I have a 49 dodge wayfarer, dakota subframe, 383 bb and 833 4 speed. I have the old leafs, and installing an 8 3/4 rearend. Bought a new miller 180 welder and want to play with it. Got my front engine mounts done, will be removing the body to do the trans crossmember. Was thinking of updating the suspension. Lowering blocks won't work, won't bring it to the height I want. Saw a post on a 49 Chrysler that was C channeled and airbags. Thought I heard a 3 link with a panhard was a better street ride than a 4 link, and didn't want to do airbags. Would coilover shocks be the only other way to go, or could I just use coils cut to the ride hieght I want, along with the 3 link? Did some searching, heard heims don't last, to try poly bushings or jhonny joints? Any suggestions?
I think you are refering to my post. I don't think you'll have a noticable ride difference between a properly set-up 3 or 4 link. The factors that play a major role in deciding which way to go usually is packaging and purpose. If you want a slammed stance and don't want to s****e on everything you'll need to have some type of adjustable suspension.
Yours was the post, really like your c notch and airbag setup. I will have to look into airbags, find out how much they run.
LOTS of info on the H.A.M.B. about various suspension designs...the "search" function will occupy you for hours The thing to keep in mind is that, generally speaking, the "best" suspension design is the one that is safe, well-engineered, durable, maintainable, has the least amount of parts, and meets your aesthetic requirements. There are, oh...65,000 opinions on here about what all that means, but specific to your concerns, here's mine... 1. Both the 3-link and 4-link have decades of demonstrated function behind them, in both OEM and aftermarket configurations. Both work just fine. 2. Same with the Panhard rod. The secret of a "good" Panhard rod is to make it as long as possible, and parallel to the ground at ride height. Millions of vehicles have put billions of miles on the Panhard rod design. 3. Coil overs are a better choice than "cut" coils, because you can tailor the spring rate and manipulate the rebound characteristics. A cut coil (meaning just a generic coil you found that will "fit") is not optimum because you can't (really) optimize the spring for your application. On the other hand, cut coils are signiciantly less expensive. 4. With cut coils/coilovers, you will be "locked into" the vehicle ride height. Which is fine, just keep that in mind. 5. Heims are NOT optimum for street applications. Rubber/urethane provides far superior damping (at the bushing/mount junction), and rubber/urethane is basically impervious to road debris...yes, they wear out, but not at the rate of a Heim, which is a precision component and does NOT like sand and and oil and dead cats and whatever else you might find on the road.
Thanks Dollabill, thats what I read so far about the heims and suspension. So many options I guess, will spend alot of time at work doing searches. got a local 4X4 place that I can get the DOM tube and 2X square stock, would like to try a cheaper place for the bushings. If I could only weld around the joints so nice, having a hard time at the starts and stops not looking continuous.
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