It's a 71'. Sits just a bit higher in front than in the rear. 2" would be about right for a a mild custom stance. I understand this can be done by tweeking the torsion bar. So, I got wrenches and jacks, just don't know how to do it properly. Advice and instructions would be very valuable and much appreciated.

Matty

well first I would look at rearching the rear springs to their proper dimension. Mine were done this spring and I think it looks great. See for yourself.

If you want to lower it I can't help. I have been too afraid of messing up my brake bias and ground clearance over speed bumps and curbs to ever bother learning. For practical purposes a sway bar will do far more for the handling of the car than a lowering job. And the fuel economy savings are marginal. But you do sacrifice ground clearance which only means damage to your classic IMO. As for looks, well..

for those people who don't understand what lowering is practically done for, I guess thayll like your car more if it's in the weeds. But there's a lot of mopar guys out there that know their stuff, and I think most of them will look at your car in disdain. Like ford and chevy guys, Ive met a lot of them and a lot of them are not very nice. Ive had a lot of them glare at me driving my car in the winter, until they see the "KROWN" stickers in my windows and the oil dripping from the mouldings. They are NOT afraid to tell people off when they see something they dont like.

On the other hand, if you are just doing this for yourself and care nothing for other people's opinions, then right on. Godspeed. Hope someone can shed light on the process.

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I've been calling it as i see it for my entire life and that's not about to change. Take it or leave it.

Lowering with torsion bars is pretty simple - there is a large bolt under each lower control arm. Turn the bolt out to lower the car; turn it inward to raise it. If you don't have the sort of scales that can show you the weight on each front tire (you want it to be the same on each side, more or less) rotate each the same number of turns. After you're done, if you have handling problems or funny tire wear, get the alignment fixed.

The only real disadvantage to trying to drop a Mopar too much is that you might find yourself bottoming the suspension out a bit more often - or if you have an aftermarket sway bar, it might hit the ground when you bottom out. If this is a problem, stiffer torsion bars are the cure.

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

The trick is where and how do you measure your progress accurately lacking a completely flat pad or a adjustable lift to place the vehicle on. Never heard of anyone else doing this, but this is how after 10 years of trial and error I now do it. Front wheels must be straight and on the ground for this adjustment.

ITEMS NEEDED:

1X3-3 FEET LONG
1X3 -1 FOOT LONG
ANY SCRAP PIECE FOR A LEG BRACE
TAPE MEASURE
NECESSARY SOCKET FOR THE THE TORSION BAR ADJUSTMENT BOLT

Now to assemble your scale: butt join the 1 ft 1x3 to the 3ft 1x3, using the scrap material for a diagonal brace. The assembly should now be L shaped and rest completely level.

OPTIONAL: Mine is painted white to aid in proper reading

MARK THE LONG SIDE OF THE BOARD IN ONE INCH INCREMENTS UP TO 3 FEET USING A MARKER AND CARPENTERS SQUARE.

HOW TO USE:
Place scale against front tire, using the apex of the outside fender opening as your reference. Note what measurement looks good, we will fine tune later.

Doing one side at a time, Loosen the Adjustment bolt by hand and begin, stop and check your progress every two turns or so, until your chosen scale (IE: ride height) measurement is even with the apex of the fender opening. A buddy comes in real handy here and makes it easier on the ole back! The object is to lower the front to your chosen mark on the scale.

Repeat for the other side

Have Full alignment performed and inform whoever does you work DO NOT ADJUST RIDE HEIGHT!

This works very well for situations where the work surface is not dead level, and to you skeptics with wrinkled/uneven openings it also works, although some additional eyeballing necessary.

The DS fender opening on the GT is uneven due to a illegal U turn by a jeep with a lift kit, who's bumper caught the drivers side opening and rolled it in and up, still using my scale got within 1/4 inch of the right hand side adjustment (24-1/4 inches with the 175/80R13 tires), it was a simple matter to tweak the left adjustment bolt half a turn to even things out.

Yep, I'm gonna drop it a bit for the main purpose that I wan't to see it that way. If I wanted to impress rodders, I'd probably have to start with a two door. This is a faded hemi orange family sedan, and it has the "extra" doors. It could just use a little attitude, to go with the raspy duals. I'm doin' it tomarrow. Thanks guys!

Matty - Just did this. Dropped about 2" in the front and 1" in the rear. It is not in the weeds (don't know what the he** steponmebbbboom was talking about, but I generally mod my car to please me like most of us do). Anyway, you will have to reduce the size of the lower bump stop and I also went up 2 sizes on the t-bars. I also have tubular uca's, so I did not lose anything on the alignment. It is the right attitude without looking like a lowrider. Go for it.

*yawn*

well I AM in the steel city of Hamilton, it's a pretty rough town for Canada and though I could care less about what others think - I do dislike getting approached by grumpy gearheads lecturing me on how to care for my Mopar. It's happened three times to me in the last month. But hey, whatever, like I said go for it if it's what you want. I don't quite remember telling you not to. Just watch the speed bumps

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I've been calling it as i see it for my entire life and that's not about to change. Take it or leave it.

I was going to Drop my Volare 2" in the front and 1" in the rear, then i re-thought things threw, it bottoms out enough as it is, and as it is i only have about 6-8" of clearance at the bottom of my K-frame

if you are lowering the front end, everyone seems to have forgotten one thing. You would also need to shorten the bumpstops, to prevent premature bottoming. I personally wouldn't lower it by the old tried and true method without first beefing up the torsionbars themselves, then adjusting them to the desired height. If they are stiffer, they would resist bottoming out better. By just backing off the adjuster on the stock bars, all you are doing in essence is making the bar softer, not a good combo....it lowers it fine, but also makes it softer, more bottoming out. Can't get the best of both worlds without going stiffer.

