I as looking at Bob Dron 32How many of you have tried torsion bar suspension,I am thinking about it for my 1929 Model A full fender car.
Most Mopar cars had torsion bars between 1957 and about 1988. I've driven (and raced) a lot of Mopar cars from that era. They were also a favorite of many sprint cars for a lot of years in the mid-late 60s, and several modern pickup trucks have them. The sprint car setup would probably be easier to set up on your Model A. Gene
There was time, several years ago when the Jag XKE torsion bar front suspension was utilized on several late '20s/'early 30s hot rods. Lil John Buttera's was a notable example. It was very easy to adapt. However, as time passed, the XKE's became such high dollar cars that scoring the suspension was uneconomical. Some years ago I bought a project '37 Ford that had an aftermarket cross member designed to accept '70's Mopar components. Never found out how well it worked as I later sold the project. As gene states above, many pickups used torsion bars. Datsun/Nissan and some Toyota and other import model had component sized to be compatible with a Model A based hot rod. Ray
Depending on engine weights (read: hamb-friendly v8s, straight 8s, etc), the circa'99 ford Ranger 4x4 pu (3.0L & probably 4.0L v6) also used torsion bars. Might be a good, some-what cheap, n available source. FWIW. Marcus...
There was a project on the HAMB a couple of years ago which had torsion bar suspension. Sorry, can't remember the owner and can't remember the shop which built it. Was an excellent build though. Maybe some Hamber with a better memory that me will chime in.
Do a search: this is by no means the first thread on torsion bars on the HAMB. It is the first one without notable misinformation - and consequent heated debates - I've seen, though. I'm surprised that nobody has claimed that adjusting the ride height on a torsion bar set-up changes the spring rate this time (it doesn't).
Jokerr Fabrication has used torsion bars on a number of builds. Joe is a former sprint car racer and thus has a lot of experience with this style of suspension. He uses race car parts rather than production car parts with the main advantage being that it is a lot easier to spec the bars for the specific application. Both Dave Gray's Chemical City coupe and Marty Bachand's lakes style 34 coupe have torsion bars holding them up. Check the build thread on Dave's car here for some ideas. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/the-chemical-city-coupe-32-5-window-build-thread.727871/ Roo
A few threads: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/torsion-bar-suspension-set-ups.811069/ https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/lowering-with-torsion-bars.876031/
My A roadster has torsion bars. From a Morris I think. More like the same weight than a C10. If I find the picture I'll post the rear end. Found a close up of cross bar rear end. Swing axle.
I built my car with a torsion bar. Its covered in my rebuilding after the crash thread. I purchased the parts for a company called sway away in california. Talk to jim. It works great.
I took some pictures of the rear just to be a good guy. Mine is not as shiny. It took me forever to find the torsion bar in all that chrome. Very pretty But mine is old enough to be traditional.
I have to wonder, why? With as sorted out and effective as the standard leaf spring suspension on 29 Model A's is, as available, and as affordable as they are, and the assortment of parts available, not to mention the traditional aesthetics, why bother with torsion bar suspension on such a common typical hot rod as a fendered Model A? Just an engineering exercise? Have the parts and just want to use them? Would you hope to achieve a performance advantage (after all, it is still a solid axle, only so much you're going to achieve by trying to improve spring performance)? BTW, just for another example, check out the thread on the Too Tall For Ganahl roadster build.
If all we wanted was the best performance we would all drive new cars. Most drive old cars to have something different so some want to build something different.
Rich, That is similar to what I want to do with the Torsion bar outboard arms on shackles and inboard arms to shocks. Did you do some math to figure out the spring and dampening rates with the unequal length arms or just test it and modify from there?
I bought it that way. I felt the rear was way to soft and added the blocks that tie the bars togeather and effectively shorten the length which raises the spring rate.
Yes the leaf spring is cheap and easy with no adjustment for your particular car. You get what you pay for. The torsion bar is lighter weight; adjustable for ride quality and adjustable for ride height. The wheels are independently sprung for a safer ride. Not everyone is out there looking to build a cookie cutter car with a debit card and a cell phone. Dont knock it until you try it.
Thanks for the replies what I was more interested in was how they were mounted, in line ,Parallel,stacked ,crossways .What lengths and diameters used.
Here are some inspiration shots for ya SD. Steve Moal built a lot of torsion bar chassis over the years. https://www.google.com/search?q=ste...re7UAhVK3WMKHfv2C2kQ_AUICSgB&biw=1280&bih=752
Yea we used Moal kits on our RPU's although I didn't see the kits on his website. The front was inline with the framerails, and the rear were mounted side by side 90 degrees to the framerails. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
This HAMB thread has a number of good photos and discussion from members. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/torsion-bar-suspension-set-ups.811069/
Warning to anyone that comes across a Gibbons Fiberglass Volare kit. Or a car with them. They were utter shit and Dwight Bond told me personally that they never could figure it all out.
These pics show one way to mount them. I am building a copy of a famous Track Roadster, so that is why they are mounted on the outside of the rails, on all four corners. PAC Racing Springs (who bought out Gary Schroeder) supplied the bars, arm and stop blanks that where splined, along with the bronze bushings. That way I could trim and shape the parts to my satisfaction. To calculate the size and length of the bars, you generally need to know the weight of the car at all four corners, minus the un-sprung weight, and the length of arms that fit the application. I decided on 8" for the arm length, and needed 26" long bars that were 1" diameter spline. With most of the parts on the car, and some shot bags in strategic places to simulate fluids, I weighed the corners with a set of digital scales, and let PAC send me what I needed. If you can use a standard length and spline on the bars, they are available in small increments and very reasonable for price.
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