I have finished rebuilding my rearend, and have purchased UMI upper adjustable, lower nonadjustible control arm's with tie bars. Also I got a set of weld on lower control arm relocators. Are they good for a drag set up? I just am not familiar enough on chassis set up's. or are they only a crutch like the no hop brackets? The relocators will put the lower arms at more of an angle downward. I always had the impression that the more level they were the better the center of gravity? I am ready to install coil overs and an ARB at this time. Just not sure if I should leave the relocators off? Thanks John.
Hold on because they setup the rear end to launch very hard i have adujustable uppers you can get the car off the gound 6-7 inch or two three feet in the air plus they ride alot better then the no hop bars ---------- Post added at 08:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:32 PM ---------- Yea i would go with out the re locators an leave the tops adjustable.an make sure the bottoms are boxed or aftermarked
I tried the relocation brackets and my car wouldn't hook after that but my suspension guy said he could make them work after re-scaling the car and making some adjustments. Sorry to say the motor broke two passes later and I sold it rolling so never got a chance to try it again.
Thanks, for the replies guy's. I actually spent all day installing the new coil overs and ARB bar. I was alone in the shop and no one around to interupt. :grin: No, it was not fun either! My patience was tried, or it just wasen't a good day for me? I got it done though. After everything was welded in, and back on the stands, I was able to drop the rear two inches. The lower control arms are almost paralel to the frame. Thats how I want them to be I think? I have decided that the relocation brackets are not meant for the A body cars, in my mind? I still need to set up the front suspention with weight.
Yeah, no one seemed to be interested. Then after the "mad" wore off, I finally brought it to my shop and started on it myself. I only get to it on the week nights and weekends. Now, I know it's being worked on and what moneys are going where! Lol. Bad thing is, I should have two chassis by the time I'm done, counting the money that was spent twice. The only thing that worries me is..... Did I build the rearend right? I think it will be ok but, I have never built one before. Or any of the back end for that matter. I am more proud of it though!:grin:
Looking good and I'm glad you stuck with it. It seems like everything you are doing is top-shelf! I recognize the ARB too.
I'm no Pro,But I think your shocks are way too close to the center of the rearend. There is alot of weight "outside" the shocks. I also question the use of a progressive spring in the rear.The shocks themselves look too short for the rear of an A-body.
Oh, thats right! You sold me the ARB.ou: Lol. I can't wait to try it out!!! ---------- Post added at 09:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:28 PM ---------- Crap! This is what I need to know. Thats why I wanted help with this. Oh well, just more parts. Ha!
At ride height the shocks are 14" from center of bolt to bolt. UMI has them listed for this aplication. I just didnt understand that they were street shocks? Thi is the kit I ordered, http://www.umiperformance.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_143&products_id=12
As long as the pinion preload is correct and backlash is good and pattern is good your probably ok I you reused the case shims
I would be tempted to try out your current settup and see how it works. I know people are offering advice and opinons on your rear end and I think this is VERY great to have feedback. At the same time there are many ways to skin a cat. For example since I am into turbocharging V8s here is an example: So a guy shows up on "the turbo forums" He is very eager and skilled at welding but looks to get affirmation of his settup being correct... So he started posting pictures of his build and people started pointing out things they would do differently. So the guy re-built his system 3 times as people kept offering well meaning advice. In the end the car worked great and ran his goals for ET in the quarter mile. My point is that I am sure his original settup would have worked great even if it was not 100% optimum. I will say that some of the advice he was given was great because it gave pics and information on the reasons for the proposed changes. Maybe add some pictures of settups that are done as you woudl approve of so this guy can learn from your input.
Thanks, for the advice :TU:I like any and all. The old saying, "Two heads are better than one" I intend to leave it be at the moment. I will wait to hear from a guy here at home to look at the spring choices and to get the chassis fully loaded? If people run these cars with, stock springs and shocks. How will these hurt!? The only reason the shock mounts are so close to center is, because in order to mount the TRZ arb, I had to do it like this to tie everything into the cage. Also, not realy much room to do it differently. Trust me. It took me a whole day to configure these two positions out. Hell, I wished every one here could've been there to help! Lol.:Brow: Thanks, John.
What are your goals with this car? I did run my thoughts past an accomplished chassis builder before I responded and he agreed with my thoughts. The reason the set-up caught my eye,Was that a few years back there was a guy local to me with a control arm suspension that was fitted with coil-overs placed too far in like yours........The car would not leave straight,It twisted and drove right because there was too much weight outside of the shock location. The up side I see in your pictures is that the stock shock mounts are still available. If you're going to throw any power at this chassis,I would use the stock shock location. Here is picture that shows the location on mine.Pay no mind to the shocks.They were only a fixture to hold things together before final assembly.
I am thinking the same thing. You will like the feel of them being but closer to the ends of the rear end. Where they are now will make the read feel loose.
OK, I am understanding the princable of the shocks being out board on the axle. It does make sence. But, I do wonder if the ARB might off set the sides from coming undone, the way it is now?
What are your goals with this car? If you went with the C/O shocks to adjust ride height,And you're putting a mild engine in the car.You may never have a problem. Street driving will not be pleasant as is now. If you plan on running into the 11's and beyond,I don't think this set up will serve you well.You can't ask the ARB to do the job of the shocks. Over the years I've seen A-body suspension set ups that were effective with minimal modification. You can reinforce the stock control arms,Bolt on an HR parts ARB and go 10's. If you desire ride height adjustment,There are ways to do that with spring selection.
Well, this will be a 1/4 mile car. With a 600hp motor. It has a 10pt roll cage. Low tens is where I want to be. I have a set of moroso trick springs in the front, I also purchased a set of Moroso rear springs. Then, removed them to install the coil overs. The reason I went the direction I did is because, the rim screws were interfering with the stock shock mounts. I guess a wheel shim will fix that! Thanks.
First off....To answer your first question.I would absolutely not relocate the lowers! For where you're looking to be,I would use the Moroso rear springs. You can re-drill the hole in the rearend to move the shock up a bit to clear the rim.Or since you have some fabricating skill,Make a triangle plate against the axle tube and the existing mount that will allow the lower shock mount to moved in about an inch or so. A 15x10 wheel with a 5.5 backspace is very common on these cars. A good double adjustabke shock is worth the extra money but if budget prohibits,You can get by with a stock type shock.(I've gone mid 1.30 60ft with cheap parts store shocks). Leave the ARB and use the adjustable uppers in the stock location to fine tune pinion angle along with the beefier lowers.You'll be good to go!
