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| Suspension settings https://slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30592 |
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| Author: | 68barracuda [ Sun Aug 17, 2008 9:32 am ] |
| Post subject: | Suspension settings |
Came across these in my Hey Charger book Only use poligraphite/urethane on the Stabillzer bars (front and rear) and lower control arms Rubber for upper control arms - moog offset rubber for more castor In the rear use only rubber. Shocks - use adjustable shocks in the rear at their softest setting and preferably matching front shocks on a harder setting Wheels - 7 1/2 J max Tyres - A good assymetrical tyre - is recommended Front to rear about an inch rake - set torsion bars so that you have about 1/2 inch above the bump stop - .87inch torsion bars is ample for normal 6 cylinder road road race applications - .89 for racing and V8 For the road leave the rear spring hangers in their stock position, for the track or road race flip the spring hanger - the suspension will drop about 1 inch. Will post allignment settings later These cars like a lot of caster and quite a bit of positive camber... Things to watch out for on RHD Mopar's The steering box was bolted directly to the frame rail - it is a weak point - if its rusted and cracked - replace with after market piece, if it is cracked...replace - if it is healthy............reinforce asap - which means now I have to clean that part of my cars chassis......again...... Make certain you have drainage from these rails a drainage hole at the lowest point will help matters Bumpsteer - I can write chapters about this - but take it from me - the CL series had a lopsided drag link - it comes with bump steer built in. Replace with VKVJVH drag link Recommended road use alignment Front ride height 13 mm above bump stop Castor (manual steering) 1.5 degree positive Camber .5 degree negative both sides Toe 2.4mm toe in |
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| Author: | Joshie225 [ Sun Aug 17, 2008 9:50 am ] |
| Post subject: | |
Plenty of people have gone way beyond what you've written out with their US A-bodies. For street use I have 1.04" and QA1 adjustable shock absorbers. The ride is very good and handling is much improved. My rear shocks are on 3 of 12 and the front are 9 of 12. I don't like polyurethane lower control arm bushings as they will distort and loosen on a heavy car with good grip. For street use I stay with rubber, my old road race car got custom made nylon bushings. With aftermarket upper control arms you can get away from offset rubber bushings and still get the negative camber needed for lateral grip and the caster needed for good stability. An excess of caster really isn't needed, but a lack of negative camber will certainly hurt cornering and tire life. I used polyurethane leaf spring bushings and greatly reduced my tire rubbing problems as the axle was better located under the body. The tires would rub the fenders on my '66 Dart. Plenty of folks are using 17x8 or 17x9" wheels and tires as large as 275/40R17 on all 4 corners of an A-body. This does require some fender trimming up front though. Street cars with good shocks can easily use .990" torsion bars and race cars usually go right to 1.14" or 1.20". AR Engineering makes multi-position front leaf spring hangers. Alignment specifications vary with the intended use, but I agree with your suggestions for street use except the ride height may need adjustment depending upon local conditions. |
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| Author: | 68barracuda [ Sun Aug 17, 2008 11:32 am ] |
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I have urethane shackle bushes, with rubber front bush Up front is rubber allover at this stage Koni shocks on all four corners Keeping to 14 inch but with 7 1/2 rim The Moog bushes is cheaper to get hold of than importing custom UCA BFG maybe in future Goodyear GT2 at this stage Have to stay reasonably within restoration spec - Koni was a published upgrade back in the day, also flipping the spring hanger |
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| Author: | Dart270 [ Mon Aug 18, 2008 6:50 am ] |
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Honestly, good rubber components will be hard to tell from polyU. I use poly in my front sway bushings and rear springs and that's it. See Josh's comment on the LCA bushes. I have MOOG offsets in all my UCAs. You can go thicker on the Tbars, but that is not a huge difference in my opinion either if you have good shocks, a sway bar, and good tires. 0.890" or even 0.870" is a good place to start, and try going up from there. I would also leave more than 13mm from bump stops, or cut down the ones you have when you reach that ride height. 13mm will give you some bottoming, especially if you hit some curbing on the track. I had a few spin outs due to hitting the stops with about 13mm clearance - no fun... Lou |
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| Author: | 68barracuda [ Mon Aug 18, 2008 1:33 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
I wanted to flip the front spring hangers on the rear suspension..... Not so straight forward - the bolt holes are not equal spaced |
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| Author: | robertob [ Mon Aug 18, 2008 2:42 pm ] |
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Quote: I wanted to flip the front spring hangers on the rear suspension.....
