I need a suspension game plan

[RCCDrew]

Hey all,

So my 73 Cuda is lowered 2" all around and I love the way it looks. My problem is that the streets in my city would be better suited to desert race trucks than lowered Mopars. The roads beat me and my car. The family doesn't enjoy going for rides. So my question to you is, can I pull this off? Can I have a lowered car that doesn't kill me on the streets? Currently I'm running the .93 torsion bars and dearched Rear springs. The pinion Bumper and lower control arm bump stops are taking a beating. Maybe I need to go air ride?
 
Anyone have a good setup or game plan?

[brads70]

What are you running for shocks? I'm using QA1 double adjustables and you can set them for a comfortable ride or performance.  You can install shorter bump stops to give you a little more suspension travel .

[burdar]

Short bump stops, larger torsion bars and good shocks.  The .93 bars used to be big...they are small by today's standards.

[RCCDrew]

My shocks are Wal Mart specials (Monroe) but new when I bought the car. I have cut my bump stops down about 1/2", but I'm afraid to do any more because any smaller and I don't think they will hold up to the abuse.
Will some QA1s make that much of a difference? I've been leery of adjustable shocks simply because I'm not experienced at adjusting them. Anyone have part numbers for a lowered e body? Also if air shocks ruin a crossmember, will stiff shocks?
And which torsion bars should I go to and from where?

[burdar]

Lots of posts about torsion bar size on here and on Moparts in the suspension section.  A larger bar will reduce the amount of suspension movement so you shouldn't even be touching the bump stops very often.  There are 1/2" tall poly bump stops that you can buy.  I'm not sure about the shock x-member.  I kind of wondered that myself.  I would imagine though, that an air shock puts more stress on the x-member then a QA1 or a Bilstein.  Maybe others will chime in.  You might be able to box in the x-member on each side of the shocks.  That should add some strength.  A few extra welds where the x-member meets the frame rails couldn't hurt either.

[HP2]

Why is the road beating you up? Is the suspension bottoming out and banging the crap outta you or is it simply rough and constantly cycling the suspension in a large range of motion without hitting the stops?  Are your current shocks an oil resistance unit or gas charged?

Shocks are to the suspension like a cam is to an engine. They control a wide range of parameters and simply installing the stiffest or largest without consideration to the rest of the components will produce a mis-match. If you don't want to mess with adjustable shock, there are good pre-valved units out there.

[dodj]

Anyone have a good setup or game plan?

In my opinion,
For the front

https://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/ens-9-9132g/overview/

http://p-s-t.com/i-23157797-1-03-torsion-bar-b-e-body.html#!year%3D1973%7C%7Cmake%3DDODGE%7C%7Cmodel%3DCHALLENGER

http://p-s-t.com/i-23158007-bilstein-high-performance-shock-set-front-rear.html#!year%3D1973%7C%7Cmake%3DDODGE%7C%7Cmodel%3DCHALLENGER

http://www.firmfeel.com/e_body_mopar_front_sway_bar_tubular.html

For the rear

http://www.firmfeel.com/e_body_mopar_rear_sway_bar.html

And if you still have a little bit of cash still to spend,

http://www.firmfeel.com/e_body_mopar_power_steering_box_rebuild.html

Stage three!

 
Glad to see you are still around RCC.

[dodj]

If I remember right, go sign up to ForBBodiesonly forum and PST will give you a 10% discount .

[RCCDrew]

In my opinion,
For the front

https://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/ens-9-9132g/overview/

http://p-s-t.com/i-23157797-1-03-torsion-bar-b-e-body.html#!year%3D1973%7C%7Cmake%3DDODGE%7C%7Cmodel%3DCHALLENGER

http://p-s-t.com/i-23158007-bilstein-high-performance-shock-set-front-rear.html#!year%3D1973%7C%7Cmake%3DDODGE%7C%7Cmodel%
http://www.firmfeel.com/e_body_mopar_front_sway_bar_tubular.html
For the rear
http://www.firmfeel.com/e_body_mopar_rear_sway_bar.html
And if you still have a little bit of cash still to spend,
http://www.firmfeel.com/e_body_mopar_power_steering_box_rebuild.html
Stage three!
Glad to see you are still around RCC.

