Anybody provide dropped spindles for Volare torsion bar front end..? My last purchase has a Volare front end other things I am sorting out..
Not that I'm aware of. I've installed several of the units in several different vehicles and when doing the install I notch the frame of builder car and set the K member up in the frame so as not to need dropped spindles. It's not your usual install but well worth the extra effort.
Have you tried Magnum Force? I see in their add that they do list some Volari parts. Here is their phone #408-559-6633
You are spot on Ranchero59. I learned something today, thank you. This is a cut-n-paste off there sight. Nice looking product. Mopar 2 inch dropped spindles A, B, E, F, J, M, R-body (PAIR) Item #: MFR192000 Price/ea: $440.00 Average Rating:
you don't understand, with dropped spindles, a person can raise it "UP" with the torsion bars and have a better ride, yet lower it. somewhere in the middle is correct.. .the further down you crank the torsion bars the less enjoyable ride for a vehicle, tire wear, etc.. fun to have it dropped with spindles, AND correct adjustment of torsion bars.. .
The adjust your ride height with a bolt is a little misleading. On the Mopar torsion units there is a optimal set point for proper alignment and function. There's also several different load rated bars like coil springs would be. Just installing a K member where ever it kind of fits and thinking you will fix ride height with a turn of the bolt will cause driving effects that if installed at proper set height would not exist. Read that as a Funky ride, a Stiff ride, Piss pore tire life and a few others. There is a Correct install and then the Home Builders version of Look what I did. Most home builders with a Mig welder think knowing how to weld is all there is to it. Wrong!
verde742; Should I assume this question was in reference to my above statement? Based on many of your prior posts I thought you were pretty much in the know as to how things worked. (that's giving you credit, not a knock) Over the last many years my standard answer was always "knowing that is why I get the Big Bucks". Now that I'm retired I'm a little more helpful than that. That answer involves having some fixed numbers on the finished Vehicle that most don't even consider while in the build stage. You can read that. Most home builders in general. You also need to know some fixed numbers of the Vehicle the scavenged parts came off of. Curb weight of both Vehicles plays a part (yes really). Some very important Math, then location will show up. Correct location may not be what you expected. You can't just join parts where they Look Good and think you'll have an alignment Guy bring it around, it don't work Correct like that. My thoughts in general about Dropped Spindles on Vehicles that have had extensive frame mods is that the builder didn't do his home work. If your working on a stock Vehicle with A-Frames, Dropped Spindles are a grate way to change the elevation. When it comes to lowering with the turn of a bolt think about the change of the Top A-Frame and how it travels at that static angle. What happens to the camber?
Remember when you could take four spindles to Russ Meeks and he would make you a pair of dropped spindles.
I am very pleased with the Volare and Fatmans dropped spindles on my 53 F100. I used the factory specs showing the measurement between the bump stop and control arm. I later lowered it slightly from that spec ( I think since it has been lots of years ago) and then had a local hot rod alignment guy align it with his own suggested specs. It drives great and has no odd tire wear.
I had 57 Plymouth Savoy 2dr. hardtop as a high school kid. I cranked the torsion bars and it rode fantastic with the very cool lower stance. Before the Mopar, I had a 49 Chevy......I heated the front springs to lower it, and it rode like a 1 ton truck. The Plymouth rode like a Cadilac compared to the Chevy!
I think you would have been better to CUT the coils on Chevy. As I understand a torsion bar, it is like a coil stretched out straight...tension created only if turned either direction from rest..? experts, HELP !!!
I was young and dumb! It seems with the Plymouth, when cranked lower if anything the torsion bars seemed like they had less tension.....it certainly didn't get any stiffer!
I'm thinking a couple of you are confusing the straight line bigger car torsion bars with the cross the subframe Volare Bars. You can mess with the ones on the bigger cars a bit and get away with it but the others don't seem to work the same. Still the first adjustment a front end guy usually makes on a Torsion bar Mopar that the owner doesn't specify that they want a certain ride height that they already set is to check and if needed adjust the height to specs and then align the front end. You don't want to get in the middle of an argument between a kid and his rather stogy non car dude dad when the old man brings the kids car in for alignment and tells you to set it back at factory stock height either. I bailed and went and hid on that one.
PLEASE keep educating me, this is my first outing with a torsion bar front end, a VOLARE !! thanks, for any crumble
48 Chev is Dead On Correct. There is a Factory static ride height to get proper alignment and "function". Also as with Coil Springs torsion bars come in different load ratings. To get a well working unit you must know it's vertical ground clearance as well as factory tire size then the desired ride height and new tire size before you set new unit into any new set of frame rails. Anything less than that and you have less than perfect A-Frame action. Another very often not considered issue when doing this kind of change over is Front to Back horizontal line so that Caster works proper. This seems to be by far the least done correct setting by Home builders.
On the original 57 era Mopar torsion setup specs, the tire size was irrelevant. They specified bar settings by measuring from the bottom of the lower ball joint to the ground, then lower aframe inner end to the ground. The difference was what was used to adjust the Torsion bar settings. You could cheat them down a bit, but that caused the camber to change, requiring realignment. worse, the angle change affects the camber change during suspension movement which changes the cornering feel and traction.
To get any more clear how/what to do I will be crossing the acceptable lines of the H.A.M.B. and this post will get closed and deleted.
I suggest anyone looking at purchasing dropped spindles doesn't buy Magnum Force - they are made from cast iron (including the spindle pin). https://lvvta.org.nz/documents/safe...num_Force-brand_Cast-iron_Spindle_Failure.pdf
The Jalopy Journal