Yes, you either have to hog out the holes in the frame rail (not recommended) or use one of the AR engineering hangers. Or if you have a local sheet metal place you could probably have some new ones made up more cheaply.
Not so straight forward - the bolt holes are not equal spaced |
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| Author: | Dart270 [ Mon Aug 18, 2008 2:46 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
Personally, I would hog out the holes and weld some new washers/nuts in the correct locations. I've modified stock hangers before too - not hard. AR's adapters are the best choice and I am running those on one of my A-bodies. Lou |
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| Author: | 68barracuda [ Mon Aug 18, 2008 9:48 pm ] |
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I am going to have some made up with a top middle and bottom bolt hole Opinions? |
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| Author: | dakight [ Tue Aug 19, 2008 4:47 am ] |
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I didn't know the front hangers needed to be modified. I was under the impression that you simply turned them over and swapped them side to side. Guess I'd better put custom hangers from Firmfeel on my list. |
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| Author: | Dart270 [ Tue Aug 19, 2008 6:08 am ] |
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Fanie, I built a set for my '64 exactly as you describe - stock hole, 1.1" higher, and 2.2" higher. On the car and has worked great for 8 yrs - lots of track and street miles. Mine is on the middle hole after getting more oversteer on the top hole. Lou |
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| Author: | sandy in BC [ Tue Aug 19, 2008 6:53 am ] |
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I have had flipped hangers on my Valaint for 8 years.....no down side....took about 3hours.......zero$ |
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| Author: | 68barracuda [ Wed Aug 20, 2008 12:00 pm ] |
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opinion on frame connectors please the handling bug has bitten me Every change I make make me go WOW what can I do to improve it within reason The connectors seem to add some stiffness in the vertical plane and in my opinion help protect aging chassis body shell - or am I totally wrong 
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| Author: | Dart270 [ Wed Aug 20, 2008 2:26 pm ] |
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All reports say they help. I have never tried them, and my cars are known to handle very well. I plan to install them on my Darts, but they have not gotten far up on my list yet... I would say do other stuff first. However, they can be made out of readily available tubing and welded in by about anybody. A-bodies have quite a stiff chassis, and won't see as much gain as Mustangs, Falcons, Camaros, and other old American iron. Lou |
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| Author: | Jim Lusk [ Wed Aug 20, 2008 3:52 pm ] |
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I will tell you that frame connectors REALLY help on the convertibles. My old Dart hardtop with the 440 drivetrain that is in my son's Dart did not feel like it really needed them. I've had two Barracuda fastbacks (one 66 and one 67). Both had factory handling packages (the 67 was added by me, the 66 was original). Neither car felt like it needed connectors. |
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| Author: | robertob [ Wed Aug 20, 2008 7:37 pm ] |
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Quote: All reports say they help. I have never tried them, and my cars are known to handle very well. I plan to install them on my Darts, but they have not gotten far up on my list yet... I would say do other stuff first. However, they can be made out of readily available tubing and welded in by about anybody.
You can get 80% of the gain by just plating the bottom of the chassis under the a-pillar where the front longitudinals weld to the floor. Hope that makes sense. The rear too, but you have to make holes to get a wrench on the spring hanger nuts. I did that on my Dart and it made a big difference. Of course mine was a hardtop, maybe that matters.
A-bodies have quite a stiff chassis, and won't see as much gain as Mustangs, Falcons, Camaros, and other old American iron. Lou |
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