Most affordable aftermarket torsion bars?
#1226637
05/03/12 07:38 AM
05/03/12 07:38 AM
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the frozen wastes...
Pale_Roader
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Lets not use the term 'cheap' here...
So who? Mopar Mitch has me sold on a thicker bar than most offer.
Hotchkis makes one size, 1.03", maybe a bit small for what i want. They mention a compromise for comfort... i dont need that compromise particularly.
XV makes a bigger one i think, 1.1"? but not sold separately, and i'm a bit too paranoid to buy from them.
PST makes cheaper ones, 1.04", but i've read about some issues, and their re-indexing the hexes for lowered cars wont work for me. My car wont be lowered.
Mopar made some, but the bigger stuff has all but dried up i think. Haven't seen them advertised for years. Just the .96" offered now... too small.
Just Suspension offers a 1" 'Pro-touring' bar, fairly cheap too... but again, pretty sure i'm gonna want bigger once i get more money in this thing. Thats not much bigger than the .96" MP one.
Firm Feel is the obvious choice... many sizes, known quality, good guys... but $350 is just a LOT for me to spend right now...
Am i missing any? E-bay showed nothing. You guys usually ferret out the best prices on all this stuff.
Last edited by Pale_Roader; 05/03/12 08:00 AM.
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Re: Most affordable aftermarket torsion bars?
[Re: Pale_Roader]
#1226638
05/03/12 10:41 AM
05/03/12 10:41 AM
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 4,302
Nebraska
72Swinger
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master
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Nebraska
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You usually get what you pay for these days. I just recieved some 1.06 Firm Feels the other day and they sure are nice.
Mopar to the bone!!!
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Re: Most affordable aftermarket torsion bars?
[Re: TC@HP2]
#1226640
05/03/12 07:14 PM
05/03/12 07:14 PM
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 14,889
up yours
Supercuda
About to go away
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About to go away
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Years ago, my bud had a set of big bars made for his 75 Coronet, by Halibrand.
Might not hurt to see if they still do that and for how much.
They say there are no such thing as a stupid question.
They say there is always the exception that proves the rule.
Don't be the exception.
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Re: Most affordable aftermarket torsion bars?
[Re: 72Swinger]
#1226641
05/03/12 07:21 PM
05/03/12 07:21 PM
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 4,862
the frozen wastes...
Pale_Roader
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Quote:
You usually get what you pay for these days. I just recieved some 1.06 Firm Feels the other day and they sure are nice.
I'd love to just go with the Firm Feels... I'm just waiting for that 2-for-1 sale...
They've got a couple other parts on my short-list too.
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Re: Most affordable aftermarket torsion bars?
[Re: TC@HP2]
#1226642
05/03/12 07:32 PM
05/03/12 07:32 PM
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Quote:
Most affordable may come down to scouring online web sites as you can occasionally find someone with a set of 1.22 or 1.18.
IMO, I think XV bought up all the dealer stock of the Mopar 1.12 and 1.18 bars around 2005 for their own purposes. Shortly after that, prices started to ratched up from $150 a set to where they are now.
Currently, the best pricing I've seen is the occasional PST sale on the 1.03 sets for $199. Couldn't you reset arm indexing to mbetter match teh bar by loosening the lower control arm nut and rotating the socket to a more favorable position?
I thought that was all welded solid? There was a set ov used (but unused) 1.24" bars at a swap meet here last year that i could have bought, but the hexes were aligned on the bars and the guy couldn't sell them. He could not find a way to use them without hacking and cutting. He took forever to sell them too, i guess nobody else wanted to muck with that. I would have bought them if i'd have known i wanted a bar that big.
As for XV... i could have sworn by just those tiny pictures that the bars looked bigger than Hotchkis' bars. Damn i'm slick...
I'm contemplating just buying the cheaper Just Suspension bars for now... as at any time i could always sell them for what i paid, where i live anyways. People are horny for big T-bars here and no one wants to buy them new. That would save me $150 at this stage. The saving grace is that my car will be only 3200lbs and i'd wager most ov these bars are designed for 3500-3900lb cars.
I've made one more query, we'll see what he comes up with.
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Re: Most affordable aftermarket torsion bars?
[Re: Supercuda]
#1226643
05/03/12 07:33 PM
05/03/12 07:33 PM
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 4,862
the frozen wastes...
Pale_Roader
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Quote:
Years ago, my bud had a set of big bars made for his 75 Coronet, by Halibrand.
Might not hurt to see if they still do that and for how much.
He's definitely in a more awkward position than i am... there is at least stuff available. If i need those 1.25" bars down the road maybe...
