Looking for the „best“ front end starting from K-Member to full front suspension

[Moparjack 489]

Hi All,
Now I want start to planing a new front end for my 68 Charger with a second gen Hemi for maybe winter 2021 ...
Car will be used 80% For normal to fast street drive and maybe 20% quatermile mile in the year.

Actually I still have a independent front suspension from Control freak suspension‘s in it but think about I want go back to a original K-Member and starts from this one ... what you think ?


What will be a great set up ?

My Rough idea , original K-Member stiffen up with some welding .
Lower arms original , also with stiffen plates
Upper arms maybe Hotchkis or QA1 ?
Torsion bars and sway bar from Hitckis ?
Spindle ?
Brakes willwood ?
steering ?
Any good experience set up with part list available from someone ?


and here starts my first question , what kind of Original K-Member is the best to use it for my project 68/69 K-Member or a 1970 K-Member ?
Or other question what’s the different between 68/69 and 70 K-Members ,
only the sway bar mount location ?
Thanks for any Full testest and driven advice .

 

[70chall440]

I cannot answer the question about K member differences but I don't think it is significant outside of the Hemi versions which have different motor mounts. Check out Firm Feel's website and look at their K frame mods as well as their parts. I used all of their stuff with Blistien shocks on my 73 Cuda and it handles quite well. I used the Stage III box, welded up my K frame, used their upper control arms, made reinforcement plates for the UCAs, used their adjustable struts, etc.

 

[ord27]

I was considering control freak's suspension for my '70 Superbee build. Why are you getting away from this? What do you not like about it?

 

[tmaleck]

I used QA1 stuff on my 68. Tubular K-frame, arms, adjustable strut rods, sway bar etc. Went on and fit like a glove, not aligned it yet, so not sure how much positive caster I can get, but should be good.
Tim

 

[Mike67]

I havent had a chance to drive it yet but I went with Qa1 k-member/upper/lower control arms & adjustable shocks, PST torsion bars, Borgenson PS box and Wilwoods on all 4 corners.
The QA1 stuff is nice as is the others. Was surprised how much room I have on drivers side with RB.

 

[theman440]

Factory

 

[slepr1]

I was considering control freak's suspension for my '70 Superbee build. Why are you getting away from this? What do you not like about it?

I have the first gen Control Freak front and rear suspension in my 71 Cuda. All positives except that torsion bars give a smoother ride vs coilovers.

 

[slepr1]

Actually I still have a independent front suspension from Control freak suspension‘s in it but think about I want go back to a original K-Member and starts from this one ... what you think ?

I think you are going backwards on this build. Most people that want to upgrade to more modern performance start with a mix of what you want to change it to, then later going with a upgraded K-frame. You are already at the final stage. You can get Control Freak Hemi motor mounts to fit your CF system. I'd personally spend the money on the Willwood brakes & master and rack and pinion power steering. I have all this and the Control Freak 4 link suspension in my 71 Cuda. The 4 link looks really cool but noisy and not as comfortable as leaf springs.

 

[halojumper]

Hi All,
Now I want start to planing a new front end for my 68 Charger with a second gen Hemi for maybe winter 2021 ...
Car will be used 80% For normal to fast street drive and maybe 20% quatermile mile in the year.

Actually I still have a independent front suspension from Control freak suspension‘s in it but think about I want go back to a original K-Member and starts from this one ... what you think ?


What will be a great set up ?

My Rough idea , original K-Member stiffen up with some welding .
Lower arms original , also with stiffen plates
Upper arms maybe Hotchkis or QA1 ?
Torsion bars and sway bar from Hitckis ?
Spindle ?
Brakes willwood ?
steering ?
Any good experience set up with part list available from someone ?


and here starts my first question , what kind of Original K-Member is the best to use it for my project 68/69 K-Member or a 1970 K-Member ?
Or other question what’s the different between 68/69 and 70 K-Members ,
only the sway bar mount location ?
Thanks for any Full testest and driven advice .

I used QA1 upper/lower control arms, QA1 adjusters, and QA1 strut rods.

