When MOPAR introduced their Forward Look "Suddenly It's 1960!" 1957 line, they were very
shoddily built, and one of the main complaints with these new cars was that the torsion
bars would snap. This was a brand new technology for Chrysler, and combined with
the terrible build quality, it was another disaster. Mopar quality improved, though, and
that torsion bar suspension was superior to any other; ChryCo handling was better than
the competitors...your Dart simply needs the bars replaced...go here:
https://www.allpar.com/threads/chrysler-torsion-bar-car-suspensions-1957-1992-torsion-aire-torsion-quiet.229918/
"When Chrysler started using torsion bars for their front suspensions, they were not
new, but they were a first for a major American manufacturer, and possibly a first
for low-price and medium-price cars. Packard had started using a complex four-wheel
torsion bar setup in 1955 and 1956, and some expensive European cars used them.
The torsion-bar front suspension debuted in 1957 across all the corporation's models,
and were used on all Chrysler Corporation cars until the front wheel drive cars arrived.
The suspension was sold for some years under the trademark Torsion-Aire.
There were many torsion-bar snapping problems in 1957, when the systems first
launched, but by 1958, Chrysler had mostly resolved the problem.
In addition to the torsion bars, the company used an anti-sway bar (often just
called "sway bar") to resist lean in turns, with various degrees of success
depending on its thickness and the suspension tuning; generally, Chrysler Corp
products had less body roll than equivalent GM or Ford cars. Diagonally mounted
steel struts reinforced and positioned the front-wheel lower control arms...
COMMENT: Yes, the torsion bars could snap.
Oh boy, could they ever. At least the first two years production could, did. ... for
the 1960 models, the adjustment point moved from the front of the bar to the rear.
They only seemed to break at rest, not while on the road. The redesigned bars,
including the replacements for the early cars, were very reliable - probably
much more reliable than the coils used in the competition and way better than
the airbags then in use on GM's high-level cars; but in 1959, when the 1957s had
started snapping, replacement parts were hard to find.
My father was a Dodge factory rep from 1952 to 1960. While passing through a
dealership, he heard a gentleman not being all that gentle after being told it would take
about three weeks to get a replacement for his Desoto's broken right side torsion
bar. As he was expressing his displeasure to the poor service writer, BANG went
the left side..."
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