Torsion Bars

[zupanj]

I have a question for you guys. The car now has a bit of a rake to it and the front end is down pretty low since the hemi was installed. I need to raise it up a bit and thought I probably needed to get some larger torsion bars. This surprises me a little because the 383 is no lightweight engine either. Anyway before I buy new t-bars I wondered if I could do a little adjusting of the old ones to get the car up a bit. The exhaust scrapes the ground too much and it is painful everytime it happens. That exhaust system is just too pretty and too expensive to beat the crap out of it.

 

[mcmopar]

I would definitely get some Hemi torsion bars for the car. They are only .02" larger in diameter than the 383 units (0.94" dia. vs. 0.92" dia.for the 383) but that extra little bit of diameter adds up to a lot more stability. The factory engineers were pretty thorough - so much so that Chrysler Corp. suspensions were among the best of the best back in the day.
The Hemi weighs in at about 125 lb. more than a 440 IIRC so anything you can do to beef up the suspension will be well worth it. In the mean time you can use the torsion bar adjuster nuts in the bottom of the lower control arms to raise the car up some for some clearance but I'd definitely be getting the right equipment up under that big 'ol Elephant motor!

 

[wannarunner]

Firm Feel I believe sells bars larger than the Hemi's (they make there own) if you are so inclined. You can pretty much get bars tailor made (or at least feel that way) for the ride height/feel you want.

 

[69hemibeep]

Now if your after performance and don't care about handling the lighter bars give you a better weight transfer, add some 90/10 shocks and loose the sway bar. Woo Hoo I had a very hot 383 4spd 67 barracuda set up that way with 6cylinder bars, what a wheel stander with slicks.

 

[moparstuart]

I would crank up the ones you have in the car now and see how you like it . I would bet just cranking up the ones your have would do for you . If so your not out the extra time and money . If they dont work for you then buy the hemi ones . :cents:

 

[george68hemirr]

check the mopar book and raise them to the front end specs or you front end will be out of alighment.....if you broke down and picked up a aluminum hemi you would not be having this problem....haha

 

[Roadcuda]

I recently helped my friend do this on his '68 RR, so this may help, if you don't already know how to do it. According to the Chiltons manual, you park the car on a flat, level surface. Take measurements from the lower ball joint to the floor, then take another from control arm torsion bar spring anchor housing to the floor. Subtract the first measurement from the second. The difference is your ride hight. The stock spec is 1 7/8", +/- 1/8"

 

[george68hemirr]

I recently helped my friend do this on his '68 RR, so this may help, if you don't already know how to do it. According to the Chiltons manual, you park the car on a flat, level surface. Take measurements from the lower ball joint to the floor, then take another from control arm torsion bar spring anchor housing to the floor. Subtract the first measurement from the second. The difference is your ride hight. The stock spec is 1 7/8", +/- 1/8"

what he said

 

[zupanj]

Thanks guys, I will look into this over the weekend.

Jack

 

[zupanj]

This may be a stupid question but here goes. I measured the bottom of the LCA knuckle and the pivot point of the torsion bar anchor. The differrence is very small, maybe 1/2". I expected the torsion bar part to be much higher so the difference would be in the neighborhood of 2". I turned the adjusters one full turn and that changed the relationship of the ratio but not a lot. So here's my question, does the front end have to be off the ground? That doesn't make any sense to me because of the way the measurements are taken. I have two different references and neither says anything about having the wheels off the ground. If that's not the case then my ride height was really way off.

Jack :loco:

 

[69hemibeep]

On the ground Jack I put quite a few turns on mine just to get the minimum height and the alignment shop added 8 more turns

 

[Roadcuda]

On the ground Jack I put quite a few turns on mine just to get the minimum height and the alignment shop added 8 more turns

What Bob said, and what I didn't say before was that after each time you turn the adjuster nuts you need to bounce the car up and down a few times to help it settle at the new adjustment hight. If I read it correctly you had 2" difference when you measured it? If so, that would put it in the +/- range of an 1/8th".

 

[Basketcase]

when my buddy replaced my shock crossmember, he raised the front of mine up like this. lifted it quiet nicely.

 

[zupanj]

I have now taken 4 full turns to each side. I am not sure the t-bar anchor is above the lower ball joint knuckle yet but I am leaving it alone for now. I should probably think about taking it to a front end shop for an alignment. Thanks for your help.

Jack

 

[Big John]

Section 2-4 of the service manual shows the ride height measurement.