B-body, GenIII, First Timer Here...Best Bang For Buck?

Hi Guys! I'm doing a 5.7 GenIII/A833 setup in a 68 Charger. I'd like to bring the car into the 21st Century for handling as much as possible, but also trying to respect the budget. My head starts swimming when I look at all the different options (adjustable strut rods, UCA's, etc) so I'm hoping you guys can give me a "best bang for the buck" list for the car?

Thanks in advance!

We have the most developed system on the market right now and sell it as individual pieces or as a complete package. Feel free to look around.
www.Hotchkis.net

Start with subframeconnectors/torqueboxes, replacing the bushings. That will be a difference...

I kinda figured that went with out saying. The car is getting a 4-speed, so the torque boxes were happening regardless, and subframe connectors at the same time. My question is more to the suspension mods. Are uber adjustable UCA's worth it? QA1 tubular lowers? Fat T-bars? Sway bars? No offense to Dan@Hotchkis ...they make some nice stuff, but not totally budget friendly...at least not my budget... This is to be a daily driver that need to be able to handle the highway more like a new car. Will there be a noticeable enough difference in camber/caster adjustability with Moog offset bushings, or will adjustable UCA's be a must? Adjustable strut rods? I need advice on where the $ is best spent for now...

In simplest terms, a modern car runs more wheel rate and has more aggressive alignment that is all support by a more rigid chassis.

To duplicate that, you will need to shore up the unibody flex and step up in the t-bar, s-bar, and leaf spring rates. That is where the package approach of Hotchkis is nice, however, Firm Feel can provide similar appointments in a piece meal approach or a packaged set. Unfortunately, t-bars and s-bars are not necessarily inexpensive, so you will have to pony up some dollars here for good pieces.

The alignment part is where some of the more adjustable suspension parts come into play. Without adjustable struts or upper arms, you can improve things quite a bit over stock by using offset upper bushings. However, the adjustable pieces can allow you to take that further into the higher performance realm. Think of it like building an engine; a few small bolt ons help step up power, but to really turn it loose, you have to get inside and deal with detailed work. Suspensions respond in much the same way.

So if your just driving around for pleasure, hitting the occasional show, or doing bracket drags once in a while, go with conservative springs rates, big anti-sway rates, as much shock as you can afford, subframe connectors, and an alignment comparable to a 2001 Mustang (this is easier for the techs to look up than giving them custom specs).

Just a tidbit, doing some math with another persons formulas that has setup MANY successful race cars, with the KPI of our 73+ Abody spindles we should be running 7.5-9 degrees of positive caster at ride height with -1 degree of camber to get our front tires to keep MAXIMUM available contact patch in all situations. Seems extreme until see the alignment specs of new Vettes, Vipers, Benz and the like.

There are some good books that you should start with. The classic Mopar Suspension is one of the best. Old Mopar Performance publications have a lot of chassis stuff in them. The old Chevy Power book had some great chassis stuff in it. The B-body book that I wrote a few years ago has a modern twist to it but you really need to the read the older books first before you'll understand my book.

As TC said, getting the chassis stiffened up is first step and you have that covered.

Getting more aggressive alignment is a critical part of better handling. Something in the ballpark of 5 degrees positive caster and -.75 degree camber. You generally can't get there with stock parts. Stock UCA's with offset bushings installed correctly can get you close. Aftermarket UCA's help a lot. The FF UCA's with bushings got me there and can handle 3 season driving without problem. The full adjustable UCA's generally have Heim joints which don't handle bad weather so well... and also make you and your alignment guy suspension geometry engineers.

I started with stock strut rods and poly LCA bushings. On one side, the strut rods did not hold the LCA snug... about 1/8" slop which did not help alignment or stability. I added the adjustable strut rods to get it dialed in and its good now. Unless you are really lucky, I consider the adjustable rods pretty much a necessity with poly LCA bushings. Either that or be ready to trim the front bushings as needed... and each iteration requires pulling the front suspension apart. It is not as sensitive with rubber LCA bushings as they hold the LCA in position... still the adjustable rods could help bring in alignment in case of any tolerance stackups (which I had).

This is the UCA I was considering:

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=140476841882

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Just a tidbit, doing some math with another persons formulas that has setup MANY successful race cars, with the KPI of our 73+ Abody spindles we should be running 7.5-9 degrees of positive caster at ride height with -1 degree of camber to get our front tires to keep MAXIMUM available contact patch in all situations. Seems extreme until see the alignment specs of new Vettes, Vipers, Benz and the like.

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Absolutely. And when you look at the impacts of dynamic caster on the dynamic camber curve and its relationship to body roll, you an easily see why its that high up there, never mind the actual feel of stability it imparts.

This is when you start getting serious about putting the grip down and stepping beyond just bolt on stuff. Again, the engine bolt on analogy applies here.