Darthomas
Well-Known Member
With a strong sway bar, any bump on one side has shock transferred also to the other side.
That's not a flaw, that a feature!
Also why factory sway bars for average cars aren't 1 inch or bigger.
Larger Torsion Bars and Ride Height
- Thread starter EngineerDoug
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That's not a flaw, that a feature!
Also why factory sway bars for average cars aren't 1 inch or bigger.
66Satellite47
Well-Known Member
Understood. The ride is much smoother without the sway bar. But my street driving will be very limited, so I'll take the smoother ride since I don't do hard corning.
dfrazz
Well-Known Member
KYB shocks are junk and probably most of your issue. Get some Bilsteins and your ride will improve dramatically.
66Satellite47
Well-Known Member
Thanks, I have ditched the KYB's in favor of adjustable drag shocks. Again very little street driving in the future. Sure was interesting removing the sway bar though.
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Most of your problem lies with the crappy Harbor Freight shocks.
KYBs are a crutch for soft torsion bars and things get worse with a bigger t bar. KYBs are a digressive design. This means that they are initially firm in the first 1/3 of their travel, then get SOFTER as the suspension travels further. This means that a car with small torsion bars and KYB Gas-A-Just shocks may feel okay on smooth roads but get the suspension moving and they really suck! $100-$125 for a set of four and you think that is buying a quality set?
I ran 1.0 T bars in my 70 Charger for years. KYBs too. I thought that the ride was a bit firm but okay....UNTIL I swapped in a pair of 1.15 bars from Bergman Auto Craft along with Bilstein RCD shocks from Firm Feel. Yes, the T bar size seems big but The car rides about as firm as my 2015 Challenger R/T and has very little brake dive. It handles great with the 1.25" solid front sway bar, HD leaf springs and 3/4" rear bar. I dig a great handling car and see so many people take the wrong road getting there. Small torsion bars, cheap shocks, big sway bar and improper alignment.
You have to match the torsion bars with the proper shock absorber. CHEAP shocks are a waste of money. You need to align the car to maintain maximum grip in the turns. You also need tires that stick to the road. Some guys prefer the 15" wheel size for appearance but there are very few 15" performance tires out there. A tall sidewall squirms, rolls and moves around too much to deliver precise cornering. Some say a short sidewall results in a poor ride. Again, maybe true with cheap shocks! Buy a quality shock absorber. Alignment: More MISinformation on this one that needs to be squashed...Some old timers and idiots claim that negative camber wears out the inside edges too fast. WRONG. I run .75 degree of negative camber in my Charger and the insides wear at the same rate as the rest of the tire. Improper tire wear is most often related to improper TOE settings. Want a quickie set of preferred alignment specs?
I run the following:
.75 NEG camber
4.5 degrees POS caster
1/8" toe IN.
If I knew you, I'd let you drive the car just to show how an old car can feel by optimizing the great engineering that these cars were built with.
66Satellite47
Well-Known Member
Very interesting. Well my KYB's are gone, have drag shocks now. My street driving is very limited. As you've said there is a lot to suspension combination to make a good handling & feeling car on the road.
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