Coilover placement??
 

Hey guys, my first post, been lingering for abit.

I have a 62 nova with an art morrison rear clip. Its the 2x4 steel frame with the four link. I put it in about 12 years ago without really knowing the direction I wanted to go with this car. And at the time that was all that was available.

So anyway, present day and I have a air ride tech system I am installing. Four way controller, dual compressors and four shockwaves. The front is a MII setup with TCI arms. Ill get that done easy enough.

My issues are with the back. I have a ford 9" housing and the four link brackets are close enough together that I have plenty of room for the shockwave mounts I will weld in. If it wasnt for the watts link I am also putting on in place of the panhard bar. Kinda running outta room on the housing. I can fit it all, with the shockwaves on the outside of the watts brackets, but its really close. Almost too close.

So my question is.... Can I mount the shockwaves (basically like coilovers cept air springs not coil springs) over the housing or in front of it. I have plenty of room with those options.. I can see how the leverage advantage is higher with them at the rear of the housing but Im not concerned with weight, the car is light.

Any suggestions whould be great!!!! Thanks.. JR

as long as they are mounted to the rear, and the same distance apart, the rear wont know the difference. if you mounted them more inboard, or attached them to the lca's it becomes a different story.

i guess some could argue about axle wrap and the shocks location helping, but from a handling aspect, there is no difference.

Tim

Hmmm?? Ok, Im a lil confused. Are you saying they HAVE to be mounted to the rear of the axle housing??? I was seriously looking at mounting them to the front of the housing.

And Im not even concerned about axle wrap LOL Four link, no wrapping .

And what do you mean mounting them to the LCAs??? Are you talking about my lower links on the four link???? Ive never heard of such a thing. Mounted directly to a link??? And remember, they are coilovers (in essence) not just shocks. Thats a lot of weight for the link's rod end.. Ok, guess Im just confused :) Thanks for the reply, JR

nope, im not saying they have to be mounted to the rear of the housing. my opinion is that it doesnt matter where they are mounted (front or rear) as long as they are as far outboard as possible.

you will have slight axle wrap with a 4 link. everything has to give somewhere, so there is slight bending of the links, the brackets and the crossmembers.

and yes, some mount them to the lca's. it changes the ratio of the shock though and obviously places a substantial bending force on the lca. i havent seen it on a muscle car though.

whats keeping you from placing the coilovers on the rear of the housing?

Tim

Hey Tim, thanks for your advise. Yup, I am putting them as far outboard as possible. Right next to the tire. Then inboard of that are the Watts link axle clamps. Then inboard of that is the four link bracket. The watts link clamp and tube my interfere with the shockwaves. So I was looking to mount the shockwaves in the same location, next to the tire, but forward of the axle not behind it to clear the watts link clamp.

I really dont think this Art Morrison four link is gonna do any wrapping with my lil engine. These things are designed for some serious HP. 1-3/8" Chrome-moly tubes. Here is what I have.
http://www.artmorrison.com/2006cat/29.pdf

But like you said. Everything has to give. I just dont have that much HP.

Thanks for your help Tim... JR

JR, why not give AME a call?

I did. They said they can go on top, in back or in front of the axle. I always like to get other opinions too. Specially when the welder comes out. I was really looking for a reply that would tell me what the effect would be in the different locations. Seems to me it would change something. JR

JR,
Put the springs anywhere you want on the housing, just try to put them as close as you can to the wheel...the wider the better. Angle them no more than 25 degrees.

We have 800+HP engines (or more) running 22" wide tires with no wheelhop. You'll be fine.

There you have it, thanks Matt!
JR, time to weld!! :thumbsup:

And look at that. The AME mechanical engineer right on the spot!! Thats great. Cant beat this place (Lat-G), all the best folks hang out here. Thanks Matt, pretty much what I wanted to hear. And yeah, the lower mounts are all the way out to the wheel. I'll break out the protractor to check, but Im well within the 25 degrees I think. Thanks for that tidbit, I was also kinda concerned about that one. Thanks alot.... Good day to warm up the garage with some arcs... JR