hi there.

my question is about torsion bars on my 79 aspen... i would like to drop a little my car, and i noted that the torsion bars have a big bolt to regulate it.
but.

if i low a little the torsion bars, the susp will be harder or i'll hit the road with my oil pan every time i brake?

gracias

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Ñ sorry about my english, but in Chile we speak spanish... ¬¬.

You may be more likely to bottom out, but adjusting the height with the stock torsion bars does not have much effect on the ride stiffness.

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

Ummmmm, Matt? I beg to differ. That adjuster bolt regulates the spring rate, (aka: stiffness). One of the side effects is ride height. If one uses the adjusters to lower the ride height, it also reduces the "pre-load", and thus the spring rate.

If I'm wrong, I'll soon get corrected, but I feel very confident in my evaluation.

CVRO.....my suggestion is to find another Aspen or Volare, with a V-8 in it. Remove the torsion bars and install them into your slant-powered car. You'll then have a stiffer bar that will give you proper spring rate at a reduced ride height.

Roger

good idea... i'll try it.

_________________
Ñ sorry about my english, but in Chile we speak spanish... ¬¬.

Remember as a cost cutting measure in the final stages of the F-body recall mayhem (and learned from mistakes with 3-4 torsion bars then later 2 for the A-body)...F-body cars come with only one torsion bar type that is stock for /6's and both 318 and 360 V-8's... there is a 'stiffer' set
for the police, taxi and Station Wagon setups, but...the secret to this is they use steel or bronze bushings instead of rubber per a few other sources to stiffen up the ride....


-D.Idiot

GTS, the only way you can change the spring rate of a torsion bar is to machine off some of its thickness, or make a significant change in the length of the control arms (A-body) or the bent end (F-body). Raising or lowering the suspension will change the angle a bit, which does effectively change some lengths, but the effect is minimal. The adjusting bolt is sort of comparable to putting a spacer underneath a coil spring - changes the effective height, but does nothing about the stiffness of the mechanism itself.

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