Help me choose front coil over for barracuda

I have '73 barracuda with 400/727. I am going for the prostreet look so I will not be slashing corners road racing. I just need a decent ride.
I want it to sit fairly low but I am not sure how to pick a coil over.

Can someone help me with a budget-minded choice?

thanks !

Your ride height limit is set by the control arms (and control arm bumpers). You can't get the car any lower with coil overs than you can with torsion bars if both are using stock control arms.

Ok - thank you. I guess what I am asking is; does it matter which one I get or do I need a specific (length and rate) for this car? I just don't know

A coil over setup needs shock tower re-enforcement or shock towers tied into a cage for durability. The OE shock setup was not made for spring loads and will crack/fail if not beefed.

T bars and a 400 based engine work fine in an E. For your goals suggest you stick with OE style suspension and spend time and money making it really nice. Upgrade shocks, T bars and sway bars and it can work quite well.

I know a guy in town who has the RMS front setup on his 71?cuda and he absolutely loves it!

My barracuda had been converted to a drag car - 12 point cage, back halfed, frame fully connected. In its glory it had a hemi with fender well headers and the owner cut the fender aprons out and reinforced the shock pocket. I am only considering this because it may be easier considering some work I may have to do to the torsion bar cross member.

I would love to have that, but I'm trying to control the budget

Seems doing the potential cross bar work is the budget thing to do. Cannot imagine its cost would come near the coilover conversion needs.

And that may be what I do. Just trying to figure it out

Stick with your torsion bar set up, and stock arms, add a set of drop spindles, you can get upwards of 2" offset/drop, PST, Magnum Force, Reids, etc, etc, etc offer a host of drop spindles for the E body, slam it as low as you can, modify the rebound bumpers for added suspension travel, add a skid plate on your K for your oil pan

Your front end will not support the loads of a stock location mounted coil over system. You have lost too much front end structure to make that work, and even then the front stub would need reinforcement that would include further cage construction. So, you either reinforce the t-bar cross member to support the stock system, or you reinforce the entire front stub to support coil over system. Pick you poison and price point.

For a basic low riding set up, either system can be adjusted low enough to achieve it with ease. Total cost will be less with the stock system.

You might get more views and a wider rang e of input over in Unlawful's Race and Engine Tech forum. Those guys constantly build this type of stuff.

Lots of mis-information in this thread....Guess I should just throw my Prostreet Cuda away......No way it would hold up to years of street abuse and drag racing without bracing the shock towers.....And when I say years, I mean almost two decades. I got one of the first Magnumforce kits out....Still going 9's on pump gas and going to cruise nights with it.

So to dispel a couple of things....
Lowered spindles will get the front real low as well. I run a 28" tall skinny on the front, and my car is low. They make different heights, and you can change it if you want for your tires or what ever.

If mine were more street, I would probably opt for the Altercation, but the MF kit has worked really well, and on one of my cars, I even went to longer coil overs and gained more front end travel. The limiting factor there is the A-arms hitting the coils. When you limit front travel, you can kill traction, so you want as much as you can get in most cases. Stock is over +5" and a MF kit nets around 3.5" usually....

I can tell you it is one of the best things you can do to a Mopar for handling and just plane ease of working on the car....Its a pleasure. Both of my cars have full kits on them. Won't ever own a car without it.

I should be able to get it plenty low with the stock spindles. But since I don't know anything about coil overs I was looking for suggestion as to spring rate and length to be able to get adjustability. Great suggestion and thank you !

What I was hoping was to be able to install the coil over into the stock suspension. I have read information that says yes and some say no. So what I was hoping is there's a coil over with the proper dimensions to fit. Additionally, I was thinking if I change the angle of the coil over to ensure clearance from the a-arm , that would make it work. However I do realize that changing the angle from (I think 30 degrees) will also affect compression and flexion of the spring which may require a calculation for proper fit. Does that sound right ? Am I over thinking ?

If the lost structure you are referring to are the inner fended aprons, I am installing new ones along with all new braces at the firewall, newcore support , and actually a new firewall too. I will tie this shock tower into the new apron

Google HDK Suspension, and contact Denny, AKA Hemi Denny. He sells a coilover conversion kit that works with the stock K frame and spindles. It braces the shock tower to keep it from flexing. I am using one on my 70 Duster that's getting a 5.7 Hemi. I don't think I have pics on this computer, or I'd post some.

Man, this topic has been hacked to hell over the years. Opening it again is like touching the third rail. But it is hard to resist...

Unibody Mopars have a low C/G and decent F/R distribution because...

The spring loads are taken by a crossmember very low and far rearwards.

The springs are only 50% unspring weight.

The upper front structure can be flimsy (light) for the above reasons.

I won't even begin to enumerate the aftermarket stuff's negative aspects. Large list! Admittedly, awesome for drag racing though.

Rick