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Veteran
Posts: 155
 
| While talking to a friend of mine about my '60 Savoy, he told me I'd run into trouble with the torsion bars possibly breaking. It came with a /6 but I'm looking to change it to a 67-69 vintage 383. His dad worked for Chrysler & had a dealership for a while. He claimed the stock torsion bars would break because of the length & would get weak? Anyone heard of this?
I know some of you have changed to bigger engines. Any problems with front suspension? |
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Expert
Posts: 3400
 
Location: Chestertown, NY ( near Lake George) | The heavier engine will require at minimum adjusting the front end higher, but this does stresss the torsion bars, the right way is to install 8 cyl. B block bars. |
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Veteran
Posts: 155
| Shep-May many Hawks escort you on your journeys through life, protecting you each mile. (Old Indian Proverb.)
I have asked this question many times, but never gotten a response. I was leaning to just what you advised, but now I'm sure I'll be going the way you suggest.
There is a guy in Texas is converting a 4 dr '60 Plymouth wagon into a 2dr and building it to drag race as a Nostalgia Super Stocker. I have seen pis of the firewall forward. In NSS they have to keep the stock front suspension, which means the longer T-bars.
I think the guy that told me may have been trying to put a stop to my project, but Forward Looking it goes.
Many, many thanks. |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 6203
Location: Big pimpin' | Savoy, I don't know bout the 6 cyl. bars, BUT, I am running a 440 on the stock 301 V8 bars right now, and actually had to lower my front end a little as the 301/cast iron tranny almost weighed as much as the 440/aluminum trans I got now....I have heard of torsion bars breaking, but rarely...
I guess it would be like anything else like rear leaf spring's...DO you also upgrade them when switching to a bigger/heavier engine?
How bout the stock frame? Do you beef it up too when running something like a 440, or 426 HEMI?
What about the front upper and lower control arm's? Beef them up too?
It's all relative as to how much beefin' up you WANT to do...I will say though, the the 6 cyl. bars might be a little bit on the weak side...
I'm running a 505 C.I. (440 stroker), in a Dodge Dart with the stock Slant 6 torsion bars and drag race it...No problems yet (Knocks on wood) |
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Location: Under the X in Texas | I've heard two different ways the torsions suspensions "break" over the years. The most common seems to be if the rear frame pocket the bar sits in gets REALLY RUSTY there may be a problem. The other is if the painted surface of the bar is gouged into the steel and rust gets into the bar it may then crack. These problems happened mostly up northeast and I honestly have never talked to anyone who experienced bar breakage out southwest but I imagine there were occasional manufacturing flaws in the early years which showed up of course. You definitely want to put 8cyl bars into the car you swap an 8 cyl engine into. See if you can find an 8 cyl. wagon to get the bars and they just may be heavy duty which would be even better. Either way, use KYB shocks! |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 9684
Location: So. Cal | Another common problem is bent bars. Be sure to check any replacements for straightness - especially from a wrecking yard as the fork lifts tend to destroy them. |
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Veteran
Posts: 166
Location: Massillon, Ohio USA | My father worked for a Plymouth dealership here in town right out of the Navy in 57, he said the Fury's, Belvedere's, etc, all had problems with weak torsion bars when they were first introduced for the 1957 model year. They had one break on the showroom floor, the service manager took home the broken ones and made a picket fence tied together by chain on the top of each broken bar. (at least that's what the old man told me.) I don't know about the 59-61 style, I've never heard any breaking stories, not like the ones you hear about 70's A-bodies.
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Veteran
Posts: 155
| I have gotten a list of cars that I can find the needed torsion bars from. However in looking further I found I have the 604 & 605 bars. In looking at my factory parts manual these bars were not /6 specific as they were also used with V-8's. So for now I'm going to use what I have and then further on up the road possibly look for HD bars. I'll list the cars that can interchange with the torsion bars in the near future so if anyone else runs into this.
Edited by SavySavoy 2008-11-01 5:08 PM
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Veteran
Posts: 155
| Here's a list I was given about what torsion bars fit. I cannot verify the accuracy of the list.
"Should point out the 1960 torsion bars were not unique to 1960. Bars of that size were used from 1959 through 1964. Adjusters are at the rear of the bar under the floor.
The 6 cyl Plymouth used P/N 1825604-5, which were also used on
1962 Chrysler Windsor w/ sway bar
1963-64 Chrysler Newport wagon w/ sway bar
1959 DeSoto Firesweep wagon
1960-61 Desoto w/ sway bar
1959 Dodge wagons
1960-61 Dodge w/ sway bar
1962-64 Dodge 880 w/sway bar
1960 Dodge Dart 6
1961 Dodge Dart w/ sway bar
1959-60 Plymouth 6
1961 Plymouth w/ sway bar
The 8 cyl Plymouth used P/N 1825610-1, which were also used on
1962-64 Newport & 300 w/o sway bar
1961 Chrysler Newport
1959 Chrysler Windsor except wagon & convertible
1960-61 DeSoto w/o sway bar
1960-61 Dodge w/o sway bar
1962-64 Dodge 880 w/o sway bar
1960 Dodge Dart 6
1961 Dodge Dart w/o sway bar
1959-60 Plymouth V8
1961 Plymouth w/o sway bar"
Again, this is information I was given. If you have any different info feel free to add it. Won't hurt my feelings a bit. |
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Different torsion bars?
