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E body mods #1938965
10/26/15 03:25 PM
10/26/15 03:25 PM
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MoparJunkie Offline OP
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Hey guys, I want to make some suspension and brake changes to my 70 challenger. It has front disc with rear drum brakes. I wanna stay with the drums on the DANA. It has front and rear sway bars(stock diameter). I have .096 torsion bars, and KYB's at all four corners. I want to upgrade rotors and calipers, and make the mods necessary for as good of a suspension as I can obtain with stock front end components. I don't wanna change upper or lower control arms...etc. So give me some combo's you'd recommend to go with for the changes I want....
So... throw them at me.
TIA up


"It takes a Mopar to catch a Mopar”
1971 Roadrunner FJ6 Sassy Grass 505"RB, 18 spline 4 speed, and Dana 60 with 3.54
2022 Hellcat Charger Widebody Redeye Jailbreak: Hellraisin with 8 speed auto



Re: E body mods [Re: MoparJunkie] #1939168
10/26/15 08:55 PM
10/26/15 08:55 PM
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ahy Offline
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For the brakes, wheel size matters a lot. If you are running 14's, the biggest rotor would be ~10.8" (stock). If running 15's biggest would be 11.75" (later stock). With most 17" wheels you can go with 13" rotors.

For the suspension, a stiffer front sway bar, increased T bar diameter and a set of better shocks would help. Depending on your taste and how the car will be used, T bars in the 1.00 to 1.12 range would do it with the thicker sway bar. I worked with Firm Feel for my stuff and was pleased.

Getting a good handling alignment with all stock parts is about impossible. If you at least change the UCA bushings to the offset type you can get close. (eg -.75 deg camber, +3-5 degrees caster). Goes without saying all joints and bushings need to be tight.

Re: E body mods [Re: ahy] #1939355
10/26/15 11:53 PM
10/26/15 11:53 PM
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MoparJunkie Offline OP
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I have the offset bushings in already. So.... what shocks??? I'm also running 15" wheels, so I was thinking the 11.75" rotors.


"It takes a Mopar to catch a Mopar”
1971 Roadrunner FJ6 Sassy Grass 505"RB, 18 spline 4 speed, and Dana 60 with 3.54
2022 Hellcat Charger Widebody Redeye Jailbreak: Hellraisin with 8 speed auto



Re: E body mods [Re: MoparJunkie] #1939387
10/27/15 12:35 AM
10/27/15 12:35 AM
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ahy Offline
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For the brakes, Dr Diff offers an 11.75 kit with stock style components. I believe he has bearing spacers so you can run the later and better 11.75" rotor on '70 spindles... or upgrade to mid 70's spindles. There are options to put a 4 piston caliper on the 11.75 rotor but personally I would stick with stock style for F/R balance, serviceability and cost. Also, some of the multi piston calipers have less piston area and need upgrades in master and booster to gain enough line pressure for full function plus harder to balance F/R.

For shocks, up to 1" bars, KYB will work OK (I run them with 1" bars) but matched Bilstiens or Koni's are considered way better and pretty much required for a good outcome with T bars over 1". I would get a specific recommendation from somebody running that setup or a vendor like Firm Feel.

Starting with .96 bars, I would consider adding the better sway bar, better brakes and handling alignment with the offset bushings to help and see how you like it. Shocks would be next and heavier T bars next after that.

Re: E body mods [Re: ahy] #1939452
10/27/15 03:00 AM
10/27/15 03:00 AM
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71autoxr Offline
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Originally Posted By ahy
...

For shocks, up to 1" bars, KYB will work OK (I run them with 1" bars) but matched Bilstiens or Koni's are considered way better and pretty much required for a good outcome with T bars over 1". I would get a specific recommendation from somebody running that setup or a vendor like Firm Feel.

Starting with .96 bars, I would consider adding the better sway bar, better brakes and handling alignment with the offset bushings to help and see how you like it. Shocks would be next and heavier T bars next after that.


First off I would think that the 15" rims are going to be the weak point in the entire system. Tire size is limited, brake size is limited for upgrading the fronts, and once you start upgrading t-bars and sway bars you will wish you changed wheels/tires to take advantage of it all. Although....you can keep a trans am look with some 15" minilites and goodyear bluestreaks!!

