Torsion bars same 6 and 8 cylinders?

[craigerlitz]

Was there only one torsion bar shared by all engines for the F-body? Earlier A, B, and E-bodies used different diameter bars?

Thanks,
Craig

 

[80mirada]

Yep, same bars all FMJ cars. The cop cars had stiffer end bushings. Firm Feel makes higher rate bars.

 

[craigerlitz]

Yep, same bars all FMJ cars. The cop cars had stiffer end bushings. Firm Feel makes higher rate bars.

Thank you.

 

[AJ/FormS]

Those bars are what gives these cars their characteristic rides; stuff it into a turn and the inside rear wheel starts spinning,lol.
Ok, well, you need a 360Aspen at least to stuff it that hard. I mean who pushes their Dad's teener 5th Avenue that hard?, heehee. Besides the 5thAve is a tank, and plows like a 6-wheel trailer; I mean,TURN! TURN-dog-gone-it,TURN-already!!....BAM!, another bent wheel. At least Dads 5th plowed like that.lol
Like me, Dad only had 3 rules; you break it/you fix it,have it home when you say you will have it home, and you buy your own gas. I added one for my son one day when he brought it home smelling like an ashtray; You guessed it, the guy who stunk up my car never gets into it again, understood? A little later I added another, if you can't be home on time cuz you're stuck in a ditch with snow over the windshield, or you're stuck at the cop-shop, I expect a call; and I don't care what time of day or night you call.
I mean what 16 year old kid is not gonna test the limits of Daddy's hotrod? If it's got nearly twice the factory rated power, it is likely to be at least twice as easy to get it into trouble. Now,last fall, my only son, turned 32, and his stories are starting to come out. And his overriding gratefulness goes to the Formula-Ss awesome stopping power, and it's tendency to go where it's pointed.
Go figure.
Anyway off topic, but I print the memories when they come,lol.

 

[BudW]

All FMJ torsion bars are the same.
Police versions had firmer bushings for them – but the metal bar is the same.

Now FFI does have different size bars available, but they are a bit pricy.

I heard rumor that Direct Connection/Mopar Performance had different size torsion bars for FMJ’s - but I’ve never seen one.
I suspect IF they did make some, then they would be darn near impossible to find, now.
BudW

 

[JerryH]

I built a hot rod using an Aspen front end long time ago. I did a LOT of mods to it, including upper A-arm mount plate modifications, 11,75 disc brakes and stiffer (read thicker) torsion bars out of a Police Gran Fury. Sway bar too. Yes, I Did measure them with a vernier caliper. This was in the 1990ies.

 

[AJ/FormS]

Jerry
Thx for breaking our paradigm.
You are the first and only guy to ever bring that info to the table. I now have to contact at least three people that I repeated hearsay to,to the effect that Mopar only ever put one size bars in these cars.After that I have to troll every pick-a-part from here to Tim-buk-to, to gather as many bars from Police Gran Furies, as I can find, cuz I just know I'll make a killing re-selling them.
lol
OK, all silliness aside; do you recall the bar size, or the difference in the bar size?,and what was your impression as to the ride improvement? Or where all the parts installed at the same time, and so the bar-improvement lost in translation?

 

[JerryH]

Unfortunately I cannot recall the dimensions anymore, that was roughly 25 years ago. But I do remember that there was a clear difference. And what differences in ride quality it made is also impossible to answer because I bought a complete front end, took it apart, sand blasting, modifications, paint, new parts and chuck it underneath a completely different vehicle, a 1937 Plymouth. So no place for comparison of rides. I also did manage to tune in BMW M5 camber, caster and toe to this front end and it was a serious performance front end after that.

There were many people those days that officially said that this front end is the worst Chrysler ever produced. To me it's not that bad but not good either. But after mods it really comes alive.

 

[AJ/FormS]

very nice!

My 70 Duster front-end is tweaked too, and I got no complaints either. Since I have never driven much of anything beyond Mopars, I have nothing to compare it to,tho.

 

[BudW]

I have the suspension from an ’84 Gran Fury AHB (police) right next to my garage. The torsion bars are the same size as what’s in my ’86 5th Ave (I’ve measured them and wrote down specs as to where I measured, about 5 years ago – where those notes are now, IDK).

Other year police torsion bars – I can’t comment about.

Now the front sway bar is thicker and center mounting brackets are stronger on the AHB suspension.
BudW