Front Suspension Advice

[autoxcuda]

Now that I'm reading it, yes I guess that's the biggest thing for me in the front end. I know all the stiffening items welded in will give the car a tighter feel.

I have the next 9 days off so I'm going to get a ton of this metal work behind me. I'm getting antsy to putting the car on a rotisserie so I can put get som paint on it.

Spend money on that before blowing $1K on fancy shocks or $750 UCA's.

[Scooter]

Reading the post and the others, when you get to the front you might as well stick with hotchicks for the lions share of the components that have the largest impact on drive quality. Hotchicks seems to have a good rep and if you stick with many of their package suggestions you'll probably face fewer issues getting the suspension dialed in down the road. As you note on UCA's, as long as you can get enough camber the Moog offset kit is a reasonable and cost effective way to get the desired effect. Purchased my car competed a few months back and have slowly been backing out the previous owners part selection by both necessity and preference. After I clear the backlog of stuff I need to get done shocks are probably next up... will be following this thread and the other closely.

 

[70 Challenger Lover]

Because I need new UCAs anyway, I'll likely buy the aftermarkets but I will stick to the non adjustable, less expensive tubular style since they use bushings instead of heim joints. Most everyone who makes them gets around $350-400 but that's doable. I'd only save $150-200 if I went with standard arms and offset bushings. That should keep alignments easy and give me the extra caster I'm looking for.

I haven't decided on adjustable struts but I'm leaning that way. Not a lot of money and it would lock in the LCA better. I'll probably mock things up with the original struts first and see what I think of the fit. I added the stiffening washers to the K frame a while back so maybe that will tighten it all up.

On the torsion bars, I'm not sure how to determine what a suitable bar would be. I know it will be 1" minimum but is there a point of diminishing return on increasing the diameter even more?

I do not have a PS pump yet but Borgeson offers a kit with the pump. Any thoughts on using the pump they supply? I assume it is matched to work best with their recommended psi needs.

[7212Mopar]

Many on this forum are running bigger than 1" TB even with small block. All you need is adjustable shocks to control it. I have the Hotchkis TB, SB and their single adjustable shocks, QA1 UCA, PST adjustable strut rods, welded K frame and LCA. I set the shocks in the mid point setting and handles great in the curves. Back out two clicks at the adjuster and it rides like my daily driver but still handles great. This is where I left it for now.

With all the work I have done to the car, the end result is a much better handling car on the road. It is still not like a modern car in terms of steering and response or turn radius. But miles ahead from original. It will out corner many modern daily cars. You will enjoy seeing the disbelief faces of other drivers on the road. 

[Scooter]

Because I need new UCAs anyway, I'll likely buy the aftermarkets but I will stick to the non adjustable, less expensive tubular style since they use bushings instead of heim joints. Most everyone who makes them gets around $350-400 but that's doable. I'd only save $150-200 if I went with standard arms and offset bushings. That should keep alignments easy and give me the extra caster I'm looking for.

. . .

Roger that. I went with the SPC uppers as I needed a LOT of caster and it seemed the most elegant solution, I could not be sure the Moog offset kit would get me where I needed to be. Understand your aversion to the heim joints.. looks good on paper for sure but it's a bearing eyelet. Even on linkage rods they wear. The SPC uppers don't have the bearing eyelets, it's a straight bolt through. One of a few reasons I chose them out of what was available.

[Chryco Psycho]

SPC sounds like a great option for street use