You are not a jerk, not even close.
I probably come across as an old geezer with my stubborn sounding ways...Thats how DODGE did it, NOBODY does it better....
That really is not who I am.
I am not a purist nor am I a numbers matching type of guy. If an aftermarket company makes something that addresses a factory flaw, corrects it without a reduction in OEM durability AND makes the car better, I am on board. I am of the belief though that the RMS kit places loads entirely on the frame rails. I also understand that these two thin boxed frame rails were never designed to carry the entire suspension load. The torsion bar crossmember shared the stress and load in OEM form but now they are just dead weight. After parting out and cutting several of these cars up, I've seen just how thin the metal is on the body and frame. As a comparison, I recently helped a friend install a Magnum Force replacement tubular K member with coil over shocks. I was impressed that they include support bars that get welded to the cowl and to the frame rails forward of the K member. This at least adds support to the frame rails to reduce deformation.
Also, I'm not too keen on the way the outer tie rod ends are spaced off of the steering arm. I feel that a direct connection is a better idea rather than one using spacers. I understand that it was their alternative to a redesigned steering arm with a "drop" built in but I still don't like their design.
I am sorry if I came across as a jerk on this. I posted the dancing banana to convey a playful tone, I hope that came across that way.
I built my 70 Charger with home made 3x3 subframe connectors, home made 14 ga torque boxes. I'm sure these are outside of the OPs "bolt in" guidelines, but there they are. I went with a welded and gusseted K member, 1.15 torsion bars, boxed LCAs, 1.25 solid front sway bar, urethane strut rod and sway bar bushings. The steering box is a Firm Feel Stage 3 with fast ratio idler and Pitman arms for a steering ratio of 11.9 to 1. The rear has MP HD leaf springs, a 1 inch lowering block, .75 sway bar frame mounted, urethane bushings and Bilstein shocks front and rear.
In all truth, the RMS setup may outlast all of us. Who drives these cars on beat up roads anymore? Who drives them on dirt roads?? Who does Bo Duke jumps over Chickasaw Creek???
I've read from some respected people that while the aftermarket front ends may improve steering feel, they are not known to add any competitive advantage to a blueprinted OEM arrangement.
No problem old geezer! The internet is a strange place, if you and I lived in the same town I'm sure we would be friends as we have interest in the same type of cars and building them into good handling drivers.
I also know that when I post in this section of moparts about anything other than installing anything but a stock type suspension set-up into a car that I will be taking some heat from the usual suspects. I could go on about this but everyone has their favourite components. I'm also aware that some of the posters here have an interest in selling and promoting certain company's and their products.
I will say that over the last 25 years I have used items from about every single company that is involved in mopar suspension, about the only item I have not tried at this point would be the Borgeson steering box, and I will be ordering 2 of them soon to install in cars for the upcoming summer. I have paid myself for all of these parts and would tell anyone which ones I feel are good and bad.
One thing I would like to touch on with you is your Richard Ehrenberg comment about stock suspension vs aftermarket. First I have been and still am a big fan of his and his writing for the last 25 years, in-fact it was because of him I picked up my 88 Diplomat cop car and my 72 Scamp back in the early 90's after reading about the One Lap of America Duster. I would guess I have read almost everything he has put out, he also helped me convert my Dippy from Lean burn to electronic ignition way back when e-mail was just invented and I ran into a problem. He to me is a great resource and a very good guy to have in the mopar community, I would say without him no one today would be building classic mopar that handle like we are.
Now if Richard was standing in my shop today I would ( in a good spirited way) hold up the April 2016 issue of Mopar Action and ask him why 5 out of the 6 feature cars in the magazine have some type of aftermarket suspension in them considering they-" loathe to name because of safety for street use". If I felt as strongly as they claim to about something I would never go against my principles and publish any car with such a system in the magazine.
Now back to cars, I have 3 A-bodies (all Valiants) with stock torsion suspensions and 1 Dart two door sedan with an Alterktion and street lynx set up, the only car that has ever come close to killing me because of a front end failure is my 69 "goldbrick" Valiant . The torsion bar adjuster bolt stripped out on it and the front end dropped on the passenger side, the corner of the front bumper was almost on the ground. Had it happened at a high speed it could have been game-over, this is not some rare occurrence with these cars as I personally know another guy that it happened to here in the same city.
Any how Frankenduster I love your Charger and what you have done to it, a lot of it follows along with how I did with my Goldbrick Valiant using a mixture of parts. With a few well picked pieces and a little attention to detail these can be great driving cars.........
