I hadn’t put much thought towards torsion bars – mainly because of two reasons:
One is all FMJ torsion bars are the same (except for the bushings on end and middle, which have different degrees of, um, spungyness? Hopefully there is a better word to use here).
Also (FMJ) torsion bars have out of production for so long – it has kinda escaped my mind.
You are correct, I need to add those to my list.
To be honest,
any torsion bar that is 30-40 years old, needs new bushings – and those are becoming hard to find. If you find a set – they are also, um, not a lot of fun to replace.
On your FFI front sway bar hangers – if you get a sway bar and it comes with hangers, let me know – I might be willing to purchase your set (again, if you’re not going too use 'em).
The cars with factory rear sway bars, the rear spring hanger/shackle looks like this:
Compared to everyone else’s FMJ:
A person could special order any FMJ with rear sway bar – but the only cars I have ever seen them on, were police cars.
The shackle part (with rear sway bar) is also used in all Minivans from ’83 to 95 – so that part is not too hard to find. The rear hanger is different and it only fits FMJ vehicles.
I have measurements somewhere – but with finding the correct tubing size, a person can weld ends onto a “non-sway bar” rear hanger and it will work fine.
I did have a handful of minivan shackles – but down to a single one, now.
Note: the ’96 and up minivans are shaped the same, but rod diameter is smaller and they are metric, whereas the ’95 down minivans/police FMJ are SAE.
I have been meaning to write up a thread about this – and will get to it, one of these days.
Unless you are racing the car full time, I highly recommend using rubber bushings for front/rear leaf springs as well as upper/lower control arms to frame. Those rubber bushings are the only thing keeping your kidneys located in-place.
If you are still considering poly bushings for leaf springs and/or upper/lower control arms, I do
highly recommend getting a second set of control arms, so when you say the poly bushings are too-much for you, the re-swap over is a lot easier/quicker.
With that said, poly sway bar bushings, torsion bar bushings, poly subframe bushings and/or poly Iso-clamp bushings are fine and in many cases help (a lot). The rubber for the other bushings is almost mandatory for a street driven car.
Personally, I would recommend replacing the Iso-clamp with the older style shock plate all together, for the lower clamp is a major weak link (prong to breakage) - but if keeping the system, at least get the poly inserts.
BudW