1969 ride

[steve maluk]

hello
1969 roadrunner
new front suspension / new shocks all around / new hemi rear leaf springs / bushings
car rides like a tank going over bumps / lots of undercarriage noise or seems good cheezy 15 inch tires
big block 383
just rides like bottomed out shocks
is this the ride in the good old days?
any ideas on smoother ride
thanks all
sjm

 

[Big bill]

No

 

[1967coronet]

How are your torsion bars set ?

 

[Richard Cranium]

How are your torsion bars set ?

And are they 6 cyl bars?

 

[Budnicks]

Big beefy sway bars, cranked down tight

whimpy torsion bars cranked way up (like RC pointed out)
or bigger than .96" (Police package or BB performance TBs)
torsion bars can be a bit more harsh

too hard of a bushing/s, poly bushing make it more firm
but not really harsh

too much air in the tires especially bias-plys
"resto tires"
rock hard or the shitty cheap *** tires, could be an issue too that too

Wrong or too short, too long &/or too stiff of a shock,
or wrong valving, all can do it too

the Hemi leaf springs are overkill for a 383 car,
but that alone shouldn't cause it to be all 'too stiff'
mostly make it sit higher
good shocks or the proper shocks should dampen it

or maybe hard *** seat foam

Any B-body, they never rode like a pillow or really plush
or floaty like a luxury long Wheel Base C-body or old Cadillac,
but it shouldn't be all that rough...
Usually rode better than an A-body or an E-body too (with a shorter WB)
B-body 115"-117" wheelbase helped ride quality

or your more critical on the ride than I maybe

I'm used to 4x4s & Jeeps, so it's sort of luxury when I'm in my RR
ride wise & it has big ol' sway bars in the 2nd to stiffest settings
& some bigger stiff Nitrogen gas shocks too,
good BFG radials 245/60/15 front & 295/50/15 rears

 

[Dave6T4]

Replacing all your rubber suspension bushings with Poly ones will cause that.

 

[Mackman]

I up- sized the torsion bars and installed Bilstein shocks and it improved my ride.