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"That thing gotta HEMI in it??"

actually, our anonymous hero did mention that, to give him/her credit. Albeit briefly. And I believe you are correct regarding the torsion bars, I ran my Lincoln with the front bags deflated due to a skewed height control sensor for about a week and the soft front end was scary. If you bottom the front end hard enough you'll also bend something. But I digress...

Getting back to the opening statement, Matty, your car has a boatlike stance right now probably because the rear springs are sagging. Getting them rearched and back to their proper tension to correct the car's stance makes a hell of a lot more sense than dropping the front end to match, and you may find you like the look of the car at its proper ride height anyway. I wonder if anyone would notice it's lowered at all if you only go the factory allowed lower limit, but I guarantee your backside will if you hit a bump.

Hey, just to play devil's advocate here, has anyone tried modifying the spindles to lower an Abody? Ive seen dropped spindles in speed rags all the time but I cant recall any mopar ones. A dropped spindle would have all the benefits of stock suspension adjustment if you only went down two inches or so. Just put a skidplate on the Kframe and you're set

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I've been calling it as i see it for my entire life and that's not about to change. Take it or leave it.

One thing to remember about leaf springs. They are designed to have little or no camber (arch) in them, that is the way they are supposed to be. If nobody believes me, look in your factory shop manual in the Shock absorber and Rear Spring section. It states a relitivly flat rear spring gives better lateral stability and reduces side sway which contributes to a well controlled ride and superior handling and stability characteristics. I lowered my front end an inch. One thing to remember about lowering the front (besides needing an alignment) is the extra strain the front end components will be under. I say do it.

steponme: yes, i've modified a A-body spindle. The upright was left alone and the lower ball joint pick-up was moved down one inch. This effectively lowered the car one inch while maintaing proper suspension geometery. The benifit was an addt'l camber gain, less t-bar run out and the ride height that i was looking for. however, to run the brakes (12" cop rotors) grinding had to take place on the lower "ears". there was no way i could run the smaller 11" brakes.
In retrospect, i'd move the upper ball joint pickup up for a (theoretical) caster gain (through the arc) while lowering the LBJ pickup only 1/2" thus giving me the camber and ride height... but hindsight is always 20/20.
To loosely answer your question about "aftermarket" drop spindles. I believe that these are too low to be of any benifit in handling aspects but could give somebody that "in the weeds stance" they're looking for.

Okay lowering a car-- there were some VERY important topics raised so i'd highly suggest taking a look at where you stand before actually going through with the lowering. But if you must: take out your LCA bumpstops, loosen the LCA nuts, turn your t-bar adjusters out, tighten back up your LCA nut (to the proper torque spec), trim down bumpstops and replace. You can take your measurements however your so desire; off body panels or off the LBJ and LCA or just eyeball it, there was a VERY good suggestion on how to do this with painted sticks by somebody here. Go to the alignment shop tell the tech that you've lowered and ask for a new alignment. You'll want a little negative camber, a touch of positive caster, and 1/16" toe in.
>>HOWEVER, lowering your car 2" just up front has a whole host of ramifications. You now do not know what your roll center is, your roll couple could be adversly changed and your car could handle poorly if not dangerously, you bottom out on dips and crunch parking stops, you bottom out and kill your shocks, and so on and so forth. ALSO, it was mentioned before double check that your rear springs aren't clapped out or that you don't have 400lbs of crap in the trunk giving you that motorboat stance.

Next topic, lowering the back of the car....
*laughs*

-JYH
64 Dart Trans-Am Machine
SoCal

That's interesting, Junkyardhero. How exactly did you move the lower ball joint pick-up? I had a mental picture of drilling new holes in the spindle, but I don't seem to remember enough metal there to move the holes that far. Could you post a picture of what was moved? Also, what effect does moving the lower ball joint that far have on the roll centers and camber curve?

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

Matt, lowering the LBJ p/u was accomplished by adding material to the bottom of the spindle. Basically, take the same shape and add 1" to the bottom and then drill the new holes; you had the right idea. next you have to relieve the back area for the LBJ clearance (see stock unit for a reference), and grind down the fronts just under the pickup bolts to about 45* for brake clearance and you're in the game. Not for the faint of heart to say the least. But what can i say, i had a spare saturday afternoon and a case of beer <BSEG>.
Adding the 1" put the roll center nearly 1/2" BELOW ground. While it was a pleasure to drive on the street, the track was a whole different story. It pushed like a 2ton steel door. BUT, it was very sure on it's feet, centered reacted well and had a neutral line. Out back i utilized custom front hangars and a small lowering block to keep the roll couple withing an acceptable means.
All said and done, good for street. Not so good for full boogie track action.
Sorry i can't answer on the camber curve, i don't have proper plotting software. But i can tell ya that there was no adverse tire wear issues, and the turn in was most lovely. *laughs*
Hit me w/ you e-mail addy or tell me how to post a pic here and i'll pop 'em up.

-JYH
Like a freight train without brakes... just sit back and watch baby!

When I set the height on my cars, I just crnk the bolts and measure the distance to the lip of the wheelwell. I also try and keep it at least 1/2" off the bump stop. Oh yeah, after you adjust the bolt, make sure to bounce the car a couple times so that it "sets".

As long as you don't lower it so far that it sits on the bump stops, everything will be fine. This is not rocket science.

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.