About Jesse Moser Expertise I specialize in the Plymouth Duster from 1970 to 1973, allthough 1974 through 1976 Dusters are nearly identical. 340s, Twisters, Feather Dusters (the cars!), whatever "A" body Duster you have, I can probably give you some info.
Experience I own a 1973 Duster with the Twister options package. I've been searching for information on this specific car since 1995 and have acquired much general and specific knowledge in the process.
Organizations belong to: Mopar Mailing List
Question The left front torsion bar on my 73 340/727 duster broke.Ever since it's been on a stand jack.
I put a new bar in its place but the car just seems to fall to the floor instead of it having that perfect duster stance.What shall i look for or what can I do to make the car stance the way it should be.? Is it the shocks,or is there a special way that you have to put torsion bar on.?
Help me out my headers draged on the floor and made a hole in one now thats more money that i have to put in it.
Answer Jimmy,
The proper way to install a torsion bar is simply with no load on that side of the suspension (the tire off the ground). Assuming you did this, and the car sits low, but still has "spring" to it, the ride height needs to be adjusted. This is one of the beauties of Mopar suspension engineering. There is a large vertical bolt with the head down in the lower control arm. It is about even with the end of the torsion bar. This is because it adjusts the preload on the spring, which affects the ride height (the height of the vehicle). Again with no weight on that side of the car, tighten the bolt (clockwise) to increase the preload and the ride height. Loosening the bolt (counterclockwise) will lower the ride height. Give the bolt a couple turns and put the car back on the ground to see if this helped any, or if maybe you are turning it the wrong way. Once the car is about level side-to-side, bounce the car a couple times; back, then front, to even the stresses on the suspension and measure the height to the frame, if you like the height of your car now. To check if the car is at original height, measure the height of the ball joint and the torsion bar housing from the ground. The difference between these two should be from 1 3/4" to 2".
The other possibility is that you have the improper torsion bar. The slant six and 318 both used weaker torsion bars than the 340.
If neither of these is the case, you probably have a torsion bar housing that has seperated from the frame. In restoring my own car, time and road salt eroded the cross member so badly that only an inch of badly rusted metal was left on the top and bottom around the housing. If this is your problem, Auto Rust Technicians, located in Rhode Island, makes a very high quality weld-in patch that covers the entire frame.
Be sure, after the problem is solved, that you have the front end alignment checked. Any time you change the height of the front of the car, this needs to be checked.
On the subject of your headers, I have a set of Heddman headers that I used on my car. The passenger side header is dented, but not eaten through. If you're interested, I could sell you these very cheap.
