68 RT Suspension

[jww426]

Hello everyone and happy spring!!

My 68 RT has the factory stock suspension, that and everything else.
100% Factory stock. 440, 727. No mods at all. Nut & bolt Restored in 2008.

I have a bad back with titanium parts from my early racing career. Ouch!
I love this car but its a little too stiff.
Is there a way I can soften the setup just a little without making the car dangerous?
It corners pretty darn flat at speed! Who said old muscle cars don't handle well?

Could I take out a rear leaf and ease up on the front torsion bars?
Or ...if I have to...go with a coilover rear setup?
Suggestions?

Many thanks!!
John

[Bad B-rad]

Would maybe I more modern seat be a cheaper, and more comfortable option?

I also have a bad back sustained from a work related injury, but I do not have screws or metal parts in me, yet.

A crazy as it sounds maybe an air seat from a big rig, I know it may not look that cool, but those seats are great, I have used some in off road dump trucks, and wheel loaders and they do help you float on cloud of air, its like adding suspension to your seat.
Plus then you could add heating elements, and have the back, and butt be heated.
Just a thought.

[WHITE AND RED 69]

I don't think I've ever heard anyone say the stock cars are too stiff? Usually it is the other way around.     What brand of shocks are currently on the car?

Easiest solution would be to go with some adjustable shocks and set them to the softest settings. And if that is too soft a couple clicks on the adjusters will change that.   

[JR]

I was going to say exactly the same thing white and red.

Stock springs are way too soft and let the car wallow too much. (Are you 100% sure the builder didn't upsize them?)

I'd bet, most likely, someone has stuck on a set of rock hard shocks. There was one brand that was notorious for having a rock hard ride.

What shocks are on the car now?

The 10 way adjustable QA1 shocks I have can be set WAY too soft for my tastes, they'd be a great option if you wanted to spend the coin.

[Mike DC]

 
You could remove a leaf from the rear springs without much trouble.  Make it one of the bigger leafs or else you won't feel the difference except on hard bumps.  The front torsion bars are already softer than recommended nowadays so I wouldn't try to put anything softer in there.

If you take a lot of stiffness out of the rear leafs then you may want to add a (thin) rear swaybar to recover the lost rear roll stiffness. 


Better shocks could help if yours are stock or KYBs.  Maybe get some adjustable ones and run them on the soft side.
 

I agree that your best bet may be an aftermarket seat.  The desert truck/buggy racer guys use seats that are designed to cushion their butts more than normal, although that might only be helpful for HARD hits.  Just a good piece of memory/impact foam under your butt might do the same job.     

[HPP]

I'll jump on the shock bandwagon and ask what shocks do you have? I'm assuming a resto type oil shock that is obviously woefully inadequate. Better shocks can better control the springs to minimize harshness without compromising performance. A step up here can  improve ride quality without compromising performance.

After that maybe better seating.  No need to go coil over. A spring is a spring is a spring. Its how you control ithat spring that makes the difference. Think engines and camshafts. A cam determines the operating range and manners of the engine, just like a shock does to the suspension.

Bilsteins are great shocks if you  don't want to tinker with settings. There are numerous good adjustable shocks out there if you like to play with things in both single and double adjustable types.

[BeeOrange]

I can sympathize; I have a spinal fusion, titanium rods and a 68 Charger R/T

When I bought the R/T, it was equipped with stock leaf springs and coil over shocks on the rear. I have never had coil overs and wouldn't have installed them, but I am surprised at the ride difference. I have a 70 Super Bee with 1 inch higher leaf springs and conventional shocks, and the Charger is a softer ride. Even my dyed-in-the-wool GM guy brother in law comment how nice the Charger rides. My guess is the stock springs are a bit worn and the coil overs are taking a bit of the weight, but the ride is softer than Super Bee. I wouldn't say the Super Bee is harsh but more like other Mopars I have had in the past.

Are your torsion bars at stock height? If someone "tightened" the bars to raise the front end, it can cause the ride to be a bit stiff.

I agree with the shock comment, if they are worn out replace them with a good quality gas shock. I had a set of KYB's in a 70 big block Challenger a few years ago and I thought they were a bit stiff
(that car had bigger torsion bars and 1inch raised leaf springs to be fair to the KYB's) so I would stay away from those.

Beautiful car!

Good luck!

[Kern Dog]

After a few years of reading people bash KYBs, I took the advice and switched to Bilsteins.   
The stock R/T torsion bars are what? .90 ? I  had 1.0 bars in there with KYBs and made the jump to 1.15s and the Bilstein shocks. The ride is firm but not harsh at all. It rides about the same as our 2015 Challenger R/T.

[jww426]

Thanks!!!!
Qa1s to start.
JWW

[c00nhunterjoe]

Pair of .920 bars, caltrac monoleafs on the rear with santhuffs all the way around.

[myk]

I don't think I've ever heard anyone say the stock cars are too stiff? Usually it is the other way around.     What brand of shocks are currently on the car?

Easiest solution would be to go with some adjustable shocks and set them to the softest settings. And if that is too soft a couple clicks on the adjusters will change that.   

SERIOUSLY.  The stock suspension is so soft I'd even call it dangerous by modern standards...

[RECHRGD]

I don't think I've ever heard anyone say the stock cars are too stiff? Usually it is the other way around.     What brand of shocks are currently on the car?

Easiest solution would be to go with some adjustable shocks and set them to the softest settings. And if that is too soft a couple clicks on the adjusters will change that.   

SERIOUSLY.  The stock suspension is so soft I'd even call it dangerous by modern standards...

Myk, is your car an original R/T?  The standard chargers were not sprung as hard......

[Mike DC]

  
The T-bars aren't so very far off what modern "comfy" sedans have.  The rear (RT) leafs are very stiff.  Arguably too stiff for anything besides drag racing.  

Both ends need more swaybar resistance by modern standards.  The front bar needs to be bigger and the rearend needs a bar at all.



The original Mopar engineers weren't dumb, they were designing around obsolete tires.  Put a set of bias-ply tires on a modern suspension and it wouldn't be too good either.  The car would ride roughly and it would break loose without much warning in the corners.

Original '69 C500 Hemi road test.  (They start driving the car in the 2nd half of it.)
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLX1h6jvWYs

Watch the footage starting at about 4:45 to the end of the video - the car is body-leaning just enough to give the typical scary-bad idiot driver a lot of feedback.  It's leaning a little more than modern car buyers like today, but not a lot more.  Not enough to be "wallowing" like if somebody slapped modern tires on it.  (BTW a non-Hemi car with 14" wheels would have leaned even less.)

[myk]

I don't think I've ever heard anyone say the stock cars are too stiff? Usually it is the other way around.     What brand of shocks are currently on the car?

Easiest solution would be to go with some adjustable shocks and set them to the softest settings. And if that is too soft a couple clicks on the adjusters will change that.   

SERIOUSLY.  The stock suspension is so soft I'd even call it dangerous by modern standards...

Myk, is your car an original R/T?  The standard chargers were not sprung as hard......

I had the RT pieces installed years ago.  I've since switched over to a full Hotchkiss suspension which is nothing short of punishing.  I think my experiences in modern cars skewed my perception with the Charger...

[Mike DC]

I've since switched over to a full Hotchkiss suspension which is nothing short of punishing.

Care to elaborate?