I have a 71 Challenger with a 440, power steering, power brakes and AC. I am getting ready to go through the suspension and I will use the car on a road course and autocross. Bergman has some 1.14 bars in stock and Firm Feel has one set of 1.18 lefts. Would like something in the 1.2-1.25 range. It would be several months before any custom sizes are available for a couple hundred more. Can anyone suggest a possible source for the torsion bars? Been looking but I’m coming up empty.
Torsion Bars
- Thread starter Raven855
- Start date
Xcudame
Well-Known Member
1.25" torsion bars are going to be really hard the find. Use the 1.18" from Firm Feel along with their beefy front and rear sway bars. And get some Bilstein or QA1 fully adjustable shocks. Also be sure to get at a minimum Moog offset bushings for the upper control arms or tubular A-Arms that have more caster and camber built in. The lower control arms are very beefy if you weld in metal straps across the bottom (or buy the prefab ones from one of the companies you mentioned above). Mopars handled better than any other make out there when new (ask an LEO from the late 60s through early 80s!!) and can be made to handle even better with a few modifications now.
Mr Cuda
Well-Known Member
1.14 or 1.18?
Get whats available. 1.25 is the size of the hex, so that would be max.
I had some bar heat treated back when aftermarket bars were not available. It was cheaper to just get the 6160 treated than to mess with finding someone to grind them. They were stiff. Like 80-90mph in a big lowered 440 B body to get it to smooth out.
They ( heat treaters) warned me that the peaks could be a stress point.
The 1.18's are the diameter with the peaks knocked off.
Get whats available. 1.25 is the size of the hex, so that would be max.
I had some bar heat treated back when aftermarket bars were not available. It was cheaper to just get the 6160 treated than to mess with finding someone to grind them. They were stiff. Like 80-90mph in a big lowered 440 B body to get it to smooth out.
They ( heat treaters) warned me that the peaks could be a stress point.
The 1.18's are the diameter with the peaks knocked off.
Ricks72Chlgr440
Well-Known Member
Wow those would be very stiff bars indeed. I installed 1.03 bars and still had to clearance my headers on both sides to clear the larger bars. Cannot imagine having even larger bars! Maybe you are using stock style exhaust which would make all the difference. Ugh.
I have driven an E body with the 1.18 and figured I would go with something a little stiffer. I haven’t dropped in the engine yet. Which headers are you using?
Ricks72Chlgr440
Well-Known Member
I'm using the TTI 1 7/8"
1.24 t-bar is a 400# wheel rate. That is equivalent to an 800# spring in Brand C, which is a pretty hot street and mid-range racing handling point. Of course, you can use higher sway bar rates to offset the loss in wheel rate form smaller torsion bars to retain handling capability. The Hotchkis adjustable tubular sway bar might be a good choice for this. In fact, I think they recommend a 1.03 to 1.05 t-bar with their large, tubular sway bar.
Sway Away used to make torsion bars, but they were purchased a couple years ago and I'm not sure if they still exist. PST also used to offer them, but I don't think they went over 1.18. Also can check with Hotchkis.
Sway Away used to make torsion bars, but they were purchased a couple years ago and I'm not sure if they still exist. PST also used to offer them, but I don't think they went over 1.18. Also can check with Hotchkis.
Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of choices when it comes to big torsion bars. If there aren’t any in stock with your sources and you’re not wanting to wait for their next production run, that only leaves web boards and auction sites to search for the elusive big bars.
The other option is to go even bigger on sway bars. This will require a splined bar with custom ends and custom mounts. These can be found at Speedway Engineering Speedway Engineering
Don’t overlook that you will need to step up leaf spring rates and/or rear sway bar rates to maintain balance and will need some higher quality shocks to manage the motion.
The other option is to go even bigger on sway bars. This will require a splined bar with custom ends and custom mounts. These can be found at Speedway Engineering Speedway Engineering
Don’t overlook that you will need to step up leaf spring rates and/or rear sway bar rates to maintain balance and will need some higher quality shocks to manage the motion.
WFHDANB426
Active Member
I raced a Chrysler Kit Car on oval tracks in the early 80's and the 1.2" bar in the right front and 1.18" bar in the left worked great. For a road course I would say that equal size in the front like two 1.2" would be nice and maybe even 1.25"? I think that the rear swaybar size is often overlooked and to me a huge rear swaybar is a good idea. IMO every car with both ft & rr swaybars will handle better than a car with only a front bar. Maybe check in Nascar country to see if anyone hoarded those torsion bars from the 70's Chrysler campaigns. I ran 314 Kit Car leaf springs as well. I wrote and recorded some Cuda songs if you want to check them out and subscribe on yotube or spotify. My artist name is: WFHDANB426
I used PST 1.03 in my 70 Challenger with a 6.4 Hemi sagged like a set of .86 bars changed to a set from Summit Hotchkis 1.12 car sits nice was told the PST bars were soft hard to get quality spring steel at the moment Bergaman has them from time to time
Summit are showing 1 set in stock
WFHDANB426
Active Member
Maybe reach out to Ray Evernham to see if he got some extra bars with the Chrysler Kit Car that he bought in Detroit a few years ago. The email that I have for Ray is: info@rayevernham.com
I'm using 1.24 t-bars with the 414 oval track leaf springs, 1.125" front s-bar and a 1" rear s-bar. According to my calcs, this should produce a nice handling balance with my small block. It would work for a big block as well, but will use up the tires faster.
If you wanted more than a 1.25 bar, you would have to swap in C body anchors and control arm sockets and have a special bar made. A bit of work and expensive, but possible.
There used to be an outfit on Long Island, Sparks Bros Racing, that was reproducing a lot of Kit Car parts in the 80s-90s and had piles of t-bars. They closed up in the late 90s-early 00s, but all those parts had to go somewhere.
If you wanted more than a 1.25 bar, you would have to swap in C body anchors and control arm sockets and have a special bar made. A bit of work and expensive, but possible.
There used to be an outfit on Long Island, Sparks Bros Racing, that was reproducing a lot of Kit Car parts in the 80s-90s and had piles of t-bars. They closed up in the late 90s-early 00s, but all those parts had to go somewhere.
WFHDANB426
Active Member
My Chrysler Kit Car had receiver pockets built into the trans crossmember that the tb end lived in. There was a flat plate on the face with a hole that allowed for a 1/2" bolt to thread into the crossmember to keep the receiver holding the tb end from rotating under load. Check out my Cuda songs on spotify or youtube, artist name: WFHDANB426 thanks!
WFHDANB426
Active Member
Your welcome! Check out the MOPAR GUY song online if you haven't already, it's super cool!
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