron heads, but that's about it. But my car is set up pretty stiff for the street, a little more autoX based than most. Of course, I also still drive it as my primary vehicle, if that means anything to you.

I'd also be looking to do something else for front tires, at least going up to a 225/60/15 if you're going to stay with 15" rims.
 
QA1 or Competition Engineering shocks are good

I run the Comp Engineering shocks and stock slant 6 bars (.810" diameter) in my aluminum head BB Demon - but mine is setup for drag racing -

I would go with these or larger like others have said and maybe look into front and rear sway bars as well if the lower control arms have the tab for it..

what is the wheel combo on the car? still 5x4" bolt pattern or has it been converted to the larger 5x4.5" (5x114.3)

being it has a 185 series tire on front leads me to believe it has a 4-5" wide wheel in front meaning a 225/60 will not fit with out going to a wider wheel.. get a measurement of the front wheel - if it's 5" wide you can run up to a 205/65-70 which will handle much better than the 185/55 currently on it.. I would also change the rear to a 275/60


Torsion bars - (.920" diameter)
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/dcc-5249151/overview/year/1968/make/dodge/model/dart
 
zac_F71 said:
what is the wheel combo on the car? still 5x4" bolt pattern or has it been converted to the larger 5x4.5" (5x114.3)

being it has a 185 series tire on front leads me to believe it has a 4-5" wide wheel in front meaning a 225/60 will not fit with out going to a wider wheel.. get a measurement of the front wheel - if it's 5" wide you can run up to a 205/65-70 which will handle much better than the 185/55 currently on it.. I would also change the rear to a 275/60


Torsion bars - (.920" diameter)
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/dcc-5249151/overview/year/1968/make/dodge/model/dart
Click to expand...

Thanks all, noted. cheers.

I was looking at QA1 shocks, I will probably get a set for the car...

The car will be used on the road 99% of its life, at the moment it you hit a corner it is a matter of steering and hoping for the best as the car wallows from left to right. It was a 1/8 mile drag car so I expect the torsion bars are very soft but I will check their size.

I think I got my tyre sizes wrong.

The rears are 295's 15x10 inch wide steel wheels.
The fronts are 225's or so, 15x8 inch steel wheels.

The rears have been mini tubbed and leaf springs moved inward (I know this will not help cornering). I'm not changing the wheels as they look great on the car and they are 2 months old shipped in from the US :D

Can anyone link me to QA shocks? I see they do gas shocks/oil filled ones (better?) and adjustable ones. Can you buy total kits for these?

Also, what is the score with anti roll bars being fitted to these cars, are they a bolt on feature or do they need to be welded to the car?

Thanks!!!

Jon
 
QA1 shocks are great I would recommend oil filled and at least single adjustable. Get the double adjustable if your wallet allows.
 
GJUK said:
Thanks all, noted. cheers.

I was looking at QA1 shocks, I will probably get a set for the car...

The car will be used on the road 99% of its life, at the moment it you hit a corner it is a matter of steering and hoping for the best as the car wallows from left to right. It was a 1/8 mile drag car so I expect the torsion bars are very soft but I will check their size.

I think I got my tyre sizes wrong.

The rears are 295's 15x10 inch wide steel wheels.
The fronts are 225's or so, 15x10 inch steel wheels.

The rears have been mini tubbed and leaf springs moved inward (I know this will not help cornering). I'm not changing the wheels as they look great on the car and they are 2 months old shipped in from the US :D

Can anyone link me to QA shocks? I see they do gas shocks/oil filled ones (better?) and adjustable ones. Can you buy total kits for these?

Also, what is the score with anti roll bars being fitted to these cars, are they a bolt on feature or do they need to be welded to the car?

Thanks!!!

Jon
Click to expand...

Here Jon

http://www.firmfeel.com/default.html

Enjoy!

I have a factory 383 Barracuda. Torsion bars were .89 or .94 with Front sway bar and Heavy Duty 6 leaf rear springs. I'm running Bilstein shocks all around. Handles pretty good.
 
depends what you want to do with it. what kind of seats are you running? ive run like 4 different size torsion bars in my bb a bodies. right now on my duster I have 1" with the fox shocks and a 1 1/4 hellwig sway bar. it handles great but its a pretty stiff ride. I have late model buckets and they transmit a lot of the bumps and stuff right to you. I like it, but its definitely not a "nice" ride.
 
