Torsion Bar Recommendations

[ModTop340]

What's up folks? It's been a while since I've shown my face around the board. I'm back!

I'm in the market for torsion bars for my '64 Barracuda. The car has a 340, big car brakes and axles, 15" rims, KYB shocks and a 4-speed. My problem? When I come to a slight dip in the road, the front tires touch the inner fender wells. Too much travel. Currently I've got 2BBL V-8 bars installed. No good.

I don't race the car at the track, just around town on weekend wasting Phords. Should I go with 340, or 383 bars? In addition to that, where should I buy them? I've seen all kinds of pricing. Should I go with the Mopar Performance bars from Summit? Or, should I go with Just Suspension or PST? Is there actually a quality difference?

Thanks for the input. ~Todd

[jelsr]

Nothing wrong with the MP bars, and if you do some snooping you can get them at a relatively reasonable price. Measure the dia on yours and go from there. Don't use the B body figures for comparison. The shorter A body bars will be stiffer for a given dia. The MP catalogue shows .870" for 340 resto and .890" for 383 resto.

[charger_dan]

The MP bars are probably made in Mexico or China, but they're
good quality. I've compared them to my OEMs, and they look
the same. Plus, they're considerably cheaper than the aftermarket
vendors. Get 'em from Mancini or Summit.

[Steve Barracuda]

I had the 340 bars on my 64-340 equipped Barracuda and thought they were a little soft. I swapped them out for the 383 bars and I am very pleased with their performance. Koller Dodge was them online for $117

[darren509]

Are you thr gentleman that introduced yourself to our car club,"WineCountryMopars" a few months back ? If you are, I have a used set off a 73 scamp if your interested.

[ModTop340]

Nope, that's not me. Thanks for the offer, but I think I'm going to go with new 383 bars.

[tsteiner61]

I swapped torsion bars in my 71 Dart Swinger this year (408 stroker SB). I had excellent results going one step up from your suggestion to the .920" diameter bars P5249151. The spring rate on the resto 383 restos (.890" diameter) is only 10 lb. higher than the resto 340 bars (.870" diameter) (135 vs. 125). The .920", which is advertised as "H.D. V8 handling" bar has a 160 rate and IMO is perfect. I use Edelbrock IAS shocks. I was having the same problem as you before the swap and the problem went away immediately. My choice of bars was on the advice of Dave at PST, and I think you may want to a least consider this bar.

[dusterbd]

tstiener: could you post the spring rates for all the a-body bars? ive been lookig for these umbers foreverm, and have yet to find any.

modtop: if you want to go to the 383 bars (.89), ill sell you a pretty much brand new pair. theve been on the car for about 600 miles. i wanna get a stiffer setup for my purposes. i do solo II ocasionally, and it wallows too much for my taste.
thanks
mike

[George G. Leverette]

I would recommend the Mopar .092 bars for the car, the last pair I bought were original mopar bars with the left and right indexing. One poster was correct in stating that Mopar also have the afer market bars that are shipped under the same part number, these bars can be installed eithe side without problems. had a set of 1.04 on a 440 Duster and they worked for me.

[tsteiner61]

dusterbd, here you go.

Source: High Performance Mopar Magazine Sept. 2001.

************************************************

Diameter ** Rate ** MPP P/N *** Suggested Application

A-body:

.810" 100 lb/in P5249148 Drag Racing
.830" 115 lb/in Not Offered /6 production 2535888-9
.870" 125 lb/in P5249149 Resto 340 2535892-3
.890" 135 lb/in P5249150 Resto 383 2535894-5
.920" 160 lb/in P5249151 H.D V8 Handling
.990" 200 lb/in P5249152 Solo & Road Racing
1.040" 250 lb/in P5249153 H.D. Solo & Road + 1/4,1/2 oval
1.090" 300 lb/in P5249154 Circle Track
1.140" 350 lb/in P5249155 Circle Track

B/E-body:

.840" 100 lb/in P5249156 Drag Racing
.860" 110 lb/in Not Offered /6 production 1857774-5
.920" 135 lb/in P5249157 Resto 440 1857780-1
.960" 165 lb/in P5249158 H.D V8 Handling
1.000" 180 lb/in P5249159 Solo & Road Racing
1.120" 250 lb/in P5249160 H.D. Solo & Road + 1/4,1/2 oval
1.160" 300 lb/in P5249161 Circle Track
1.220" 350 lb/in P5249162 Circle Track

*************************************************

[dusterbd]

thanks
mike

[swingin72]

ModTop,

I redid the front and rear suspension on my 72 Dart with a 318. I got SS rear springs and .920" T-bars. I also did a polygraphite rebuild from PST along with 1-1/8" front sway bar and 7/8" rear sway bar from Addco. And let me tell you, I love it! I easily outhandle many imports (I drive a 92 civic hatch as a commuter car) and have the power to back it up. I was able to seriously lower the front and have yet to bottom out on a bump. The ride is a little bouncy at times, but well worth it in terms of results. Definitely the way to go!

-Steve

PS Check out the pictures on my website, you can see my ride height