Plymouth Barracuda Front Suspension Upgrade - The B3 Is Back

One of the only specialty tools needed for this job is a tie-rod separator, commonly called a "pickle fork."

After the steering linkage is disconnected, the upper ball joints can be loosened. The spindles will be reused, but the control arms, strut-rods, and K-member will all be replaced.

Using a floor jack and jackstands, the original K-member and lower control arms are lowered from the car.

Side-by-side you can plainly see that the CAP tubular upper control arm just looks cleaner and tougher than the original unit. It's also slightly lighter.

The CAP tubular upper control arm (on the left) has threaded adjustable ends. The ends are also narrower than the original unit and are installed with shims. Both of these features allow for more caster and camber adjustment than the OEM setup allows.

The new K-member comes with your choice of motor mounts. Since we're installing our engine with a motor plate we cut the mounts off the K-member for additional clearance and weight savings.

Next to each other, the differences between the stock K-member (top) and the CAP unit are apparent. By replacing our stock pieces with CAP tubular ones, we shaved nearly 50 pounds from the front of our Barracuda.

With our old suspension out, we could begin installing our new parts. Another nice feature of the tubular K-member is that it's light enough that you don't need a jack to install it.

The new K-member simply bolts in place of the old one. New hardware is included in the kit.

The factory steering box bolts directly to the new K-member just like the old one. The CAP tubular suspension kit is also available with rack-and-pinion steering if desired.

The upper control arms simply bolt in the same position as the factory control arms and come with heavy duty Mopar ball joints already installed. Half-inch washers are used to make up the difference as the new arms have narrower bushings than the originals. This also allows for caster adjustment that wasn't an option with the factory control arms.

The new lower control arms also install just like the originals, and the lower ball joint is reused. CAP has tested these arms and found them to be three times as strong as the originals even though they're over a pound lighter.