I'm running a healthy all iron 360/727 and a 8 3/4 rear in a 70 Dart.
I have 1" T bars from Just Suspension with a Hellwig 1 1/8" swaybar on the front.
I am using a 3/4" Addco swaybar on the rear with KYB shocks all round.
Frame is tied with US Car tool weld in ties.
I'll buy better shocks and move the battery to the trunk someday maybe.
Don't know that this helps you but I feel its a pretty good balanced budget build
for street and limited autocross use.
Every things a compromise unless you dedicate to a special purpose, its easy
to over do it and end up with a log wagon.
 
I ran 1" torsion bars from Just Suspension for awhile in my Duster when I had a 318/904 in it and was running 225/60/15's and Bilstein RCD shocks . While they were still a tremendous improvement over the stock torsion bars, there was still a lot of body roll with cornering and the ride was pretty soft still, and that's with racing/sport buckets. I wasn't running sway bars at the time, so that would have helped some of the body roll, but the bars were a lot softer than I thought they would be for the Abody platform.

Which is why I went up to 1.12" bars, and added a 1 1/8" Hellwig front sway bar and a 7/8" Hellwig rear bar. I also added the Hotchkis/fox shocks with that upgrade, as well as 18x9" rims with 275/35/18's in the front and 18x10's with 295/35/18's out back. I still don't think the car rides bad, or harsh. More like a modern performance car for sure, and probably stiffer than most people want their muscle cars for street use, although I wouldn't change it even though I drive it on the street 99% of the time.

With the added weight from a 400 up front I think the 1.03" bars are a no brainer. Even the 1.06" bars are about 16% softer than the 1.12's I run with my small block.The roads over there are narrow and winding!
 
Thanks guys, read all your comments and I will probably go for 1.03+

Is is worth looking for a 2nd hand set or should these always be bought new?
I've seen special tools to remove them - required?

Thanks!!!

Jon
 
i prefer new just so i know a previous owner didn't hammer on them getting them in or out and ruin them..

no no special tools needed.
 
When I needed new torsion bars for my 383 dart the advise I got here on the forum was at least 1" bars. I bought them from Firm Feel and it worked out good. Car is used for street, shows and cruise nights. I also found an engineering web site that sells some front suspension parts they designed for A bodies and on the site it said a good estimate for front spring rate was 10% of the front axel weight. I weighed the front axel of the dart and the spring rate of the 1" bars was 10%. The 1" has been perfect for the use of the car.
 
i went from stock hd 340 bars ( .870 ) to nos 383 Dart bars (.890) and could see no difference...still very "oozy"
I bought a pr of new mopar performance .920 bars and bilstein shocks and it is a nice improvement.
..I do wonder what the 1"bars would be like but i'm happy with the set up now.
 
i can say i have 1" in jamies dart with a slant 6 and i think the 1" are too soft still.. much better then stock but i'd like bigger. and it still has crappy kyb shocks on it.
 
TTBF is finally starting to slowly subside = (Torsion bar thickness fear). I have the 1.03" Firm Feel bars on my '68 convertible with a pair of '68 right side Super Stock springs in the rear. I did have to use 1" lowering blocks on the rear springs to get my stance acceptable to me. The spring rates are perfect for the open road, daily driving and spirited handling. They also hook up excellent on hard acceleration with the help of properly adjusted slapper bars.

With the modifications I've made on my '68 and the fact that it's a convertible, it tips the scales at 3700lbs without me in it. That's up there. I could use an even bigger front torsion bars and still be happy with the plushness of the ride. I do run quality Koni shocks on the car. On a lighter car, I would say the 1.03" bars are big enough.

I don't run my cars down in the weeds like a lot of people seem to do these days, because I drive my cars over the open roads here in California and Nevada. I do take the old highways and roads less travelled as often as I can. They can tear apart a lowered car in short order. I have even bottomed out on several occasions at speed in both my '68 A-Body and in my buddies '69 B-Body. Fortunately, nothing that couldn't be fixed at home in an hour or two was damaged, but we were 8+ hours from home and the cars remained drivable until repairs could be made after the trip.

The B-Body had the factory bars in it, but it was set-up at a practical, real-world, over-the-open-road survivable ride height like my A-Body. They are still way too soft of a spring for the car. He could easily use the 1+ inch bars in that big block car.
 

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First;You will need more rubber on the front for sure. 235's fit easy on 14 x7s. 245's on 15 x 8s. Unfortunately 15 x 8s are a PITA to fit in there cuz they want to occupy the same real estate as the BJs. So 17s is the way to go.
Once the tires are actually big enough to turn the car then, 1.03s minimum, has worked for me. Sooner or later you will want to lower the car, and then bring the tin-snips along.

I get by with 235s on the street, but I have to slow down. A lot.
 
Thanks guys,
Can I check before I order anything, are these the only part to replace or do other linked components needs swapping out at the same time?

Thanks,

Jon
 
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