A Body Rear Suspension (Dennis, are you there?)

[ProTouring442]

Ok guys, this is good... only I need an education big time! So, what I need now are good resources! As it is unfair to ask anyone to sit and explain all of this to me, I would love it if you could point me to a few books or web sites on the subject. It'll be a little while before I am back under the car, and if I am lucky I can get some of the basics down so I can perform this mod correctly and safely.

Thanks Guys!
Bill
'72 442 "Inamorata"

[Mean 69]

Herb Adam's Chassis Engineering book does a decent job at the Torque Arm basics, though I would personally not go with anything shorter than at LEAST 48", longer being preferred. I toyed with the idea of doing a ~42" setup on an early Mustang years back, but even with that car (lighter, shorter), I'd still go longer if I were to do it again. I think the effective length of a late model F body is of the order of ~60" or so, that would be just about right, no shorter in my humble opinion. Brake hop is the main issue and I'd go to great lengths to minimize/eliminate, I know of a guy that runs a late Camaro on the track and he "still" gets this under certain circumstances. High speed braking zones are not the place where you want to compromise performance.

The three link ideas floating around for the A bodies are also something you should consider, the main issue being gaining clearance for a long upper link past the crossmember on the frame. Here again though, if you want to do it yourself, the devil is in the details, and they are important details. Be safe.

M

[Steve1968LS2]

Originally Posted by Mean 69

I think the effective length of a late model F body is of the order of ~60" or so, that would be just about right, no shorter in my humble opinion.

f-body torque arms are LONG.. very long.. once I switched to a stonger unit I no longer got hop under severe braking (the stocker would flex)..

You can see in this pic just how long a 4th gen f-bod torque-arm is..

[ProTouring442]

Originally Posted by Steve1969LS1

f-body torque arms are LONG.. very long.. once I switched to a stonger unit I no longer got hop under severe braking (the stocker would flex)..

You can see in this pic just how long a 4th gen f-bod torque-arm is..

These are what gave me the idea (not that 4 zillion people haven't already thought of this!). I used to be a mechanic (ASE Master... ) and I worked on the third gen. cars a lot! Anyway, I got out because I didn't like dealing with the customers. Plus I had an oportunity to start my own business. Ok, TMI . Anyway, I just purchased Herb Adams book as suggested above, plus "Compitition Suspension" by Allan Staniforth via Amazon.

Thanks for all the good info,
You guys rock!

Shiny Side Up!
Bill
'72 442 "Inamorata"