The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Should I use a torsion bar suspension?

Hey guys. I read somewhere that if you didnt want to clip the front end of your truck that you could use the torsion bar system like they used in the 70's on Plymouths.
Has anyone heard of this or know 1st hand if it works and how hard it is to do, because it sounds very appealing and too easy. This is my 1st restore, so Im very hesitate about someone cutting my frame and clipping the truck. What do you guys think? THANKS!!!!!!!!

Torsion bars allow you to have a very low ride height while having a sufficent suspension travel. These conversions are fairly straight-forward, but must use the "K"-frame and suspension from a Mopar F/M-body car. These include the '82-'89 Fifth Ave, any Volare/Aspen, '78-'89 Diplomat, '82-'89 Gran Fury, and a few others; all of these have what are called "transverse torsion bars". These are "J"-shaped, making the front crossmember (K-frame) and suspension removable from the donor car as a complete unit. They are NOT longitudinal, as are all earlier Mopars going back to 1961. Longitudinal torsion bars and their "K"-frames are extremely difficult to set up right on this type of suspension mod and should NOT be used, so all A/B/C/D/E/R-bodied cars are out as donors.

These conversions have been used and installed successfully on early Chevys, Fords, Dodges, and Internationals. YOUR FRAME REMAINS INTACT, with minor notching and so forth. NO frame splicing, like with a Camaro/Firebird subframe.

Link to a Mopar torsion bar suspension on a straight-axle '61-'71 Dodge 1/2-ton frame, on the sweptline.org forum. This same principle can be applied to your truck:

http://www.sweptline.org/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=4143&highlight=

A friend of mine put a volare suspension under his AD truck and it looked and rode great!

Also, the ride height was ajdustable by adjusting the torsion bars!

If decide to get rid of my leaf springs and sway bar I'll go with the volare front clip instead of M-II.

its ironic that people want to put torsion bars under fifties trucks and remove them under early sixties trucks.lol

If the crossmember/torsion bars are installed correctly, the adjustment for ride height can be set in initially and left alone. ANY time you adjust the torsion bars for any reason, the alignment MUST be redone. Why anyone would want to adjust the ride height just for grins is beyond me. Set it initially, then leave it alone and enjoy the vastly improved ride quality.

I've been working on updating my '49 chassis for several year now but it's been delayed while no work and then to much work with my business has kept me busy elsewhere.

\'49 pickup chassis updates.

The only advantage to constantly adjust is for drag racing. If you have tire spin on your right rear, adjust your left front up to apply more wieght to the rear under acceleration. Other then that set your hieght and leave it alone.

If you use an F/M body front check for rust where the bars lock onto the frame and on the control arm. The early ones had a chance of the k frame cracking under the stress of the bars. If you can find a late 80's cop front use it first. Bigger brakes (12") and the k frame is beafier.

Cop cars and the Fifth Avenues are the first choice, especially '83 and later. Like 200 said, cop brakes, plus cop bars, fat sway bar, fast-ratio steering box...tough to go wrong with the cop set-up. Plus, you can go to super HD rebuild parts going through Performance Suspension in Arizona - every single piece to overhaul the suspension for lass than $300, and all in polyurethane instead of rubber, too!

I didn't mean to imply that you'd go around changing your ride height, what I meant was that you could set it how you like during install and not be stuck with the height it had in its previous life.

My friend sold his truck but I'll see if he still has pictures of volare set up.

Depends what you use it for.. Torsion bars eliminate a lot of future options.

Torsion bars suspensions are every bit as tough as the straight-axle stock units, with far better brakes (even with the small Volare 10" discs!) and 12" discs on the cop cars; truck sits lower for a better-handling rig; you have a front sway bar with the Mopar unit...it's a far superior way to go over a stock Stovebolt straight-axle front suspension!

Gazim, what "future options" would a torsion-bar user be eliminating??? If you go this route, a numbers-matching resto wasn't in the cards, anyway. You're building a dependable and safe hiway driver here, not a 45-mph stocker or a resto show pony. You are pretty committed, either way.

Let's see...torsion bars offer a better ride quality, handling, brakes, wheel options, ride height flexibility, no frame splicing like with a Camaro sub, I don't see the down side here.

The straight-axle (regardless if it's a Chevy, Dodge, Ford, whatever) offers drum brakes, buckboard ride, very limited brake choices for upgrading from stock, leaf springs, long and relatively fragile tie rod, the fun of worn kingpins, and longer stopping distances. One small advantage is if you need to get underneath the truck to get to the engine, there's lots of room with the straight axle!

Unless you're doing a pure resto or period-correct piece, why would anyone NOT consider a torsion-bar suspension for a half-ton Stovebolt? Look at a '61 or '62 Chevy 1/2-ton front end sometime. I really wonder why GM did not continue that design in the pickups? Very simple and much nicer ride than the coil-sprung later trucks of the same body style, IMO.