On my small block Challenger I have 1.12" t-bars with koni reds and stock front sway bar with poly mounts. No rear bar (factory installed, not connected) 16x7 wheels with 255/50/16. The car is very predictable and flat and surprises a lot of people. With the weight of a big motor up front, I would opt for the biggest torsion bar you can get, and go from there. I ran the stock single piston caliper for many years of autocrossing, and recently swapped to Wilwood calipers up front for better pad selection. The pads I have now are incredible and are a VERY noticeable improvement over the "stock" type replacement pads. If money were no object I would have done a big brake swap years ago, but the Wilwoods were free and racing is expensive. No matter what you do, it would be best to make one change at a time and see how the car responds, despite the urge to tear it all apart at once.


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Re: E body mods [Re: 71autoxr] #1939494
10/27/15 09:42 AM
10/27/15 09:42 AM
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Originally Posted By 71autoxr
Originally Posted By ahy
...

For shocks, up to 1" bars, KYB will work OK (I run them with 1" bars) but matched Bilstiens or Koni's are considered way better and pretty much required for a good outcome with T bars over 1". I would get a specific recommendation from somebody running that setup or a vendor like Firm Feel.

Starting with .96 bars, I would consider adding the better sway bar, better brakes and handling alignment with the offset bushings to help and see how you like it. Shocks would be next and heavier T bars next after that.


First off I would think that the 15" rims are going to be the weak point in the entire system. Tire size is limited, brake size is limited for upgrading the fronts, and once you start upgrading t-bars and sway bars you will wish you changed wheels/tires to take advantage of it all. Although....you can keep a trans am look with some 15" minilites and goodyear bluestreaks!!

On my small block Challenger I have 1.12" t-bars with koni reds and stock front sway bar with poly mounts. No rear bar (factory installed, not connected) 16x7 wheels with 255/50/16. The car is very predictable and flat and surprises a lot of people. With the weight of a big motor up front, I would opt for the biggest torsion bar you can get, and go from there. I ran the stock single piston caliper for many years of autocrossing, and recently swapped to Wilwood calipers up front for better pad selection. The pads I have now are incredible and are a VERY noticeable improvement over the "stock" type replacement pads. If money were no object I would have done a big brake swap years ago, but the Wilwoods were free and racing is expensive. No matter what you do, it would be best to make one change at a time and see how the car responds, despite the urge to tear it all apart at once.


iagree This is a good plan.


Reality check, that half the population is smarter then 50% of the people and it's a constantly contested fact.
Re: E body mods [Re: jcc] #1941405
10/30/15 12:14 AM
10/30/15 12:14 AM
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ahy Offline
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A PS on the suggestions... the OE unibody was not really made for high handling loads. After 45 years maybe less so. Stiffening the chassis can really help along with upgraded suspension components. The more you push the suspension, the more benefit from stiffening. There is a long list of things that can be done in this area to help beefed suspension do its job.

First is welded in frame connectors which really help and the list goes on from there. Torque boxes, gusseted and full welded K, plated LCA's, T bar mount re-enforcement plates and more. I would suggest you at least start with the frame connectors. 2" x 2" box steel, 2" x 3" box steel, floor fitting stamped type they all help quite a bit. FWIW I run 2" x 2" box connectors made by ART (Auto Rust Technicians).

Re: E body mods [Re: MoparJunkie] #1941417
10/30/15 12:23 AM
10/30/15 12:23 AM
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 1,131
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MoparJunkie Offline OP
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I have the connectors installed. They are the floor formed boxed in ones. From front to rear unibody. Don't really wanna start modifying the original components on the front suspension. I'm gonna try the 11.75 disc upgrade kit and bigger front sway bar and she what happens.... Thanks for the input guys!


"It takes a Mopar to catch a Mopar”
1971 Roadrunner FJ6 Sassy Grass 505"RB, 18 spline 4 speed, and Dana 60 with 3.54
2022 Hellcat Charger Widebody Redeye Jailbreak: Hellraisin with 8 speed auto









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