Making (yet another) investment. FRONT suspension. Opinions/Advice

[biomedtechguy]

I'm about to spend the money on a complete front suspension. Tubular K member, upper and lower control arms, etc. I've pondered the options for a couple of years.
I mostly use my car for the week of Cruisin the Coast, driving to and from car shows, and the 1/4 mile. I hope to make the drag strip a once or twice a month habit. I have never been able to get the front suspension dialed in, even with experienced "old school" mechanics who know Mopars. They get it "close" and pretty darn good, but the cam bolt adjuster on the passenger side is limited to what it can do. Last Cruisin the Coast I heard my front tires "squealing" as I was driving and it turned out to be the nut on the cam bolt was stripped. Anyway it's time for a major parts overhaul.
As much as I LOVE the Gerst, AlterKation, HKS, Magnum Force, etc etc, especially the manual rack and pinion option, I can't justify going from the appx $1,600 for QA1+SPC to appx $4K for all of the other systems! The QA1+SPC (UCAs) will allow for all of the adjustments I have been lacking, replace all of the old parts (upper and lower ball joints are "new" Moog I replaced about 2 years ago)
I also have a pair of 18 way double adjustable Viking front shocks installed.
So to improve my performance and safety at the race track and on the street I believe the complete QA1+SPC UCAs parts are going to do everything I need, but not necessarily want, but I can't justify spending 3 times more to get rack and pinion steering and a more "modern" design.
So QA1 (+SPC UCAs) are the route I am inclined to go .
What do you have and what do you think?
Thanks!

 

[vintage chromoly]

To be honest, just do a proper rebuild of the factory suspension using quality parts.
Once done, take it to an alignment shop that understands old musclecar front suspensions.

I did mine, and it is like a new car.

I should mention, I used a “firm feel stage 3” steering gear box from steer and gear on mine. That made a huge difference.

 

[Dennis H]

Mine just has tubular UCA’s, Bilsteins, and a Hotchkis sway bar up front. Satisfied. Can keep up with a modified A body when canyon carving in Malibu. Almost. It also warns of impending loss of control.

 

[biomedtechguy]

take it to an alignment shop that understands old musclecar front suspensions.

That part I have been doing.

canyon carving in Malibu

Not really interested in "handling" beyond common safety and accident avoidance.
Now if my wife's GTO was my car....I'd have that puppy slammed and cornering like it was on rails!
Thanks guys.

 

[Mike67]

Dont have mine together yet but I went the Qa1 k member, uppers & lowers , adj strut rods, PST 1.08 t-bars and a Borgenson box.
Initially I bought the PST 16:1 qr manual box, but because the serpentine set up has a ps pump I upgraded to the Borgenson. I'm sure it will perform better than the stock

 

[WileERobby]

Tubular UCA for better caster, either boxed original or tubular lower arms, thicker t bars, sway bar, firm feel box, bilsteins. 3 deg pos caster, .5 neg camber, 1/8 toe.

 

[biomedtechguy]

These are the only non-QA1 parts:
SPC UCAs:

 

[biomedtechguy]

I spoke with QA1 to dot i's and cross T's.
My factory sway bar won't work with their stuff, so I am adding their sway bar to the order:
I'll remove it at the drag strip if I need to to allow for front end lift.

 

[6PKRTSE]

I have the RMS AlterKation kit under the front of my Challenger. Mine was free so now complaints from me. LOL. Long story but it was. All bolted right in. I like it because I was able to eliminate the torsion bars with the coil overs to use big tube headers & run a flat bottom dragster pan for 10 quarts oil capacity & plenty of ground clearance since my car site pretty low.

 

[1967coronet440]

I have the RMS AlterKation kit under the front of my Challenger. Mine was free so now complaints from me. LOL. Long story but it was. All bolted right in. I like it because I was able to eliminate the torsion bars with the coil overs to use big tube headers & run a flat bottom dragster pan for 10 quarts oil capacity & plenty of ground clearance since my car site pretty low.

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Any weight savings with the alrerkation front end?

 

[6PKRTSE]

Any weight savings with the alrerkation front end?

I didn't weight everything myself personally but if I remember correctly he said it was between 100 & 120+ lbs. Depending on options & the combination it was made for. Mine has no motor mount provisions or sway bar mounts or anything extra since I have a front & mid plate and mainly a street/strip car. Not a road course car.

 

[1967coronet440]

I didn't weight everything myself personally but if I remember correctly he said it was between 100 & 120+ lbs. Depending on options & the combination it was made for. Mine has no motor mount provisions or sway bar mounts or anything extra since I have a front & mid plate and mainly a street/strip car. Not a road course car.

