If you've followed any of my build you know I've struggled mightily with the design of my rear suspension. I started out with hairpins, modified and scrapped them, an ill designed four link with clevises, finally ending up with a GM style four link with rod ends. Or so I thought. I was having trouble with the top mounts on the housing. The 9" has an offset pinion so the center of the housing isn't centered in my chassis. Friday FAB32 was kind enough to brave the little blizzard we were having and stop by. He came up with the idea of a wishbone setup. After he left I got to cutting. Of course after the first notch the drill in my tubing notcher quit so I had to fishmouth all the tubing by hand. I still need to do a little shimming and final welding but it's pretty much done. I also took the time to redo the ugly, boxy 1/8" shock mounts with a little beefier 3/16" plate. The chassis is now a roller so it's time to rip it all appart and do my final welds. The body is off at a friend's shop getting new sheetmetal all around the bottom. It's about a month till Autorama, I sent in my registration yesterday so I'm doing all I can to get it there.
Wow, you've run the gamut of rear suspension designs. Frank is pretty crafty, eh? I'm thinking back to all that you've been through with this chassis. I bet you've learned a thing or two. If you ever need an extra set of hands, give me a heads up. I'd hate for you to miss your goal.
I'm with Tace on this one. If you get to the point of another thrash, drop a line. If I'm around, I'll bring the boys and we'll do what we can. Haven't gotten crap done on our stuff. Never home and barn is too big to keep the heat in!
Nice bind-free design. I plan on a similar setup only with sprint car torsion bars instead of coilovers.
Good timing, I am in the process of building my rear suspension. I also have a 9" Ford. I am planning on utilizing the 3-link wishbone setup. Here is a pic of what it looks like: My plan was to copy Dodgerodder's setup. His wishbone setup follows what is commonly done by the S10 minitruck crowd. Here is a shot of his setup: As I am preparing to do this work I have observed that the 9" has a nice flat spot at the top of the rear housing. I thought this might be a natural location to locate the single end of the wishbone like you have chosen to do. Are you aware of any reason's for choosing to orient the wishbone one way or the other?? I have seen the wishbones setup in either orientation on here but don't know if there is any rhyme or reason to pick one way or the other. I also notice you are using heim joints. I see some setups with heims while others use urethane bushings. Any insight as to why pick one over the other?? Not trying to hijack your thread but this seems like a perfect location to address some of these choices.
Heims usually wear faster as dirt invades the bearing surface and as they are metal to metal they transmit more Noise/Vibration/Harshness into the ride. Thats the reason OEM uses rubber/urethane suspension bushings...Durability and ride quality over an extended time period.
ocfab The shocks work fine straight up and down,it just changes the spring rate when their not at an angle. The more angle you have the shock,the lighter spring you can use.Im sure their are some that will argue this point,but if you read the manufactures instructions,wich none of us do,they will tell you the same as I did. Phil.
I like the trans cooler mount. I've been trying different ideas on my Dodge and that looks worth copying.
It looks good Scott. Thanks for posting the pictures. Sometimes you have to learn what won't work before you find out what will work. Either that or ask Frank
Thanks everybody, yeah it's been a real rollercoaster with this build. It was almost a year ago that I ripped everything off and cut the frame in half. I was pretty close to giving up but you guys talked me into sticking with it. All I have left to do is pull the engine and suspension so I can flip it over and weld everything else on the bottom then paint the chassis. Unfortunately I need to get a new driveshaft, that one got a little short when the rear end was finally in it's correct spot. It moves pretty freely, I stood on the rear clip and jumped up and down on it. As far as the coilover position I think they can be setup anywhere from 0 to 15 degrees or close to that. This is actually the optimal setup for running them straight up. Hey Dan and Todd, I appreciate the offer and I might need to take you up on it. I knew it would be a mad thrash so I took some time off, I actually have the first through the ninth off so I got another five days free before setup day on the 6th. Thanks for all the kind words this design was much more well received than the last one Oh yeah, and as usual thanks Frank!
You know what really sucks???...pretty soon you will have a hotrod, and I won't....crap.....the work looks KILLER!!!!
No, what really sucks is now I'm at work and I can't build my chassis anymore. Plus I'm either here or at school till Wednesday afternoon. Well you might get to check it out in person next Month. I'm seriously thinking about hauling it down to Florida for Billetproof. If I don't you'll at least get to see LuckysGal, she already bought her plane tickets. Besides, that's way better than hanging out with me anyways
The Jalopy Journal
