Camaro Ridetech 4 link cradle
 

What floor mods have people done to there Camaros to get the Ridetech 4 link cradle to fit? I have a 69 Camaro and have hammered the floor but the cradle still doesn’t sit flush on the frame rails.
Thanks
Jon

Depending on how much of a gap you have the bolts may pull it up in to place. Mine were about 1/8 of an inch maybe a bit more with the vertical fasteners slightly snugged. The fasteners pulled it in to place. If you need to, weld a piece of flat steel to the rail to fill the gap. It's a good idea to weld it to the frame rails and not rely on the fasteners too.

When I installed one many years ago I had to weld in a couple of shims because no amount of BFH action on the trunk floor would get it flush.

Don

I used a floor jack with a stack of 2x4's cut to fit the cradle as I used the jack to put upward pressure on the cradle. Mine was fairly close and simply bolted in but welded for peace of mind.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...529bcb40_c.jpgResized_20201128_124649 by F G, on Flickr

Mine also would not suck up tight to the rails on my 69 Firebird. I made some shims out of 1/8 inch aluminum to fill the gaps on the bottom side of the frame. In my subsequent teardown for the next chapter, I came across some loose screws. It seems the self tappers don't have much to bite into on a 50 year old frame that was thin to begin with. I have installed nutserts in the frame and use grade 8 bolts to be able to really snug it up now.

Last one I did, also had to make shims to go between the bottom of the rail and the cradle; the bolts would not bring it up, neither would a floor jack. May have sacrificed 1/4" of ride height, but that wasn't a big deal.
It's also best to put some stitch welds in a few areas per side to help rigidity.

-Dale

I agree with this philosophy. Mine was fully welded into the frame and I ended up cracking the frame right where it was welded. Those rails are super thin.

were those the original rails?

Correct, but they were in mint condtion.

Mine dropped right in. I used the provided screws to snug up the cradle, and stitched weld a few spots around the sides.