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B Body K member Best Upgrade

Beastiedoggie

Well-Known Member
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5:26 PM
Joined
Aug 4, 2008
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Location
Merrillville Indiana
looking to snatch the entire front suspension out and get rid of the torsions. I'd appreciate some feedback from you menz that have done it. I have seen that the Magnum Force system has and some reliability issues with bad welds. I want to do a rack and coil over complete system eliminating too the gear box. if you have pics id appreciate it and what you spent (if youre willing)
 
Why? Are you building a serious auto cross car? Are you upgrading the rear suspension as well? A properly built original k member will serve you well and perform well in my opinion.
 
Why? Are you building a serious auto cross car? Are you upgrading the rear suspension as well? A properly built original k member will serve you well and perform well in my opinion.


AGREE! Only thing(s) I did to mine was put re-enforcement plates on, re-weld the crappy welds from factory and powder coat mine. The torsion bars Ma Mopar used was way ahead of their time for the period and used for many years. IMHO
 
On mine, I added in 120+ welds to it. Reinforcement plates. Skid plate.

617BEF5A-4305-4944-8719-B193E6863CC0_1_201_a.jpeg 0569D135-0F70-4C63-B876-7A3C498C1E89.jpeg EDAC150B-22FD-4AB9-B915-26CF8F5BAB95.jpeg 8C605C5F-FC22-4B0C-9689-11AEA5C47F84.jpeg
 
Forgot about adding skid plate in my last post
 
If you are familiar with construction stuff, I look at the welds like they are a specific nail pattern for a shear wall. Or look at older aircraft stuff with components riveted together at certain distances. There were 30? welds on my unit from the factory. I decided to add more by punching holes with my Blair Rota Broach cutters. I also punched into the idler arm mount going two layers with a bigger hole on the outer and smaller on the inner as I was dealing with a total of three layers. I cut access holes at the lower control arm area to get at the sleeves to weld on them from the inside. From there, got some big washers from Fastenal to put on the arm side and nut side to give the area more attachment. The strut rod only has the one layer to mount it. For that I added material in to the backside where it goes through plus the sides and top. Those too got welded in. On the top I put holes through the outer layer to catch that inner piece with some more weld. I still have to do some trimming and adding on the engine side to do when I'm able to get back on the car. If you go this route or similar, get the frame tanked to get the crud off. I had mine done twice but there was still junk between flanges that boiled out when welding. That was when I whipped out the Victor Wrench, aka torch, to burn out the rest. I plan on auto crossing my car so I'm adding reinforcements where I believe they are needed.

3E9AE151-EAAF-46E4-B5BD-A45C813137CF.jpeg 69CD5BDD-5C4C-41F6-85E8-13940BC8068B.jpeg 36210EA2-F5C6-44EE-8B56-856B7591B0A8.jpeg 6CE7B749-1B11-4F88-87E9-F116F3E22705.jpeg
 
Mopar K member will be fine, torsion bars will be better than a coil over anyway.. simple and effective.. KISS!
 
Why? Are you building a serious auto cross car? Are you upgrading the rear suspension as well? A properly built original k member will serve you well and perform well in my opinion.
Even a "serious autocross" car will see next to zero improvement with a coil over suspension conversion.
Consider this basic rule in life: If you are going to replace something, it should meet or exceed the standards of the original components.
The coil over suspensions have ONE advantage over a well built torsion bar suspension : Exhaust clearance. That is it. Name any other advantage that you have heard or read from an owner or the manufacturer and I can argue against it.
1) Better road feel: Better than what? A 100,000 mile original car? Sure. Better than a stock manual steering? Well, many of the steering racks used in these coil over setups are 16 to 1, that is good. The same ratio can be found in aftermarket steering boxes. Net gain? ZERO.
2) Better handling: Uhhh, better than a worn out car? I agree. Better than an upgraded stock setup? That is highly debatable. Net gain? ZERO.
3) Quick ride height changes: Quicker than a 3/4" socket and ratchet on a torsion bar car? Net gain? ZERO.
4) Increased exhaust clearance: Okay, the coil over setup wins BUT in most cases, TTI or Dougs makes headers that fit around the torsion bars, trans linkage, etc. Net gain? Actually, a Net LOSS. The coil over suspensions with brakes will cost over $5000. A proper rebuild with new torsion bars, brakes, shocks and sway bar can be done for half of that.
 
