696pack
Well-Known Member
THIS SHOULD BE A STICKY.
There are often threads about what to do for a suspension and there will always be arguements about what is best. Here is my best un-biased OPINION about the subject.
Of course there is a BIG difference between street suspension and racing suspension but since we are comparing stock to aftermarket we will assume for the most part that we are discussing ones need for a street car with occassional strip use just the way the majority of the buyers were using these cars when new.
Generally the question is at what point will one benifit from something other than a stock suspension.
The subject car here is a 383 powered 1970 RR or Super Bee as these are likely the most popular cars on this site AND the stock suspension interchanges with many of the other popular B body cars here as well.
The stock suspension for these cars was known as the Rallye Suspension which was one step up from the stock suspension from the 318/383-2 cars. It came with H.D. springs, shocks, torsion bars and front sway bar. Note: the factory sway bar is the same on all suspension options up to and through the Hemi suspension. The rear springs have an equal number of leafs on each side. All of these cars come standard with a pinion snubber.
To be fair in this comparison we will assume that the stock suspension is not all sagged and worn out as opposed to replacing with aftermarket componants that are fresh and new. You will want to take some height measurements to determine the condition of your suspension.
Here is how I compare a stock suspension verse aftermarket. The racing rules of yesteryear and today for stock and super stock are very similar and really only allow for more H.D. (super stock) springs in the super stock class. The stock class record for these type cars is in the mid 10s and for super stock it is in the 8s. If you follow my logic in this then it stands to reason that for the vast majority of members here that street drive and occassionally drag race their cars the stock suspension for these cars will be fine if it is in good condition.
Lets disect this a little further.
The record times I am quoting above are Hemi powered cars. In the stock class it would mean these cars would have the Hemi Suspension which is one upgrade above the Rallye Suspension. This means it would have more H.D. rear springs and more leafs on one side than the other. It would also come with more H.D. torsion bars. However, racers will remove the front H.D. torsion bars in favor of a slant six bar for better weight transfer on the strip on launch. You may not want to give up the handling capabilities you will loose for street driving by doing this. With this in mind you may want to upgrade your Rallye Suspension to The Hemi Suspension if you are looking for an improvement.
Now this is not to say that there are not aftermarket suspension componants that will do more for your specific needs than the factory ones. If you are a bracket racer and don't have to deal with the limitations of the stock and super stock rules you may want to talk to people that do well in those particular classes that you want to persue. If you are looking for a corner carver and road racing then stock suspension is not going to be your thing however the Chyrsler torsion bar suspension in its day was far superior for road handling than the competitions coil spring suspension. So if you are looking to compete in this arean in a stock class I am sure there are some tricks the guys in this field with Mopars can help you out with.
The bottom line in all of this is that for the MAJORITY of members here that prefer a stock LOOK, want a good all around car (street driving and occassional strip use) the factory design was good enough to take the car down the strip to the times mentioned above and also drive the car in comfort to and from the strip if you wanted to, at least in the stock class cars.
Most here want a car that is not far removed from stock because we buy these cars for their unique, classic, nostalgic looks and don't want to look at our cars with ladder bars or a 4 link set up. not that there is anything wrong if that is what you want but it is just not what the MAJORITY of the members here are looking for.
There are several companies that make factory type replacements springs if yours are worn out or you can have them re-arched by a local spring company.
I hope this helps the majority of the members here and please remember if you are posting about suspension for your car be VERY specific about what you are trying to acheive and what kind of a look you can live with.
There are often threads about what to do for a suspension and there will always be arguements about what is best. Here is my best un-biased OPINION about the subject.
Of course there is a BIG difference between street suspension and racing suspension but since we are comparing stock to aftermarket we will assume for the most part that we are discussing ones need for a street car with occassional strip use just the way the majority of the buyers were using these cars when new.
Generally the question is at what point will one benifit from something other than a stock suspension.
The subject car here is a 383 powered 1970 RR or Super Bee as these are likely the most popular cars on this site AND the stock suspension interchanges with many of the other popular B body cars here as well.
The stock suspension for these cars was known as the Rallye Suspension which was one step up from the stock suspension from the 318/383-2 cars. It came with H.D. springs, shocks, torsion bars and front sway bar. Note: the factory sway bar is the same on all suspension options up to and through the Hemi suspension. The rear springs have an equal number of leafs on each side. All of these cars come standard with a pinion snubber.
To be fair in this comparison we will assume that the stock suspension is not all sagged and worn out as opposed to replacing with aftermarket componants that are fresh and new. You will want to take some height measurements to determine the condition of your suspension.
Here is how I compare a stock suspension verse aftermarket. The racing rules of yesteryear and today for stock and super stock are very similar and really only allow for more H.D. (super stock) springs in the super stock class. The stock class record for these type cars is in the mid 10s and for super stock it is in the 8s. If you follow my logic in this then it stands to reason that for the vast majority of members here that street drive and occassionally drag race their cars the stock suspension for these cars will be fine if it is in good condition.
Lets disect this a little further.
The record times I am quoting above are Hemi powered cars. In the stock class it would mean these cars would have the Hemi Suspension which is one upgrade above the Rallye Suspension. This means it would have more H.D. rear springs and more leafs on one side than the other. It would also come with more H.D. torsion bars. However, racers will remove the front H.D. torsion bars in favor of a slant six bar for better weight transfer on the strip on launch. You may not want to give up the handling capabilities you will loose for street driving by doing this. With this in mind you may want to upgrade your Rallye Suspension to The Hemi Suspension if you are looking for an improvement.
Now this is not to say that there are not aftermarket suspension componants that will do more for your specific needs than the factory ones. If you are a bracket racer and don't have to deal with the limitations of the stock and super stock rules you may want to talk to people that do well in those particular classes that you want to persue. If you are looking for a corner carver and road racing then stock suspension is not going to be your thing however the Chyrsler torsion bar suspension in its day was far superior for road handling than the competitions coil spring suspension. So if you are looking to compete in this arean in a stock class I am sure there are some tricks the guys in this field with Mopars can help you out with.
The bottom line in all of this is that for the MAJORITY of members here that prefer a stock LOOK, want a good all around car (street driving and occassional strip use) the factory design was good enough to take the car down the strip to the times mentioned above and also drive the car in comfort to and from the strip if you wanted to, at least in the stock class cars.
Most here want a car that is not far removed from stock because we buy these cars for their unique, classic, nostalgic looks and don't want to look at our cars with ladder bars or a 4 link set up. not that there is anything wrong if that is what you want but it is just not what the MAJORITY of the members here are looking for.
There are several companies that make factory type replacements springs if yours are worn out or you can have them re-arched by a local spring company.
I hope this helps the majority of the members here and please remember if you are posting about suspension for your car be VERY specific about what you are trying to acheive and what kind of a look you can live with.
