Best bolt in rear 2nd gen
 

I just bought a 79 trans am and i want to lose the leaf springs.Is there any good bolt in kits or am i stuck welding i don't mind buying a housing with it.

Prodigy Bar is the only bolt in 4 link. Change the ride a ton.

If your looking at changing ou the suspension there is going to be some welding involved. I have a 73 camaro and decided to stay with the leaf set up because of cost. I hotchkis springs all the way around and KYB gas a just shocks all 4 new pushing and pan hard rod. I feel the car handles awesome but this is just my opinion. If your looking into the all stuff, then its going to cost you some time and money.

My bad I forgot abou the prodigy bar, and yes that thing is bad a$$.

BMR Rear Torque Arm Suspension
 

BMR is coming out with a new 100% bolt on torque arm rear suspension for our cars! Torque arm, watts link and coilovers all packaged into one very cool bolt-on package! Check out my build thread for more pics!
V/R,
Ty

BMR Torque Arm Conversion Kit

If you are looking for a rear suspension for your Camaro/Firebird that has superior handling, greater adjustability, and lower installation costs than most aftermarket rear suspensions, you should consider a Torque Arm Conversion Kit from BMR Fabrication.

This kit comes complete with a transmission crossmember, adjustable torque arm, Watts Link, double adjustable coilover shocks, shock upper crossmember, lower control arms, and all necessary hardware. This all adds up to a state-of-the-art rear suspension with performance benefits that make the archaic leaf springs obsolete. The long length of the BMR torque arm puts the instant center in the ideal location for a handling application and the Watts Link eliminates side-to-side movement of the rear axle housing and tires. The torque arm front mount uses a delrin-bushed, telescoping slider that allows the torque arm to slide forward and back without binding while also allowing full unrestricted axle articulation. Additionally, the torque arm is equipped for pinion angle adjustability. Watts Links provide the most ideal rear axle housing location, keeping the rear axle centered within the body even if the suspension is fully extended or compressed.

The BMR Watts Link has 5 different vertical mounting locations, so it can be adjusted for all ride heights and roll centers. The coilover shocks are double adjustable, so the compression and rebound can be adjusted independently on each side. This truly bolt-in kit can be installed without any fabrication or welding, so the installation costs are much lower compared to other aftermarket rear suspension kits. All parts within the kit come powdercoated in either red or black hammertone.

For complete product details, contact BMR Fabrication, Inc., 12581 N. US Highway 301, Thonotosassa, FL 33592, www.bmrfabrication.com, (813) 986-9302.

Here's what I recommend... of course its not really a bolt in. :)

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...A/DSC00762.jpg

The BMR one looks great will it work with a 12 bolt or 9 inch?

10/12-bolt or 9"!
 

Yes it will! Contact Lee at BMR Fabrication, Inc., (813) 986-9302.

Route 66 Muscle Car Parts offers A true bolt-in 4 link system from Heidts for 70-81 Camaro/Firebird. Some option are Billet adjustable coil overs,sway bar, 9" housing,axles,Wilwood brakes and more. Call us for your Lateral-G discount.

I like the bmr one better out of all of them i have seen so far.Reminds me of the 3rd gen f bodies rear suspension.

except its missing a shackle or slider at the forward torque arm mount, the only thing keeping it from progressive binding and loading under travel is bushing flex... the torque arm and rear controllarms are different length, wich means they will have different horizontal movement when the rear travels up and down....

propably works with the large bushings tho... just dont try solid bushings

(im not knocking it, havent tried it, just posting an observation on the engineering of ot)

Heidts
 

I would seriously look at Heidts. The quality is top notch & works extremely well.


Randy (D&Z Customs LLC.)
1-262-347-9741

the 2nd one i like is http://www.maxgsystems.com/presenter...aspx?Id=104637 just the rear the front i don't like.Heidts is the last one i would ever use after the problems out of there mustang 4 link and the 2nd gen one is not a triangulated 4 link.

take a look a the martz chassis 4 link. good one.
rick k

Rick, did you miss the picture of it I posted on my car? ;)

I want something that i can bolt in and not any anything that is a parallel 4 bar/link or with a panhard bar.I know I'm asking for a lot but i want it to handle great.

Whats wrong with our Mustang 4-link?

PM me where you are located please.

No binding there. The front torque arm mount has a steel slider that goes in a greased, fluted delrin bushing. It allows forward movement and rotational movement (during body roll). The delrin bushing has spiral flutes machined into it to hold the grease. Of course, the front torque arm mount also pivots.

BMR is the leading suspension manufacturer for 3rd and 4th gen F-Bodies, so we have manufactured tons of torque arm suspensions. This torque arm suspension for the 1st and 2nd gen is the most advanced suspension that we make. The Pro Touring market demands the best, so we incorporated lots of features and benefits into the design.

Check out the May issue of Chevy High Performance (pp 64-65) for a nice image and more detailed description of this product.

The Heidts mustang 4 link had some really soft coil overs and it wasn't a straight bolt on in a 66 mustang my friend has.

BMR adjustability questions
 

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...f69/TAC001.jpg

I have a question about the adjustability of the front torque arm mount. It's hard to tell in the picture, but I presume that the front mount, per the above quote, slides in and out of the actual torque arm. The question is, how much leeway do you have on where you mount the crossmember? Different cars will use different transmissions, and depending on how you mount the engine, the transmission may also be mounted differently. I wouldn't expect that you could have a huge amount of variance on that front mount point?

Also, several of the aftermarket front subframes provide their own types of transmission crossmember mounts that likely wouldn't allow the BMR crossmember to just bolt right in. Has anyone that's used one of these (on any car) dealt with this, or could BMR comment on how they suggest to handle this?

From the pictures I've seen of this unit, I can't really tell exactly how it attaches to the rear end housing? The above picture almost appears to have tabs that are mounted on the housing. Given that it's a 9" housing, perhaps it's different that the ones used in the F-bodies?

And, for the 1st / 2nd gen kits, I saw a reference to a 12-bolt housing. Will this kit work with both 10 and 12-bolt rear ends?

Final question for now... How in the world does one run an exhaust over and around that setup? It looks like it would be tough to go over the axle, but maybe it's not as bad as it looks?

Ok, that's enough. :)

BMR is designing a different transmission crossmember for each of the popular transmissions used on pro-touring 1st and 2nd gens. Of course, the torque arm mount will always be in the same position regardless of which trans crossmember is used.

The BMR trans crossmember needs to be mounted in the stock location for the torque arm to work. BMR will be releasing a front subframe for the 1st and 2nd gens later this year. The BMR subframe will be designed to work with the BMR trans crossmember.

There are 2 different torque arm suspensions depending on the rear axle housing used. BMR includes a Strange rear axle housing if you purchase the 9" Ford version of the torque arm suspension. All welding is performed at BMR, so the kit is a true bolt-on for the customer.

The GM 12-bolt version has a plate that mounts between the differential and the diff cover. The torque arm mounts to that plate. The current issue of Super Chevy magazine (and website) features an install of the 12-bolt version, so you can see each component as it gets installed.