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Re: Most affordable aftermarket torsion bars?
[Re: Pale_Roader]
#1226646
05/04/12 12:15 PM
05/04/12 12:15 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,394
Pikes Peak Country
TC@HP2
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Quote:
I thought that was all welded solid? There was a set ov used (but unused) 1.24" bars at a swap meet here last year that i could have bought, but the hexes were aligned on the bars and the guy couldn't sell them. He could not find a way to use them without hacking and cutting. He took forever to sell them too, i guess nobody else wanted to muck with that. I would have bought them if i'd have known i wanted a bar that big.
As for XV... i could have sworn by just those tiny pictures that the bars looked bigger than Hotchkis' bars. Damn i'm slick...
Yes, the socket and pin are all integrated into a single unit with the bushing. But, by loosening the nut that holds the control arm ( and the strut rod nut), tapping it back slightly so it is loose in the K and rotating the socket, you can create alignment to the odd hex of these other variable bars.
To that end, or instead of doing that, to install big 1.22 bars you need to rotate the lower control arm up into a position closer to ride height. If you install it at full droop like a skinny bar, you will never be able to crank the adjuster enough to get the nose out of the air or out of the weeds.
FWIW, Mopar used to recommend you cut out and reindex the rear anchors when going to big bars so you could crank in some adjustment and maintain some wheel travel. The oval track guys even had bolt in anchors so they could change this almost at will. That is still the best way to do it if you can utilize the wheel travel, so understanding the particulars of how you use your car and what limitations or issues you run in to may or may not mean you need to do this change. If you can bottom out some 1.22 bars, then you may need to reindex.
For the XV stuff, I found it funny they would never publish t-bar specs, but they would set them right next to a sway bar for a picture, then admit to the sway bar diameter. Comparing the two you can approximate the sized based on the commonly available offerings.
Ya know, there are so many new trucks/suv that use torsion bars these days that I'm sure there are a number of manufacturers out there. They may not have thought of offering a mopar unit, but a conversation about it with any of them about it may yield an alternate source.
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Re: Most affordable aftermarket torsion bars?
[Re: brads70]
#1226649
05/05/12 06:51 AM
05/05/12 06:51 AM
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the frozen wastes...
Pale_Roader
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Quote:
I have 1" bars in the Challenger now and they are not "enough" I know most people just put in the 1.120" in e-body's but I'm a little timid about the ride on the streets. Wish they were not so expencive and I'd buy a few different sets to experiment with. 
To all the E-body guys that say 1" (or .98" - 1.04") bars are not big enough, how heavy are your cars?
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Re: Most affordable aftermarket torsion bars?
[Re: Pale_Roader]
#1226650
05/06/12 01:37 AM
05/06/12 01:37 AM
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 813
Ontario,Canada
brads70
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super stock
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Ontario,Canada
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Quote:
Quote:
I have 1" bars in the Challenger now and they are not "enough" I know most people just put in the 1.120" in e-body's but I'm a little timid about the ride on the streets. Wish they were not so expencive and I'd buy a few different sets to experiment with.
To all the E-body guys that say 1" (or .98" - 1.04") bars are not big enough, how heavy are your cars?
Mine is about 3850 with me in it last time I weighted it? That was before aluminum heads, etc....?
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Re: Most affordable aftermarket torsion bars?
[Re: Kern Dog]
#1226654
05/10/12 11:56 AM
05/10/12 11:56 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,394
Pikes Peak Country
TC@HP2
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Yes, that is the clocking or indexing and it will have the exact impact you poont out, very low or very high, depending on how the index is set.
Now, you can also offset that clocking some by repositioning the control arm hex, but most don't think of that when they are just slding in replacement bars because then you have to loosen the control arm and strut rod and move them around to achieve the change. IE, more effort than some want to put in, or think about with a part that could be made consistent and when it was offered only by Mopar, was more consistent.
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Re: Most affordable aftermarket torsion bars?
[Re: Joe Dokes]
#1226656
05/10/12 06:50 PM
05/10/12 06:50 PM
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 4,862
the frozen wastes...
Pale_Roader
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Quote:
My issue with torsion bars is that the suppliers will give the diameter but not the RATE. It is the rate that actually matters. Depending on the material a 1.06 might be softer than another company's 1.03. ALL of these companies should be like Firm Feel and publish the RATE of the bar that way we could all be sure we're comparing Apples to Apples.
Regards,
Joe Dokes
Oh great... now you've got me thinking about THAT...
I was just taking stated bar diameters and comparing them to rates listed on FirmFeels site. Hmmm...
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