 

[tmaleck]

I think you are going backwards on this build. Most people that want to upgrade to more modern performance start with a mix of what you want to change it to, then later going with a upgraded K-frame. You are already at the final stage. You can get Control Freak Hemi motor mounts to fit your CF system. I'd personally spend the money on the Willwood brakes & master and rack and pinion power steering. I have all this and the Control Freak 4 link suspension in my 71 Cuda. The 4 link looks really cool but noisy and not as comfortable as leaf springs.

For me, the K-frame was what started it. Mine was bent from several impacts, P.O. seems to have driven and parked by feel. Once I started looking, the QA1 K-Frame was no more expensive than a stock piece, after shipping, blasting and powder coating. After that, I figured I'd just do it all. I'm expecting good things.

 

[andyf]

Hi All,
Now I want start to planing a new front end for my 68 Charger with a second gen Hemi for maybe winter 2021 ...
Car will be used 80% For normal to fast street drive and maybe 20% quatermile mile in the year.

Actually I still have a independent front suspension from Control freak suspension‘s in it but think about I want go back to a original K-Member and starts from this one ... what you think ?


What will be a great set up ?

My Rough idea , original K-Member stiffen up with some welding .
Lower arms original , also with stiffen plates
Upper arms maybe Hotchkis or QA1 ?
Torsion bars and sway bar from Hitckis ?
Spindle ?
Brakes willwood ?
steering ?
Any good experience set up with part list available from someone ?


and here starts my first question , what kind of Original K-Member is the best to use it for my project 68/69 K-Member or a 1970 K-Member ?
Or other question what’s the different between 68/69 and 70 K-Members ,
only the sway bar mount location ?
Thanks for any Full testest and driven advice .

Tough question to answer without knowing more about how you're going to drive the car and what your skill level is. If I was building the car I'd use the '70 or later K frame since it has a superior anti-sway bar design. But you'll need to fabricate the Hemi engine mounts which may or may not be easy for you depending on your skills and the equipment you have in your shop.

I'd use late model FMJ knuckles and put a 13 inch brake kit up front so the car will stop. A Hemi powered B body is heavy and powerful so you need big brakes. I wouldn't use Wilwood brakes on anything I'm going to drive, step up to OEM quality brakes. Doctor Diff sells a nice 13 inch brake kit that works with Viper calipers. The Viper calipers are sourced from Brembo so the quality will be far superior to anything that Wilwood makes. I'd use Firm Feel upper arms and perhaps their torsion bars and sway bar although for the past several projects I've used Hellwig bars. I really like the quality and look of the Hellwig bars.
I answered most of these questions in my B body book so perhaps you should start there. https://www.amazon.com/Mopar-B-Body-Performance-Upgrades-1962-1979/dp/1613252501

 

[Larrry B.]

I used Firm Feels K-frame reinforcement kit, along with their tubular UCAs and 1.03" T-bars.
Reinforced and rebuilt stock LCAs.
Hellwig 1.375" hollow sway bar on the front, .875" solid on the rear.
Hotchkis leaf springs, adjustable shocks and strut rods.
Global West subframe connectors.
XV Racing lower radiator support.
Borgeson with all new stock steering linkage.
2" drop spindles, 11" rotor power disk brakes on all 4 corners.
17" wheels with Nitto 555 G2 tires.

The car handles great on all roads, an upgraded T-bar and leaf springs setup is worth the effort.

 

[astjp2]

Al Debevec can convert a stock K frame to Hemi mounts. He even modified a mount for my Racepumps 2000 mechanical pump and the price was not bad. I went with the Borgenson torsion bars and I cant remember who made my control arms. I still have to get shocks but I am thinking the Fox shocks. Tim

 

[ckessel]

I'm staying with OE based stuff. I bought all Firm Feel. On the K frame, I'm doing my own mods. The main thing I did was go around with a Blair Rota-Broach set and add in 130+ welds to the unit. From there I added big washers on both ends of the control arm shaft tube, cut an area out of the K to access the back sides of the tubes and toss some weld on both ends, add in material where the strut rods mount so they have more attachment to surrounding areas, add skid plate. I still need to do the topside of it around the steering box, engine mounts and some other areas. There are lots of ways for you to go on upgrades. OE may not be the trick of the month but it does have a track record for longevity with road conditions, putting up with kids version Dukes of Hazard and living, ease of sourcing replacement parts etc. Put up with old NASCAR and Trans Am too. For me, the trick of the month stuff needs to see 100-200k + miles of road conditions that vary from smooth to booney bouncing before I think its ok to use for upgrades.

