Great questions, Ty, they look familiar! I promise I'll respond to your e-mail, by the way, I'm a little bit behind.
The main benefit of the 3-Link over an IRS is the simplicity (well, that's relative, because there is a LOT that went into our own design that isn't present in any of the other commercial applications we have seen that has a dramatic impact on the overall performance). IRS systems can clearly be made to work very well, but more often than not (and this hold mainly true for the aftermarket but also on several contemporary factory designs), something's not right and the performance of the setups suffer big time. IRS is better on bumpy tracks, but on smooth tracks, there isn't much of an advantage. IRS is usually heavier overall than a stick axle, but the stick axle suffers from higher unsprung weight. One benefit of the higher unsprung weight is that ability to tune the system and take advantage of the higher inertia of the stick axle, by employing relatively high levels of anti-squat. IRS systems are limited by the physics of the approach to roughly 25% or so anti-squat, and usually this comes at the expense of other important suspension geometry issues. With a stick axle, you can get well over 100% A/S with certain configurations, but here again, this virtually always comes at the expense of potential for violent brake hop (anyone catch the Sears Point NASCAR race over the weekend, and note the commentary on wheel hop going in to the hairpin? They had some GREAT footage, and also did a small tech explanation with the cutaway car.). There are pro's and con's to either setup, that for certain. It'd be interesting to do a direct comparison between a "good" IRS system and our current 3-Link, that's something we'll likely do in the future, but for now, we are working on applying the same engineering rigor that we did on the rear suspension to the front. That, and adapting the 3-Link to early Mustangs, Nova's, E-Body Mopars, and A-Body GM cars. Oh, and building, shipping, and installing systems too. We're a little busy, but it's terrific.
There is no reason you'll need to get a different fuel tank, the system works even with the stock tank, so you will be fine. It is important to note though, that like one of our competitor's suspension systems, in order to run tailpipes out the back, the forward corners of the gas tank will need to be notched.
If you are working on a first gen F body car, there is a bit of sheet metal work that will need to be done in the trunk area, if you look at the installation page on our website (
www.lateral-dynamics.com), you can see what that entails. You can tub the car before, during, or after the install of our kit, there is no conflict between the two.
Hope that helps!
Mark
Brian Hobaugh SCCA National Tour June 2014
First Hemi 'Cuda Convertible Ever Built
Short clips: Goodguys Pleasanton autocross and pit videos
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