Ok guys in an effort to rethink the whole hot-rod chassis idea and to liven this forum atlittle more from bickering I wanna start doing some leg work before I takle a project head on. This first discussion I want to talk about is rear suspension.
I feel that the most options are already done and just wanna see benifits and downfalls of each design and which would work best.

First the obvious spindle mount Ind. rear. (ie:nuformz)
*not really any shots of this*

Secondly solid axle. (ie:kenskustomchassis.com , mb unit , dtr-fab.com)


both are shots of kens unit which i think is really well engineered.

Third swing arm. (ie:norad)

this seems like a good design if I was to utilize a glass difuser in the rear as stated by Tony.

let me know what you guys think as far as what you guys run and what you guys think will be the most effective.-pdang

 

I guess I am not the most qualified person to answer this as I dont have any of these suspensions. I beleive that the right suspention is different for each person and it depends on how far you are able/willing to go with the car as a whole. If you have the money and/or time to properly design and lay-up a diffuser then a solid axle wont really work well sticking though the middle of your new diffuser. The sold rear axle is a better bolt in design then the independant rear because of the anti-squat geometry that is the 4-link. But if you are going to use a diffuser then that leaves you with the independant rear and the swingarm. The independant rear is designed to use stock mounting points(well at least the one that I am thinking of) which are not neccessarily the ideal spots for a purpose built FWD drag car. Then comes the swingarm. If you are building a chassis and dont care about stock mounting points or any of the unibody for that matter then the swingarm is one of the designs that should be considered. Three different designs for three different applications each good in its own area.

 

 

i'd say use the third one down and see if norad sells you guys one of those difusers.... been reading up on those shietzzz and it seems like they will do lots of good when ur close to the 200 mph mark.....


Ed-

 

im going to have my straight axle done soon, how much of the stuff is custom and how much can you get from strange. i have strange spindle mount wheels.

 

I have a tubular set up with a stock hub assembly. I posted pics a while back but i dont have the pics anymore. It looks similar to the Nuform just a much simplier version with far less cost. Still weighs very little and has plenty of adjustments, the way my car is sitting now its lowered about 6-7 inches and it has perfect geometry.

 

do you have any shots of your car? Im about to get the doors and hatch from frank.-pdang

 

Sorry i dont have any yet, it will be painted soon and ill shot some. The car is looking very wicked but its the last few things that are taking a while to get done especially since my cash flow is down right now. The engine and drivetrain are all there i just got to paint and wire it up.

 

i like true 4 links, a 4 link like the one you have pictured does not move perfectly up and down, it has side to side movement from the stab. bar

i think you should consider a backhalf and build the rear susp expressly for the backhalf. It makes much more sense to build the backhalf and not worry abotu either space constraints or the crappy geometry you will be forced to use if you keep stock mounting points.

DTR's setup is not a 4 link, rather a 2 link (unless he has come out with a new one) and as a result will move left to right. This is becuase it doesnt have any lateral restraint designed into it, and this isnt the safest/most stable way to build a linked suspension.

i like 4 links becuase you have a great adjustable wheelbase, you can change the wheel rate quite easily (which is almost linear btw!), there are a ton of differnt shock mounting options, and best of all if you want to make a rear end soft, nothing is going to be softer than long links!

 

how do you know it has perfect geometry, have you cycled it? if you really want to find out, i can put it in my suspension analyzer and find out for you

 

So geoff you think kens unit is good? or should i do something like this?

 

 

I was at Kens a few weeks ago to get my wheelie bars, and was checking out the solid axle kit he had in the show room. The craftmanship is exelent, and there are a lot adjustments to play with, it seems quite versitile. I need to keep stock upper mount locations so I am eventually going to buy it, I just have SOOO many other things to get done first ... so stock for me ... for now at least.

Sorry I don't have anything else to offer, I will be watching this thread closely to hopefully learn, but I can say the KKC piece is impressive!!