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Lowering by torsion bars do's & don't'?

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6290988

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I lowered it by the torsion. After lowering it I decided to rebuild the front end and do a disc brake swap.

After alignment and everything settling I noticed that the lower control arm bump stop is a hair or two away from bottoming out. Looks like I'm going have to raise it a couple inches. Sucks because the alignment is spot on.

Any do's or dont's? Still new to torsion bars.
 
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I did a disc conversion and put the torsion adjustment back to where it was before. Ride height was lower.

Took the car for an alignment. Toe was way out, and camber was too negative by a degree each side. Anyhow after alignment ride height is 26 inches from fender center.
 
Billccm said:
I did a disc conversion and put the torsion adjustment back to where it was before. Ride height was lower.

Took the car for an alignment. Toe was way out, and camber was too negative by a degree each side. Anyhow after alignment ride height is 26 inches from fender center.
Click to expand...

What size front tire are you running? I'm running 235/70 15.
 
I've also read that you want atleast a half an inch clearance on the bump stop.
 
P235 60R14

I've got over 1/2 on the bump stop.
 
I ran about 3/4" off the bump stops on my 66 and a good bit of negative camber....enough to where you could see it by eye. Raising it a couple of inches will affect alignment but raising it 1/2" or so won't affect it much at all.

And measuring ride height using the body sheet metal isn't the right way to do it. It'll be close in most cases but the body is just a skin and isn't part of the chassis/frame of the car and can be different side to side and some of differences would surprise you.
 
Mechanic that did my alignment was a mopar guy; owns a 69 charger and a dart with 440.

Anyhow I agree with cranky. Just measured my ride height to get a reference before and after using the body measurement.
 
Alignment report on my car shows -1.0 and -1.1 on camber when finished. It was over -2 when started. Toe went from 0.32 to 0.06 when finished.
 
6290988 said:
Any do's or dont's? Still new to torsion bars.
Click to expand...
Take a look in the service manual. Alignment...whether just adjusting, or complete rebuild...ride height, or torsion bar adjustment (same thing), is the FIRST thing that's adjusted. All the remaining settings, work off ride height.
 
I ended up adjusting it to get the clearance I was looking for. Drove it around. Parked and measure and everything is good still on caster/camber/toe.
 
Slice a slither off of the bump stops, I took most of the 'peak' off of the top of mine to get some extra clearance and the ride height I wanted. Maybe 1/2"ish
 
Agree about ride height being first adjustment, however, that will put it at stock height with stock wheels and tires installed.

If you want something different, which is entirely possible and doable thanks to the user adjustable torsion bar, be sure you are VERY clear with your alignment guy up front. That's usually a pretty long and involved conversation.

I dropped mine about an inch in the front and after about 5K miles there is no difference in handling, and no noticeable abnormal wear pattern, and I even have a known LBJ on the way out.

Also keep in mind that newer spec and the preference of some alignment guys is to "make up" for crowned roads by setting the camber different on the pass side.
 
Malicious said:
Slice a slither off of the bump stops, I took most of the 'peak' off of the top of mine to get some extra clearance and the ride height I wanted. Maybe 1/2"ish
Click to expand...
I left mine alone and after awhile, the peaks were a bit more flat but not much. Adding a good deal of camber with lowing it down helped in the handling to the point where it was very noticeable. Wider wheels and better tires didn't hurt none either...
 
Iowa is supposed to be flat. I had a Mazda B2000 lowered 3" and now a Mitsubishi Eclipse 1". A lowered daily driver is nice. When your kids want to go "cruising" for Pokémon...be ready for carnage.

One of the locals told me to put a splitter on the front of my charger. A splitter alone, would be crushed on the trailer's drop tail.

Relinquish the trailer queen crown.
 
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I'm new to torsion bars and my 1969 GTX is low in the front. Can I adjust the torsion bars to increase height? How is it done? I have the service manual. Thanks!
 
Coach420 said:
I'm new to torsion bars and my 1969 GTX is low in the front. Can I adjust the torsion bars to increase height? How is it done? I have the service manual. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Pretty easy actually you need to crank the adjuster bolts in, jack it up when you do it, if they are all the way in now you will need new bars, and after adjusting it you want to get it aligned.
 
Coach420 said:
I'm new to torsion bars and my 1969 GTX is low in the front. Can I adjust the torsion bars to increase height? How is it done? I have the service manual. Thanks!
Click to expand...
IF the car is a driver and has never been touched or cleaned up real good, make sure the adjuster bolts (in the lower control arms) are clean and lubed read good. A good way to start is by using penetrating oil on them then some good liquid lube once the penetrating oil soaks through the threads. When you let the car back down on the ground, roll it back back several feet then bring it back to where you were and check ride height according to the service manual. And using the body to measure from is not the best way to check things....
 
Cranky said:
IF the car is a driver and has never been touched or cleaned up real good, make sure the adjuster bolts (in the lower control arms) are clean and lubed read good. A good way to start is by using penetrating oil on them then some good liquid lube once the penetrating oil soaks through the threads. When you let the car back down on the ground, roll it back back several feet then bring it back to where you were and check ride height according to the service manual. And using the body to measure from is not the best way to check things....
Click to expand...
Thanks. The car was restored and is definitely lowered in front. The rear has lowering blocks. I think the clearance below the headers is insufficient so to be safe I'd like to bring the front back up closer to stock height.
 
FWI, loosen the LCA mounting nut where it bolts to the K-frame before making adjustments to your torsion bars. After your adjusment, give the front of the car a "bounce" to re-seat the LCA mount before tightening the nut back up. If this isn't done, premature failure of the LCA bushing may result. ..
 
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