I know everyone these days is recommending the torsion bars in the one inch diameter range for a modern A body, but are "340" bars still worth getting? I found a set on Craigslist near me for roughly 1/3 the price of new thicker torsion bars, and I am contemplating getting them since they would be a step up from the 225/AC bars in the car now.

Should I pass or get them?

Thanks for the advice.

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

I run those in my Hpak duster, if they are in good condition and you are putting the suspension together with good/new parts, better to put them in now, than wait until later...

They are just a smidge better than the 890/891 bars, and loads better than the pre-73 slant six bars....I did not like them with the stock factory sway bar, as it tended to want to oversteer a bit...if you are wanting more of the looser "big car feel" stay with the 890/891 bars).

IIRC, the AC 225 bars are 0.850", so it will be hard to notice a difference from what you have. They are a good upgrade from stock non-AC bars. I would NOT go to thick (1" or so) unless I also bought good shocks (Edel IAS, Bilstein, Hotchkis, or equivalent).

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Thanks. The Duster is still sitting on the stock 1974 225 AC bars. I completely rebuilt the suspension a few years ago with HD rubber and good Moog parts, but put it back together with the stock torsion bars. I did upgrade the rear springs with a set of stock 1974 six leaf springs out of a 360 Duster.

I sent the seller an email and if he still has them and I can make the drive, I might go ahead and get them.

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

Yep. the 1+" T-bar 'craze' has its place if you want a car that is flat as a go-kart around corners... and as stiff. It is impossible to convince some folks how good working suspension travel gets sacrificed with such stiff bars; if you drive on any rough surfaced roads or roads with large undulations, the 1" bars can be a real problem, even with properly matched shocks like the ones Lou lists.

If the .87's are cheap, I might go for them, but the change will not be quite in the 'night and day' category, IMO. Your spring rate will go up by around 10%. A .92 bar would be a much more noticeable change. But at least with the .87" t-bars, you will still be OK with standard shocks that are in decent shape.

Here is a good A body size chart: http://www.hotrodreference.com/90/mopar ... reference/

Looks like the bars woudl go from 120 lb/in to 130 lb/in (.870 in to .890 in). Not a big step up, but some. I guess I won't be too bummed if I don't get the bars, but it would be nice if I could. It all depends on whether or not the seller responds to my e-mail.

Thanks for the input.

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

OK, I assumed you were going from .83 to .87 bars. I would not bother with a nominal 10 lb/in change if that is what you are looking at.

And, BTW, I miscalculated the change .83 to .87; it is around +20% rate change so would be noticeable. (Spring rate goes up with the 4th power of t-bar diameter....)

0.890" are big block 383 bars for Darts, 0.870" are the std V8 bars. Yours should be 0.850". BEST to measure with a caliper or you might be surprised. I don't trust anyone, even myself...

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

One thing I have never known that maybe someon knows.....is the T-bar diameter with or without paint? Seems silly, but 2 paint layers could easily be .010-.020" !

I believe that is without paint, but the tolerance is likely +/-0.005" or more on the diameter. The bars I have measured are with paint that are usually a few thou thicker than spec. So, I don't know for sure, but this is my educated guess at the situation...

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Weel, they sold to someone else, so I'll never know. I will deal with front suspension upgrades later, I guess.

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

Zorg is running 1" bars in his Dart. Ask him how they work.

I thnk I will jump right up to around 1 inch bars when the time comes. It hasn't come yet, but hopefully it will in the next few years...

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

The "corners are best" section on moparts had a discussion on this topic recently. The autox folks are advocating bigger bars around 1.15 and bigger. I remember when people freaked when you used the 383 bars with a small block, let alone a slant.

One person in that moparts discussion commented that a certain point, these 30, 40 and 50 year old cars don't have the best chassis anymore and rust never sleeps. At a certain point these larger bars may be masking other problems and the chassis might start becomming the spring.

Fortunately, my brother's Duster is largely rust free. I am just looking to update the suspension a bit to take advantage of modern tires and other improvements. No autocross, just daily driving.

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.