lowering Dodge's Torsion-Aire suspension

just wondering..... can i adjust my torsion bars to lower my front a couple inches??? a tuner guy at work suggested this... thanks for any help...

 

Yes, just unscrew the anchor bolts to bring it down.

It'll be on the bumpstops and ride like ****....but you'll be stylin!!


Not sure if your bolts are at the front or the rear of the T-bars. My 57 Dodge has them at the rear of the bar. At some point (early - mid sixties)
the suspension was re-designed and the adjustment bolt was moved to the front.

 

YES !!

My '61 Dodge is nearly on the Ground !

 

without doing bags what else can i do?

 

not much. Lower it a little, so that you still have some suspension. Change the bumpstops to a more moden style with a progressive rate, and live with it.

Could get creative and fab up some dropped spindles.

 

Or you could do like the old oval track racers did, cut loose the torsion bar anchor and rotate it about 6-10 degrees. Then you still had the spring tension at a lower hight. Its a bunch of work, and you better be a good welder, but it does work. Saw it in a book one time, but have no idea what the book was. Did it once by accident when repairing a rusted out dart, had to crank up the bolt a long way to even get normal ride hieght, at that time, I wasn't happy with the outcome. Gene

 

Soak the adjustment bolt threads w/PB Blaster the night before. You will need a breaker bar and cheater pipe to turn 'em, they turn easier with the weight off of the suspension. You can shorten the bump stops with a sawzall. I think that the full frame Mopars have the adjustment at the rear of the torsion bar, unibodies up front (except '67-'73 Imperials). A two inch or so drop in ride height from unwinding the torsion bar adjustment bolts shouldn't affect camber or toe-in much. You can eyeball the front wheels and tell. If the front tires dont look right, or it doesn't drive right after lowering, you'll need to realign the front end, might be difficult to re-set the camber on some tho since no two Mopars were built the same. Dont forget matching lowering blocks for the rear and new shocks all around.

 

You dont need to be creative.

"Z" the lower control arm INSIDE of the strut and BOLT ON Aspen or Volare Disk Brake spindle ***emblies.

Upper & Lower Ball joints for your dodge are the EXACT same parts used in the Volare/Aspen.

Use short bump stops.

Use the Master cylinder from the same car & the Prop Valve.

When you "Z" the control arms you gain about 2" of travel.

Also a Dodge A-100 Van from the Mid~Late '60's 8 3/4 Rear end fits the Body Perfectly, Just move the spring hangers.

Then it STOPS !! the Factory brkaes on the Dodge are the WORST i have ever messed with.

 

Just a visual before and after illustration for you.

First up is the before shot



Nice and low, looks *****in, rode like ***. The suspension is on the bump stops. The only ability to absorb bumps is the squish in the tires and the bounce in the seat. The bump stops are also nearly worn out and metal to metal..........The guy I bought it from made a point of how he put new shocks on it. Why??

After



You can see how much it's been raised by the whitewall to fender lip distance. Rides great, probably could go down a little more and still be ok, but it's got a slight nose down rake and I don't want go too far.

 

His '60 Dodge is NOT a full frame car, Adjusting bolt are to the rear towards the trans cross member.

Its a Sub-Frame

 

If you want it that low, it will take some fabricating and modifying!

 

Yeah, Z-ing could work.....not something I typically think about. Although I remember something about the Aspen / Volare spindles screwing up some aspect of the geometry....cant remember what though.


I tossed the stock front brakes and went with the AAJ conversion. Although it was fun trying to guess what direction I was going to go before I stomped the whoa pedal.

 

I did it to mine 15 years ago, Many miles on it.

The only thing the front end guy said i shoulda done was lengthen the Lower control arms about 1/4 when i "Zed" them.

Tiers kind flop over a bit like a newer MBZ at full lock.. no issue in normal traffic

 

What year did mother Mopar switch the location of the adjustment bolt from rear to front in the Sub-frame cars?

 

I think they started phasing it in to the unibody vehicles in 61 (??).

 

Stock suspension, just cranked down torsion bars up front. Small lowering blocks in the rear. Rides OK, not great, but that's the price you pay to look KOOL!
I used Fifth Avenue spindles up front for disc brakes, yeah, I hate the factory ones. Thanks for the heads up on the van rear, DESOTO! I really need to do that, too!

 

thanks guys im gonna go the simple route because of time and $. im dragging a little in the rear so im just trying to even her out..