Hello from a newbie i also received a set of 47" bars from JS i have 1 installed but work calls i am rebuilding the entire front suspension and installing the 73 disc brakes and ditching the budd system i do know removing the ps bar is a pain with TTI headers as soon as i get it done i will update you with my impressions
I tried the torque wrench test today. As expected, about the only thing I was able to do was nearly tear the bench vise off the bench at about 300 ft lbs.
So, on to the next step. Seat of the pants testing!! BTW, did I ever mention that my Fury sets STUPID low in the front??? I currently have 5 1/2" of clearance under the main cross member! And only about 4" under the trans pan!! The stance looks awesome, but I am on borrowed time!! Anyway, I knew it was low, but didn't realize how low till I measured it for my comparison.
So now the front end is in the air and the tires are off. If all goes well, I should have the new bars in tomorrow. But not much has been going well for me lately!
As part of this, I will finely be addressing my floppy rear end. No not Jazzercise, leaf springs. I am taking my original set in to have them checked out and possibly rehabbed. The other option is an Air Ride Air Over Leaf setup. The leafs were new in 91, ran about 6 years and 35,000 miles. Then parked for about 5 years and finally pulled and sat for 3 years. I don't think they should be that bad. Probably better than the factory, 75,000 miles ones on there now.
Finally!! The new 1.16" bars are in!! The old bars gave me some fits coming out, never had a set that tough before.
First a refresher on my suspension setup before the bars were installed. The bars were .98" x 44", off of a 75,xxx mile little old lady 4 door. The front end was completely rebuilt with all new rubber. KYB shocks are on all 4 corners. A 1" Adco front sway bar was added. The rear springs are a 5 leaf from the 4 door. Frame connectors were fabbed from 2"x2" stock. Front discs from a 73 Fury, and rear discs from TSM. This produced a pretty nice ride, very much like a modern sedan. I reference my Intrepid usually, I do think the Fury will out brake the Intrepid and manuever much like it. Obviously the Fury is heavier, wider, longer and doesn't have rack and pinion steering.
Description Just suspension tells me that the diameters can not be directly compared because the materials and manufacturing process are different. The new bars appear to have the final diameter machined, there are small, ribbed, machine marks spiralling the length of the bar. The new bars are noticably larger just looking at them, and noticably heavier. Sorry, I don't have a realiable method to weigh them.
Offset With my old .98" bars the ride height was 5 1/2" at the main cross member, too low really. About 1 7/8" of threads were showing on the T-Bar adjusting bolt. When the front was lifted, the bolts were backed off 10 turns till they removed the load from the bars. After the new bars were installed, I finger tightened the bolts while the load was still off. There was 1 3/4" of threads showing at this point. Then the front was lowered to see where the car sat. I suspected the cross member would lay on the jack and it wouldn't be able to be pulled out. BIG SURPRISE!! The cross member was now setting at 6 1/4"! With NO turns of the adjuster, the front was setting 3/4" higher than before with 10 turns. At this point I was starting to worry, How are these going to ride?? NOTE: I did add 2 turns to the drivers side to make the front level. I was measuring off the fender lip, not the most accurate, but that is what I measured off of before.
Ride Quality As mentioned above, the new bars are .18" thicker. With no preload, they appear to hold the car at the same height that would have required about 20 turns of preload on the old bars. Bouncing the corner of the car by hand was considerably harder. I was able to go for about an hour long cruise with a good mix of surfaces and speeds.
Around the neighboorhood at speeds below 40 mph, there wasn'y much difference. Big imperfections were more noticable, but not a big deal.
At higher speeds on even roads the ride improved dramatically. The road seemed much flatter and smoother, the little float that was left in the front end was gone.
Rougher surfaces at high speeds reminded me of my Dad's 2002 Dakota 4x4. Rougher, but controlled. I ran down one stretch of highway that has quite a few wavy dips in it. My 2wd Dakota and Intrepid really get some bounce going on this section of road, so did the Fury with the old bars. The new bars cut down the bounce and made it a bit harsher, but the bounce was turned into a quick bump. The impact was harder, but the event was over much quicker. In reality, this section of road is relatively new, but is a hazard and it is quite common to see people hit the wavy spots and slam the brakes because it startles them. I like this stiffer ride on this road much better than even my Dakota or Intrepid! I went back and drove some of those same roads later with my 2wd 1997 Dakota SLT, I think the Fury was still a better ride than the Dakota in several places. For those that don't know, the 97 and up 2wd Dakotas have one the best rides I have ever experienced in a truck.
