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PST 1.03 torsion bars

Kern Dog said:
The 1.15" bars were actually made by XV Motorsports but sold through Bergman Auto Craft.

View attachment 1734484

The 1.0 bars are the top 2, the 1.15" bars are the bottom 2.

Peter Bergman had leftover stock from when he worked with XV. I got mine at a great price but that was 9 years ago. Hotchkis sells similar sizes. There are other options too from what I have heard.
Click to expand...
I think the 1.03 bars are a better riding bar but if your car is lowered pretty low like mine is in the front the 1.03 will bottom out on potholes and so forth but not very hard, due to very little travel suspension. I do have adjustable shocks but I don’t want them too stiff. A bar like that 1.15 would definitely be better for lowered cars. Now that my car is settled in I’m going to crank it up 1” and see if that’ll take care of it.
 
Kern Dog said:
The 1.15" bars were actually made by XV Motorsports but sold through Bergman Auto Craft.

View attachment 1734484

The 1.0 bars are the top 2, the 1.15" bars are the bottom 2.

Peter Bergman had leftover stock from when he worked with XV. I got mine at a great price but that was 9 years ago. Hotchkis sells similar sizes. There are other options too from what I have heard.
Click to expand...
I had the Hotchkis 1.10 bars in my '70 Cuda along with their Fox Shocks. Great combo, rode and handled amazing! Summit has the Hotchkis 1.10 Hotchkis Sport Suspension 19367 Hotchkis Sport Suspension Torsion Bars | Summit Racing
 
The PST 1.03's are the best bang for the buck out there imo.
 
The Hotchkis stuff is always overpriced.
I want to support American businesses if their prices are not double what their competitors prices are.
 
70ChargerRT said:
I think the 1.03 bars are a better riding bar but if your car is lowered pretty low like mine is in the front the 1.03 will bottom out on potholes and so forth but not very hard, due to very little travel suspension. I do have adjustable shocks but I don’t want them too stiff. A bar like that 1.15 would definitely be better for lowered cars. Now that my car is settled in I’m going to crank it up 1” and see if that’ll take care of it.
Click to expand...
you make a good point about ride height.

I have 1.00" diameter Firm Feel torsion bars with tuned Bilsteins, Hotchkis rear leafs, Hotchkis Front sway bar and Firm Feel rear sway bar. Handling is excellent.

I drove another FBBO member's car (69 Coronet) that has .096" diameter bars with Bilsteins and non-stock rear leafs and his car also handles excellent.

1.03" will be stiffer than 1.00". I'm thinking anything larger than the largest stock offering (.092") will be noticeable, but 1.03" is not necessarily the minimum diameter required. It depends on the car and the overall setup.
 
I thought about this question before.

CoronetDarter said:
Anyone have header interference running 1.0+" bars?
Click to expand...

It occurred to me that if the bars are increased in size from .88 to even 1.15, that is .27”, barely wider than 1/8” each side of center. I hope that nobody has headers that are within 1/8” of their torsion bars.
Maybe the cheaper headers are. I had 2 sets of Hooker headers before I cracked open the wallet for the TTIs. Mine clear.
 
68 Sport Satellite said:
you make a good point about ride height.

I have 1.00" diameter Firm Feel torsion bars with tuned Bilsteins, Hotchkis rear leafs, Hotchkis Front sway bar and Firm Feel rear sway bar. Handling is excellent.

I drove another FBBO member's car (69 Coronet) that has .096" diameter bars with Bilsteins and non-stock rear leafs and his car also handles excellent.

1.03" will be stiffer than 1.00". I'm thinking anything larger than the largest stock offering (.092") will be noticeable, but 1.03" is not necessarily the minimum diameter required. It depends on the car and the overall setup.
Click to expand...
How do you like those Hotchkis rear leafs? 1” lower?
 
Kern Dog said:
I thought about this question before.



It occurred to me that if the bars are increased in size from .88 to even 1.15, that is .27”, barely wider than 1/8” each side of center. I hope that nobody has headers that are within 1/8” of their torsion bars.
Maybe the cheaper headers are. I had 2 sets of Hooker headers before I cracked open the wallet for the TTIs. Mine clear.
Click to expand...
I have some tight ones but engine masters proved we can hammer the crap out of them and not kill power!
 
70ChargerRT said:
How do you like those Hotchkis rear leafs? 1” lower?
Click to expand...
yes, 1" lower, but I run 275/60/15 (28" tall) rears so I can't tell. Front tires are 215/60/15. The car does well in turns and in the 1/4 mile. However, since the stance has a 1" rake, it would probably do even better if I had zero rake and the same size tires all around.
 
