Alright, I've been thinking about getting a set of stiffer torsion bars for my Dart for a while now. I was originally thinking about getting 383 torsion bars (0.890" diameter), but if a little is good then too much is just right, or isn't it? Is there any advantage to going stiffer than this on a street-driven car? I see that .920", .990", and bars 1" and more are available.

I do plan on lowering the car a bit, atleast two inches, to improve handling. What is best? Will bars that are too stiff just promote cracks in the torsion bar mounts without offering any better handling?

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'68 Dodge Dart 4dr Sedan

This has a lot to do with the car's weight.
I have the .89 bars in my 66 Dart wagon, that car weighs 3600 lbs and those bars are about right, not mushy, not rock hard.

I have run the 1 inch bar in a 440 powered A-body, 3340 lbs and that car rode like a rock, it handled pretty good but you felt every bump.

How much does your car weight and do you drink hot coffee while driving??
DD

I put the 0.920" bars in my '64 Dart, which is lowered 1-1.5" from stock height. It is a stiffer ride, but not bad. Car weighs about 2800 - possibly less. I think the car will be less forgiving in turns also if you go too heavy on the T-bars, but I have little personal experience for this. My personal experience has shown that lowering the car reduces the wheel rate (either due to nonlinearity in bar, or susp geometry), so a little extra bar is good in that case. My car got a little more oversteer when I put in the heavier bars too.

Take a look at www.arengineering.com at the T-bar article. He notes that newer passenger cars specify a higher spring (wheel) rate than Chrysler did in the 60s. I think if the Dart were built today, they would probably use the 0.890 on Slants or smallblocks anyway.

I bet if you have a heavier car (late A-body with all the trimmings), then 0.920 would be great for smoothness and handling. I have a set of 0.890s I'll be putting in my daily driver '68 Dart.

Happy handling,

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Thanks for the great info. Yeah, the bars will be going in my '68 Dart 4-door sedan (my only car and daily driver). Now, only if I had some nice weather for working on my car outside (13*F with windchill here near Philadelphia today).

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'68 Dodge Dart 4dr Sedan

One of the reasons that Chrysler replaced the A-bodies was owner preference for a rubber damped suspension. The only rubber damping is the control arm bushing. I like this "defect" because the handling can be superior. The A-body had a little more road noise than consumers preferred. You'll feel the higher spring rates in an A-body but the car will handle better than the quieter cars. I think this is one reason the 'Green Brick' is still competitive.

I just changed the tires on my Dart, when the rear wheel was jacked off the ground the front tire was also lifted off the ground. I don't know of any other car from that era which this is true. The A-body is a pretty rigid platform, but it's got more road noise. It's the tradeoff that I like.