Bottom Line I would say the ride varies from a modern sport tuned sedan to a modern 3/4 ton pickup. Keeping in mind how many people now drive 3/4 ton trucks as daily drivers, they are much smoother than the trucks of old. The ride will surprise someone that is used to their C floating down the road with half a foot of body movement, scarey in my opinion. But it shouldn't surprise anyone who is used to driving a modern sport vehicle or truck with a tighter suspension.
I really like the bars, and think that most people wanting to give their C a performance attitude (over the sofa on wheels cruiser) will also really appreciate them! If you see me at Show-Me Mopar Fest or Monster Mopar, give me a hollar, we can take a spin!
Side Note This improvement in the front has prompted me to re-evaluate my rear suspension. I was digging through my parts pile still at the shop (2 yrs later) and discovered the springs that were on the Fury before restoration. I screwed up and used the wrong springs, they are a 6 leaf and in excellent condition. I had them made in 91, ran them 6 years, for about 35,000 miles before parking the Fury. They then set for 5 years on the car and then set loose for 2 years. I stuck them on last night loosely and it raised the rear 1" and noticably cut the bounce on the rear. So they get blasted and painted today. Hopefully, tomorrow the new(er) springs will be on with the new bars. This should greatly improve my clearance issues with the 3" exhaust! Just in time for the 300 mile round trip to Show-Me Mopar Fest on Sunday!
Thank You I would really like to thank Jayme and the guys at Just Suspension for stepping up to fill a void for us C-Body guys!! Even though not everyone might be looking for this kind of suspension upgrade, it is critical that we all realize that this is one more step forward in raising the visibility of C-Bodies in the Mopar world and classic car world in general. A torsion bar today, a hood pad tomorrow, eventually we might see some sheet metal.
I highly recommend anyone check out Just Suspension for any suspension related needs. They now carry complete suspension systems for C's and quite a few performance minded upgrades. Give them a call, not everything is listed on the website or in their catalog. Make sure they know you own a C-Body!
Excellent review! Neww (larger) t-bars are in my Fury's future, and this is the kind of driving experience I'm looking forward to. My Valiant is the little rocket with the max sporting suspension, but the Fury ought to be able to be a comfy sporting cruiser equal in feel to any number of modern cars... and vastly superior in style...
A couple points to ponder. A 2000 Intrepid weighs in about 3500#, from my 2 minute effort on Google. Also, I just shipped a pair of 47" t-bars to Ontos, and the FedEx scale said the package was 24.3#. The packaging was basically cardborad wrapped around the bars a couple times and folded over on the ends to keep them in place. I'd guess 22# at least for the bare bars.
update over my last post its all back together and i managed to find time for about a 20 mile drive over our quality roads the ride is firmer but not harsh at all i like it so far like so many things i didn't plan to go this far my original plan was just to ditch the budd system for the 73 one but the balljoints on the 73 spindles were shot so i called Jayme at JS and next thing you know i ordered the front end rebuild kit Tbars and sway bars unfortunitly i didn't know about the free shipping oh well my only complaint would be there is no info on their site about c bodys so when i got the kit i found out i didn't get new rubber bump stops and one of mine was trashed
I put about 300 miles and 35 gallons of fuel on the bars this weekend. (do the math, it ain't pretty). The bars performed AWESOME! The 5 leaf rear springs got swapped for 6 leafs the night before, and not the Fury is setting NICE!
The bars raised the front 3/4" and the springs raised the rear 1". It really was too low before, but it is just about right now.
We had 4 people and a trunk full of chairs, an awning, tools and cooler. My dad was amazed by the ride and loved it! (He is an old guy, like Hobby !crazy ) No float, no sway, no drift, just perfect control and a ride like glass! There were a few rough spots that got it bouncing a little, Missouri roads can get ugly. But I looked around and the other new cars were doing the same, if not more.
At this point, I am very happy! I see no need for a rear sway. However, when the KYB's wear, I might replace them with some QA1's or Edelbrock AIS shocks. Anyone nail down part numbers on these yet?
I am excited to hear if the other members who have the new bars have the same experience. [ Edited Mon Jun 18 2007, 04:53PM ]
Scott, One of these days I'm going to swap in the IAS shocks I have for the front of my Fury. I forget the PN's, but they're a GM application I got from a thread (now gone) on Moparts. They're a little bit longer than the OEM shocks, but I think that can be made up by trimming the bottom upper shock bushing. At least that's my thinking at this point. If I'm lucky, I can get that done in a month or so. If I'm not lucky, I'll tell you all about it next year...
Joined: Mon Feb 13 2006, 12:39AM
Location: Fresno, CA
Posts: 516
8, thanks for the update....very cool news....I hope to upgrade my car too...I'm already getting a set of American Racing Vector SE wheels so I'll be able to have 15" wheels