Good plan!  I think I'll skip the sway bars right now as I have front and rear bars and am more concerned with ride quality.
So, why the 1.03" T bars and not the 1.12". Someone on here swears by the 1.12"
Also, other opinions on the shocks? I'm a Bilstein fan, but need to get this right.
Do you use those small bump stops? Do they hold up?
And how's your ride with these parts?
I had to go back to RCC cause they shut down the politics page here, lol.

[burdar]

With the larger bars, you'll get less suspension travel.  That will keep you off the bump stops in most situations.  In the rare occasion where you will hit them, their main purpose is just to prevent metal to metal contact.  The suspension isn't meant to be riding on the stops all the time.

[crash340]

My 73 Cuda is lowered as well, I installed 1.06 TB's didn't feel a lot of difference so 1.12 would be minimum.
I also have QA1 shocks, mine are single adjust. I used to use Koni years ago and loved them, I will tell you the QA1's are better again and, each of the 18 clicks makes a noticeable difference, significantly.
WARNING, I first bought the QA1's per the list to suit E body Mopar, they fit BUT on my car only had about 3/4" travel before bottoming out the shock which is bad, I then bought the same shocks but to suit Chevy, they are from memory 1" shorter. Meaning the shock is not at risk of bottoming out and work in a better range, I also fitter rubber 'O' rings on the shock shaft so I could see how far they compressed during normal driving as the O ring would be pushed up the shaft by the body to its most compressed point(highest on the shaft). I cut my LCA bump stops down to 1/3 height. My car is not harsh to drive, we have crap roads down here on a good day. My daily drive car is a late model Mercedes Benz and I find the Cuda has a smoother ride!!

[dfrazz]

I have the PST t-bars and Bilsteins on my Charger with a 440 and Hotchkis t-bars and Fox adjustables on my Cuda with a 340.  The Cuda sticks to corners better but tires/wheels and weight also play a factor.  I had Bilsteins on my '71 Chally with a 408 stroker and loved them.  IMO for a street driven car I would go with Hotchkis t-bars and front/rear sway bars with Bilstein shocks.

[CUDA JAS]

I have also heard good things on this site about Viking double adjustable shocks.

If it were me, and its not, but I do have a similar set up to you, maybe not quite as low, I would go with the Viking double adjustable shocks first.  Play with the set ups and see if I could find a ride that I like.  I figure if that does not work, I could look at upgrading the torsion bars.

My guess is this is a street car only?

Jason

[dodj]

Good plan!  I think I'll skip the sway bars right now as I have front and rear bars and am more concerned with ride quality.
So, why the 1.03" T bars and not the 1.12". Someone on here swears by the 1.12"
Also, other opinions on the shocks? I'm a Bilstein fan, but need to get this right.
Do you use those small bump stops? Do they hold up?
And how's your ride with these parts?
I had to go back to RCC cause they shut down the politics page here, lol.

Price. I have those 1.03" bars with a 440 and am happy with it. They cost me about $200.  Nothing wrong with 1.12. But I don't Auto-x so I think the 1.03's are good enough.
 
Yes I use the linked bump stops. In fact I use everything I linked to except the sway bars. My existing sway bars are Addco and PST and if I were buying sway bars now, I'd get the firm feel ones.

As far as the bump stops holding up, I don't actually hit them very often. If I did, I would get bigger T-bars or raise the ride height. Hitting the bump stops on a regular basis really upsets your handling at the worst possible times.

[brads70]

My shocks are Wal Mart specials (Monroe) but new when I bought the car. I have cut my bump stops down about 1/2", but I'm afraid to do any more because any smaller and I don't think they will hold up to the abuse.
Will some QA1s make that much of a difference? I've been leery of adjustable shocks simply because I'm not experienced at adjusting them. Anyone have part numbers for a lowered e body? Also if air shocks ruin a crossmember, will stiff shocks?
And which torsion bars should I go to and from where?

I couldn't use the  TD901 like in the catalogue, I used TD801 due to the lowered ride height as per QA1's recommendations. ( I e-mailed QA1 my ride heights and this is what they suggested)   If you go on QA1's web site they tell you how to measure and then email them the results and they will give you part numbers.