Stock torsion bar size on a '68 Charger R/T?

[Rack]

As some of you know, I "won" an 1968 Charger R/T on ebay not long ago, but I'm not 100% convinced it is an R/T (the vin says it is, but I'm thinking the dash might have been switched out).

Anyway, the engine is a 383 so that already had my doubts going. The fender tag and build sheet are both gone so I can't check there. A guy looked at my charger the other day and said the torsion bars were smaller then R/T torsion bars. I'm just wondering what the stock torsion bar size on the 68 charger r/t was so I could know for sure. Were they bigger then on the "regular" chargers?


Not that it matters at this point cuz I'm gonna keep it anyway.

[8WHEELER]

The stock size 440 HP and Hemi bars were .92in I like to run .96in bars myself. I think 318 and 383 cars had .88in bars.

Dan

[Rack]

The stock size 440 HP and Hemi bars were .92in I like to run .96in bars myself. I think 318 and 383 cars had .88in bars.

Dan

Cool thanks 8WHEELER. I'll have to measure them for sure once I get it dismantled, but they look kind of small. So if they are .88" then the car most likely had the dash swapped.

Now I just need my freakin' title and I can take it apart and find out!

[CornDogsCharger]

Here is something else you can look for.  If your torsion bars are not very rusty, you can clean them up with some mineral spirits or any other type of degreaser.  The factory put paint "dabs" on the left bar only to quickly identify the size.  It should be about 1/2 inch wide and should be about 10 inches from the anchoring end.  A 0.88 bar would have green paint, 0.90 bar would have silver paint, and the 0.92 bar would have brown paint.  Hope this helps.

Justin
"CornDog"

[Rack]

Here is something else you can look for.  If your torsion bars are not very rusty, you can clean them up with some mineral spirits or any other type of degreaser.  The factory put paint "dabs" on the left bar only to quickly identify the size.  It should be about 1/2 inch wide and should be about 10 inches from the anchoring end.  A 0.88 bar would have green paint, 0.90 bar would have silver paint, and the 0.92 bar would have brown paint.  Hope this helps.

Justin
"CornDog"

Awesome info, CornDogs!

That's something I can check out tomorrow too, instead of waiting till I get the car dismantled.


Thanks!

[resq302]

Actually, I thought the left got two paint stripes while the pass. got only one.  I could be wrong though but that is how mine were.

[Mike DC]

   
Umm . . . 
Hey guys? 

Maybe some people have better eyes than others, but this is a little much.  Somehow I just don't picture a mechanic being able to eyeball the size of a torsion bar underneath a car down to .02" or .04" in size. 

Might as well measure it though.  Couldn't hurt.

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Yeah, the stock B-body size was .88 and the Hemi/440 was .92 on the R/Ts. 
But as far as I know, Chargers in particular got .90" stock on the 318s and both versions of 383s.

   

[Rack]

   
Umm . . . 
Hey guys? 

Maybe some people have better eyes than others, but this is a little much.  Somehow I just don't picture a mechanic being able to eyeball the size of a torsion bar underneath a car down to .02" or .04" in size. 

Might as well measure it though.  Couldn't hurt.

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Yeah, the stock B-body size was .88 and the Hemi/440 was .92 on the R/Ts. 
But as far as I know, Chargers in particular got .90" stock on the 318s and both versions of 383s.

   

I agree. It would be hard to notice it just by looking at it, but it least it's something to check (measure) when I dismantle it so I'll have more info on whether it really is an R/T or not.

On that note, the seller has supposedly mailed me some papers that I'll be able to use to get my title (hopefully). *crosses fingers*


So if everything goes well from here on out, I'll be able to start dismantling the charger pretty soon.   

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

What about verifying the body #'s on the car?  (trunk lip & radiator yoke)

[Rack]

What about verifying the body #'s on the car?  (trunk lip & radiator yoke)

The radiator yoke has been replaced. There's even a weld line on the drivers side of it, so there is no stampings on it.

The trunk lip only shows the order sequence. '68 was the last year it was done that way. The trunk lip showed the last 5 digits of the vin starting in '69.

My fender tag is gone and I have no build sheet. All I have to go by is the vin number, basically. That's why I wanted to check the torsion bar size. If all the "little things" added up are all parts that weren't on R/T's then I'll "know" that it's not really an R/T.

It really doesn't matter in the end cuz it's not like I'm gonna sell it or anything. I guess it's just for piece of mind.

[TylerCharger69]

I think in my opinion...it boils down to the bigger the engine, the bigger the torsion bars....i.e.  a 318 car would have skinnier bars than a 383 car and a 383 car would be skinnier than a 440.....due to the weight differences.  I agree with an above post....I don't see how one could eyeball that little bit of a difference.   In other words.....a set of 318 bars  isn't going to support a 440  for a long period of time before sagging occurs.   But....I don't think it's an XP or an XS issue.....Somebody correct me if I'm wrong

[Mike DC]

The 318 and 383 torsion bars were the same .90" at least on 2nd-gen Chargers.  And the 440s & Hemis both got the .92" factory bars. 
Other years & other B-bodies didn't necessearily get the same spring rates as these.

I'm not sure about the slant-6 Chargers.  They might have gotten the .88" bars like the rest of the smalllblock low-optioned Coronets.

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Will a 318 torsion bar support a 440? 

Depends on the sitaution.  If you were building mainly a drag racer, you'd probably WANT the bars as light as possible for weight transfer.  But a road racer would hate them that way.  The lighter bars wear out before the heaver ones for sure, but then again that doesn't mean we should all run the heaviest bars on the planet either.  There's nothing inherently "unsafe" or "wrong" about a softly-sprung car if that's how you want it to be set up. 

And there's also the issue of worn-out old springs:  A brand new set of thin .88" torsion bars is probably a lot safer than a 35-year-old set of Hemi-spec .92" bars.

All the factory torsion bar rates are lower than most people want them today.  We're usually just more "sports-car guys" than the original owners ever were back in the 1960s.  And modern radial tires can grip better, which means the suspension often gets loaded more than it originally did during hard maneuvering.

 

[HeavyFuel]

Actually, I thought the left got two paint stripes while the pass. got only one.  I could be wrong though but that is how mine were.

I agree.  My R/t bars had two stripes on one, and one stripe on the other.  Brown in color.

[Blakcharger440]

I believe all 68-70 Charger RT's had heavier duty leaf springs also. There should be more leafs on
the passenger side spring.