I’d like to upgrade the front end to that set up eventually (when budget allows) running the street lynx already

 

[ir3333]

You can get in to trouble real quick by using more modern pieces.Poorly selected rates will get you in to under steer and other problems unless you know what you are doing.
i agree with Vintage and the 4 others...Factory pieces with better shocks,bigger bars and tires and disc brakes.

 

[Kern Dog]

Bio....With the wide tires you have, it seems to be a shame that you'd not embrace the great cornering ability these cars can obtain. There are ways to get these cars to handle great without making them uncomfortable to drive on public roads. The torsion bar setup gets a bad rap by some because by the time people get these cars, everything up front is worn out. This car handles terribly! I need to replace everything with a MODERN suspension!
Rebuilt to stock specs with a few improvements, the cars handle and ride quite well. Hotchkis built a 70 Challenger that was taken around the country to give test rides at auto events....it is still equipped with a factory based setup. They also sponsored a 70 Plymouth Satellite 4 door that was used in a grueling tire test, out-handling a few 3 and 5 series BMWs, Don't forget the 69 Valiant AKA "Green Brick", another testament to the engineering advantages to the stock design.
I have 1.15 torsion bars built by XV Motorsports, boxed LCAs, a solid 1.25 anti-sway bar, Bilstein shocks, urethane strut rod bushings, stock UCAs with offset bushings and a 275-40-18 front tire. The steering box is the Firm Feel stage 3 with Fast Ratio arms.

 

[biomedtechguy]

So Summit did a price match on the SPC UCAs, matching a website that had them for $179 each vs $205-$236 each elsewhere. They are really nice!

The QA-1 tubular K-member #52315, LCAs #52308, dynamic adjustable strut bars #52312, heavy duty tie rod sleeves #52325, and sway bar #52860 and the SPC UCAs #s 94450 & 94451 is the whole setup. Free shipping!!
Total to my door: $1,718.85

Now I have to for the parts to arrive, and due to facility logistics (aka my garage with a lift is still on the "wish list")
and me being busy w/my 1 man small business, I am going to have the trusted suspension shop do the work. My situation is that without the lift and garage, just getting it done myself would be next to impossible, and because of my hourly rate/payout per job it costs me less to take what time I have and apply it to being paid to do what I do for a living, and pay someone who does suspensions for a living to do my suspension work.

I plan on reusing my torsion bars, keep in mind that street cruising and 1/4 mile track runs are my focus. Should I do "something else" torsion bar wise or with the hardware associated with it, or just transfer over what I have??
Thanks.

 

[biomedtechguy]

Bio....With the wide tires you have, it seems to be a shame that you'd not embrace the great cornering ability these cars can obtain. There are ways to get these cars to handle great without making them uncomfortable to drive on public roads. The torsion bar setup gets a bad rap by some because by the time people get these cars, everything up front is worn out.

Thanks K-dog...
My goal is a safe, comfortable cruising experience and VERY important-better traction at the launch at the drag strip!
THAT is what is most important to me. Although I am getting the QA1 sway bar, chances are I will be removing it at the drag strip!

 

[dvw]

The only thing the matter with the stock stuff is lack of positive caster. modern stuff uses far more positive caster. Most times off set front upper control arm bushings will get the job done. However there are some cars that the stack up tolerance wont allow enough adjustment. easily solved with adjustable upper control arms. If the alignment guy can't dial it in then you have the wrong guy. I've aligned hundreds if not thousands over the years.
Doug

 

[5.7 hemi]

Your on the right track, no pun intended. I’d also get the QA1 adjustable strut rods, free’s up the up/down movement of the lca.

 

[Mike67]

Summit is having a Black Friday sale..dont know if those items will be on the list though!
PST makes the solid adj strut bars and are almost identical to the Qa1s, plus 20% off for FBBO members...I got the QA1s because I like the gold anodized bar

 

[biomedtechguy]

Your on the right track, no pun intended. I’d also get the QA1 adjustable strut rods, free’s up the up/down movement of the lca.

I GOT EVERYTHING for the front suspension that QA1 offers, except for the UCAs, which I got from SPC because they are better and offer more adjustability.
I listed EVERYTHING just a few posts back...

See:

So Summit did a price match on the SPC UCAs, matching a website that had them for $179 each vs $205-$236 each elsewhere. They are really nice!

The QA-1 tubular K-member #52315, LCAs #52308, dynamic adjustable strut bars #52312, heavy duty tie rod sleeves #52325, and sway bar #52860 and the SPC UCAs #s 94450 & 94451 is the whole setup. Free shipping!!
Total to my door: $1,718.85

Should arrive Tuesday or Wednesday