68 Sport Satellite said:
yes, 1" lower, but I run 275/60/15 (28" tall) rears so I can't tell. Front tires are 215/60/15. The car does well in turns and in the 1/4 mile. However, since the stance has a 1" rake, it would probably do even better if I had zero rake and the same size tires all around.
Click to expand...
I was just wondering because when I put my car back together, I had a brand new set of superstock springs put up and I thought about using the Hotchkis 1 inch lowered springs but I went ahead and used the superstock springs. They did set up way too high when I first put them on, but after driving it for about 500 miles they settled right in and dropped at least an inch. I did use a 1 inch lowering block with them also. I used 285/40/17 out back and 245/45/17 up front. I am going to crank it up a bit in the front because it has settled in also and I’m bottoming out on potholes because I have very little suspension travel but not hitting too hard.

IMG_0117.jpeg
 
@70ChargerRT - that's a BITCHIN' looking Charger. That paint really pops in that lighting.

Up front on mine I also have 2" drop spindles from Magnum Force. That allows me to have my front dropped a bit without turning the torsion bars down too much.
 
I am just going to put this out there. I have put the PST 1.03 bars in 3 different 69-70 b bodies. I don't really have any complaints and it seems like the best bang for your buck, but I am highly considering moving up a stiffer size or 2. I have used the bars with KYB gas a just, Hotchkis and QA1 shocks. I currently have cars with QA1 and KYB. I love the adjustability of the QA1 but I can't turn up the firmness without it feeling like the front end is bouncing up and down. I also honestly think imo, that the KYB gas adjust shocks(front and rear) perform pretty much the same as the Hotchkis, Bilstein and QA1 do in my experience. I ran/run tubular upper arms, adjustable strut rods, boxed in lower arms, borgeson ps gear boxes, larger tie rods and sway bars on each of these cars and add as much caster as i can. I just can't seem to get these cars to handle like I want. I expected more. I don't know if this will help anyone or not. It's just my opinion/experience. I really don't think it is necessary to upgrade to a coilover kit but I have considered it.
 
HAHNAGON said:
I am just going to put this out there. I have put the PST 1.03 bars in 3 different 69-70 b bodies. I don't really have any complaints and it seems like the best bang for your buck, but I am highly considering moving up a stiffer size or 2. I have used the bars with KYB gas a just, Hotchkis and QA1 shocks. I currently have cars with QA1 and KYB. I love the adjustability of the QA1 but I can't turn up the firmness without it feeling like the front end is bouncing up and down. I also honestly think imo, that the KYB gas adjust shocks(front and rear) perform pretty much the same as the Hotchkis, Bilstein and QA1 do in my experience. I ran/run tubular upper arms, adjustable strut rods, boxed in lower arms, borgeson ps gear boxes, larger tie rods and sway bars on each of these cars and add as much caster as i can. I just can't seem to get these cars to handle like I want. I expected more. I don't know if this will help anyone or not. It's just my opinion/experience. I really don't think it is necessary to upgrade to a coilover kit but I have considered it.
Click to expand...
What size is your sway arm? Adjustable strut rods and the bigger 13/16 ain’t going to help it handle any better. If you want it to handle like a track car you’ve got to go bigger T-Bars, Sway Arms, Adjustable Upper A-Arms and stiffen the Chassis. I also suggest lowered spindles and rear leaf springs but I wanted ride over everything. I have everything you have in the front end, my Sway Arm is a 1 1/8 Hellwig and my shocks are Vikings and they are awesome and it doesn’t bounce. My boy is running the KYB gas adjust and while they are a great shock they are not even in the same ball park as these Vikings.
 
70ChargerRT said:
What size is your sway arm? Adjustable strut rods and the bigger 13/16 ain’t going to help it handle any better. If you want it to handle like a track car you’ve got to go bigger T-Bars, Sway Arms, Adjustable Upper A-Arms and stiffen the Chassis. I also suggest lowered spindles and rear leaf springs but I wanted ride over everything. I have everything you have in the front end, my Sway Arm is a 1 1/8 Hellwig and my shocks are Vikings and they are awesome and it doesn’t bounce. My boy is running the KYB gas adjust and while they are a great shock they are not even in the same ball park as these Vikings.
Click to expand...
I agree - stiffening the unibody is key and subframe connectors are a must. Front and rear sway bar help as lot as well. I run the tuned Bilstein shocks and they work great.
 
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