Was checking out some rodders catalog and was intrigued with a Heidst independent front suspension setup. This particular company will custom build and, other then the staggering cost what are the pros and cons? Soon the 63 will be retired from the daily grind giving me more time to ponder the next step in its evolution.

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Troops on the battlefield have a far better view of the battle then the generals who lead them

Bah. Why bother? You already have an IFS. And living in L.A. the T-bars can't be too harsh. Currently I'm toying with the idea of gusseting the UCA mounts and adding a solid upper shock mount. Either a big ol' bracket or a roll cage with through bolt brackets on the forward tubes. Stiffen the unibody, provide some protection, gives better selection of shocks, keeps it all Mopar. Seems to me that USM is the weak link in the T-bar suspension. 2 cents worth, there ya go.

Stock Mopar suspension, when properly maintained and adjusted, is an excellent IFS design with good geometries and durability.

Note that the USM does not carry any of the load of the car like on F and C products, only the shock reactions which are comparatively small, and the UCA mounts also do not carry much load. The UCA mounts get loaded in hard cornering, but the LCA mounts carry most of the load in most situations.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

The more I think about it, 73-76 upper/lower LCAs-larger ball joints & LBP disc and 340 torsion bars with polygraphite all around should do it without excessive cash outlay. Good idea on reinforcements.

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Troops on the battlefield have a far better view of the battle then the generals who lead them

I agree with the others; the Mopar A-body front suspension is already an excellent design as it is. The biggest drawback to the suspension layout is noise, vibration, and harshness, but trying to wring all that out of an A-body is going to require a good deal more than suspension changes. When it comes to performance, only the most hard-core racers have much reason to scrap the entire thing, and it wouldn't be easy to come up with a better design than what you can get with incremental changes to the stock setup.

Your proposed set of changes sounds like a quite workable one (although there's no need to add the later lower control arms, just the upper ones) - I have the same mods on my '66 plus a few extras: 11.75" R-body disc brakes (they bolt to the spindles you're considering), KYB shocks, and an Addco front sway bar. Quite a difference, and not much harsher than stock. In fact, I'd consider using 0.890" (383-spec) or even 0.920" torsion bars. And if you want to get even more hard-core, there's tubular upper control arms that can improve your suspension geometry.

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"Mad Scientist" Matt Cramer
'66 Dart - turbocharged 225
My blog - Mad Scientist Matt's Lair