Big Block front Springs

[jibbers66]

Hi Guys,

I have a 72 barracuda with a 440.
Anyway to confirm if the proper springs were installed in the front suspension, by whoever did the motor swap.? I am just guessing the big block used different coil springs than the small block.

 

[moparlee]

Have you looked under your car lately? You won't see any coil springs unless you are looking under a chebby. There is a difference in torsion bars though.

 

[pschlosser]

Torsion bars. The front suspension on the Barracuda uses a torsion bar. If you have a way to accurately measure a shaft, even a cheapo digital caliper from HF, you can measure the ones you have to confirm if they are correct for your engine weight.

Common diameters:

• 0.860 - slant-6
• 0.880 - 318
• 0.900 - 340/383
• 0.920 - 426/440

edit: corrected data

 

[Xcudame]

426/440 were . 920" in diameter! If only we had 1.25" diameter torsion bars back in the day for E-Bodies!!

 

[pschlosser]

426/440 were . 920" in diameter! If only we had 1.25" diameter torsion bars back in the day for E-Bodies!!

hey, thank you for that. I was referring to my notes, and I thought that was a big jump in the series. I see now it was a typo, 1.25 is the facet dims.

 

[jibbers66]

Have you looked under your car lately? You won't see any coil springs unless you are looking under a chebby. There is a difference in torsion bars though.

Obviously not.

Thanks Pal..

 

[jibbers66]

Torsion bars. The front suspension on the Barracuda uses a torsion bar. If you have a way to accurately measure a shaft, even a cheapo digital caliper from HF, you can measure the ones you have to confirm if they are correct for your engine weight.

Common diameters:

• 0.860 - slant-6
• 0.880 - 318
• 0.900 - 340/383
• 0.920 - 426/440

edit: corrected data

Perfect thank you.....

 

[Xcudame]

The cool thing is torsion bars are a lot more unsprung weight (better handling). The bad thing is exhaust, but TTI and Doug's headers solve that problem!

 

[EV2RTSE]

Hi Guys,

I have a 72 barracuda with a 440.
Anyway to confirm if the proper springs were installed in the front suspension, by whoever did the motor swap.? I am just guessing the big block used different coil springs than the small block.

If you find that they left the small block t-bars in it when they installed the 440, switching to heavier ones will make a noticeable difference in how the car rides and handles. You'll find these days most of the aftermarket bars start at 1.03" and go up from there. Which size to choose will ultimately depend on how far you'd want to take the rest of the suspension to go along with it. But if you're basically just looking to upgrade the bars then IMO those 1.03s should be in the ballpark.

 

[Gumby]

And if you're trying to keep it original with OEM parts, I'm selling my .90" torsion bars (1857778 and 1857799). They were included in the "Heavy Duty" suspension package according to the parts book, not to be confused with "Extreme Duty" .92" torsion bars.

 

[Mr Cuda]

Even the factory 440 .920" bars are too soft when driven hard.
Spend the money once and go aftermarket. 1.03" or more, depending on your needs.
Especially if you want it low in front.