 

[Moparjack 489]

I think you are going backwards on this build. Most people that want to upgrade to more modern performance start with a mix of what you want to change it to, then later going with a upgraded K-frame. You are already at the final stage. You can get Control Freak Hemi motor mounts to fit your CF system. I'd personally spend the money on the Willwood brakes & master and rack and pinion power steering. I have all this and the Control Freak 4 link suspension in my 71 Cuda. The 4 link looks really cool but noisy and not as comfortable as leaf springs.

Can you show some pictures of you’re first generation control freak front suspension , I very interested in it how yours look .
When you installed it ( year ?)
And you Have the retro fit kit in it too?
Or was it just for the B-Body‘s ..,
I still have a vibration in my steering between 65-85 miles , since the beginning .
I try many things already , but never get out the vibrations completely .
but now I see Borgesen sell some nice coupler joint‘s with a vibration reducer in it . This will be my next step to take the „ Standard“ flaming river coupler on the steering column side out and exchange it to the Borgeson joint with vibration reducer.
I’m curious about it if it’s help‘s or not to eleminate the vibration in my steering wheel .

 

[Moparjack 489]

Use anyone this vibration reducers From borgesen for rack and pinion steering already and have good experience with it ?

 

[Moparjack 489]

I was considering control freak's suspension for my '70 Superbee build. Why are you getting away from this? What do you not like about it?

Now my first generation Control freak suspension are much upgraded , with a retro fit kit , chassis tubular frame is re-welded and add some square profile steel and some fins to the tubular frame for make it „ stronger „ also the B-Body is reinforced with inner fender bracing , Heavy lower radiator support steel , torque boxes front and back , sub frame connector s and muck more . Upper control arms was changed to adjustable ones from RMS , because the first generation CFS upper arms was non adjustable and give not enough caster . Now few month ago I inspect a hair crack in one welding of the lower control arms from CFS first generation , I take them out , re weld with add some fins to make it stiffer , and re installed . Now I back on the road , all looks ok, but still the vibration in my steering since first drive with this suspension from 65-85 miles .
i will see if I can get it away with my last try , to change the normal coupler joint from flaming river to the borgesen with vibration reducer in it, if it also not fix the problem with the vibration in my steering , I will take out the whole tubular front end and go back to original stuff , with stiffen upgrades like firm feel and some goodies from QA1 and Hotchkis.
that’s why I interesting what original K -Member is the best choice to use for my 68 Charger ... a 68-69 K-Member, or a 1970!K-Member ? I hear the 70 K-Member have the better sway bar concept.

 

[astjp2]

are you sure its not a Ujoint vibration or the driveshaft is not out of balance?

 

[Moparjack 489]

are you sure its not a Ujoint vibration or the driveshaft is not out of balance?

If you mean the U joints on the driveshaft and or the driveshaft itself, yes I very sure it’s not the problem . I have nice new 1350 u joints and a very short balanced aluminum driveshaft from Denny’s driveshaft , because I have also a gear vendor add to my transmission . no car shaking , no vibration feel in the seat or the floor panel anywhere . Just my steering wheel starts to vibrate about 65-85 miles , sometimes more sone times less , also about the street condition . It’s an coil over car , you feel everything on the road condition .

 

[ckessel]

See if any of your tire shops have what I believe is called a dynamic wheel/tire balancer. What this is is a machine that has a separate roller that puts force against the tire/wheel combo as its being spun for balance. This duplicates the road load on the combo and will tell you if you have an issue there. I have seen, from working at dealers, where a unit can be spun balanced and read good but still vibrates at road speed when using the normal balance machine. Also, Roadrace65 who has not been on here in awhile has the Control Freak package on his 65 Belvedere and I think he has done some laps at Willow Springs with it. Last I saw him, he was working for Champion Radiator. Name is Mike Harding.