bbh03

It has been suggested to me that this would be a good modification for the track and that conversion is not difficult, but I have never encountered a setup for the torsion cars. Anyone know about this?

JackOlsen

It's commonly done for track cars. It makes sense if you need spring rates than torsion bars can provide. But it isn't cheap, in that the rear shock towers weren't designed to carry the weight of the car. You need to weld grommets to the shock tower caps, and also seam weld and reinforce a few other places. Otherwise, you will slowly tear those parts of the chassis apart.

In front, it will reduce the width of wheel you're able to run. I recently got rid of the springs in the front of my widebody car to fit slightly wider wheels and tires in.

Bill Gregory

Since you can get torsion bars up into the mid 30's, you need to consider if changing to a spring-based suspension is really what you need. As Jack said, it is possible, but not trivial. And if you're considering racing, ensure the class rules would allow a conversion.

bbh03

Several good points. Class rules might be limiting for me.

altonj

I run a complete coil spring setup on my standard bodied 84. I have a 225/45/17 on the front with a little bit more room for a larger tire, but not much. The parts are expensive if you do the whole thing. New struts front and rear, new front suspension pieces ala 935 style and new rear spring plates. It all adds up. . One nice advantage is that it is simple and inexpensive to change spring rates with this setup and you can, if you want, change the front track a little. The pieces are very adjustable and give slightly better front end geometry by raising the inside pick up point on the arm. It is great stuff for sure, but like others have hinted, make a careful descision.. It certainly is not normally necessary the many well set up torsion bar cars can attest to.

Cheers, Jeff