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I cut access holes at the lower control arm area to get at the sleeves to weld on them from the inside. From there, got some big washers from Fastenal to put on the arm side and nut side
I like the idea of drilling additional holes around the perimeter for more spot welds.

I just pulled my k-frame and was wondering about the front of the LCA sleeves.

The LCA sleeves do not appear to be welded to the k-frame in the front, the nut side, and the reinforcement kit that is available doesn't address this at all.
Why isn't this considered an issue?

If welding a washer to the nut side, does that leave enough pivot pin thread to get the nut on?

I've also heard if using aftermarket strut rods, like QA1, they cannot be installed properly if you weld a washer there, is this true?
 
On the nut side, I used the washers that came with my FF shafts. I put the shafts through the sleeves, tacked the washers on, pulled the pins then fully welded k/sleeve/washer together. I also found some structure washers to go around the FF washers that are also welded on.Have not got to the strut rod yet. I got the ones from FF also. Had the $3k t-shirt to go with it. LOL!
 
Mines cut for pan clearance and drag racing. So the center cut isnt what you'd want for auto cross. It does wheelie in every pass with mo issue.
0828111819a.jpg
But rather than adding all those spot welds. Just cut the flange off and weld it along the edge as you cut. Lose weight and its strong.
Doug
 
I see tow hooks too.
Here's a tie down mod.

DSC_3200 (Large).JPG.jpg
 
Along with the K work, I added welds to the aprons, shock tower areas, control arm areas plus some others. Will continue this theme as I work my way back on the car. I also made up my own lower tie bar plus the core support. The core was easier than trying to mod a stock one to fit the radiator I'm using plus other coolers.

7F8B7735-5BD4-4024-815C-6D90D0022AEE.jpeg 04A384BD-0A99-46E9-A1CC-6217B4A8AFAF.jpeg 9ADDDE66-D1BF-4CA7-BDC1-9D176185283D.jpeg
 
the biggest problem with going to coilovers is that the front frame members were never designed to carry the weight of the car. that weight is moved back to the torsion bar crossmember. the front frame rails arent really a full frame. they are a u shaped piece with the inner fender spot welded to it. not thick enough or strong enough to actually carry the weight of the car
 
Even a "serious autocross" car will see next to zero improvement with a coil over suspension conversion.
Consider this basic rule in life: If you are going to replace something, it should meet or exceed the standards of the original components.
The coil over suspensions have ONE advantage over a well built torsion bar suspension : Exhaust clearance. That is it. Name any other advantage that you have heard or read from an owner or the manufacturer and I can argue against it.
1) Better road feel: Better than what? A 100,000 mile original car? Sure. Better than a stock manual steering? Well, many of the steering racks used in these coil over setups are 16 to 1, that is good. The same ratio can be found in aftermarket steering boxes. Net gain? ZERO.
2) Better handling: Uhhh, better than a worn out car? I agree. Better than an upgraded stock setup? That is highly debatable. Net gain? ZERO.
3) Quick ride height changes: Quicker than a 3/4" socket and ratchet on a torsion bar car? Net gain? ZERO.
4) Increased exhaust clearance: Okay, the coil over setup wins BUT in most cases, TTI or Dougs makes headers that fit around the torsion bars, trans linkage, etc. Net gain? Actually, a Net LOSS. The coil over suspensions with brakes will cost over $5000. A proper rebuild with new torsion bars, brakes, shocks and sway bar can be done for half of that.


The coil over set-ups give Way More Clearance for the front of oil pan and the motor can be set lower in the chassis. We've used a couple of the aftermarket vendors and we use the torsion bar set-ups as well....just another thought and we let the customer decide $$$. At least with a full length pan/hemi.
 
Another coil over setup is by Control Freak. Really good stuff.
Stay away from Magnum Force.
As stated you can achieve just as good if not better results with a T-bar setup
 
the biggest problem with going to coilovers is that the front frame members were never designed to carry the weight of the car. that weight is moved back to the torsion bar crossmember. the front frame rails arent really a full frame. they are a u shaped piece with the inner fender spot welded to it. not thick enough or strong enough to actually carry the weight of the car
I agree and it’s so rarely brought up! Unless you’re doing a full cage, this is just opening up a huge can of worms.
The TB anchors are carrying all that load and transferring it back to the crossmember which has a lot less bending moment (arm). Going the coil-over route adds immensely to the twisting force the body now has to carry.
 
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