front l body coil over clearance question

[Dr. Johny Dodge]

I've been wondering for a little while how much space is between the coil spring on your front coil overs and the outboard side of the strut tower?

what I need to know is how much the coil over might be able to be moved outboard - this , I'm wondering as to IF I could fit a daytona crossmember under my charger (mounts modded) without narrowing it to fit

thus the wheels at the ball joints would be slightly further out as would need be the upper mount locations for the coil over to be moved slightly outboard to keep up with the ball joint position

this would widen the front track of the car as is the intention in doing it this way

I have the duel piviot crossmember , the arms , a set of 93 knuckles (big brakes) , a low mileage 89 shelby daytona ZF rack & pump and the big sway bar

I'd like to be able to use it all by simply modding the mounting points for the crossmember instead of hacking the crossmember in half thus making the rack and sway bar useless

[knownenemy]

The overall narrowing of the G-body K-member is right around 1.5".

So, that would likely be the width gained if the K-member wasn't modified.

If a 2.5" diameter coil spring is used, it'll depend on which camber plates you choose.
If you get a plate that has a small overall diameter,
I guess you could mount it as far out as it can go.
(ex: If the inner diameter of the strut tower is 7",
then a camber plate with an overall diameter of 5" would allow you to move 1" either way)

However, the mounting points are definitely going to have to be changed on the G-body K-member to fit the L-body mounting points.
It'll be an interesting project, and I'd love to see it progress.

[Pat]

I installed a full width dual pivot k frame on my Rampage. See GRM Rampage thread in the project log.

[tryingbe]

I installed a full width dual pivot k frame on my Rampage. See GRM Rampage thread in the project log.

www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/showthread.php?74275-Pat-s-GRM-Rampage-Project-2014&p=1031715&viewfull=1#post1031715


Then, I thought why not see if I can narrow the K frame mounts and actually fit a full width K based K frame in the car! Next came the cutting wheel, sawzall and welder! Within a few hours, I had a full width Daytona K frame in an L body! What I did was section out and narrow the rear ears on the K frame to fit the L body studs. For the front mounts, I cut the pedestals off the Daytona frame and the original Rampage frame. Once cleaned up, I was able to weld the L body pedestals to the Daytona frame in the correct locations to make the k frame a complete bolt on that fits just fine between the L body frame rails.

I read it couple of times and am still not clear of what you modified. Would you please explain more?

[Pat]

I cut the front, pedestal mounts off both the Daytona K frame and the L body K frame. I located the L body pedestals on the Daytona K frame so they were in the correct location to fit the L body frame rails and welded them on. I used the L body pedestals instead of the K based pedestals because they were more upright and easier to fit. For the rear mounts, I cut the rear mounts out, sectioned a small piece out so it would fit the L body k frame stud, welded it back in.

There were other mods necessary to make it all work, like reshaping the opening in the firewall for the steering rack to connect to the steering column, but nothing that was all that hard. Steering column U joint angles are a bit more extreme but I think it's OK. Car is running and driving with that K frame, Daytona steering rack, knuckles and K based axles.

For the struts I used K based strut bodies, gutted them and installed Subaru inserts. The strut rod was modified to use L body upper mounts in stock mounting location. Since the strut bodies were K based, the lowers bolt right onto the K based knuckles without modification.

Pat

[tryingbe]

what I need to know is how much the coil over might be able to be moved outboard - this

I'm limited by the camber plate, not by the strut tower.

My front spring is around 3 inch OD. Stock spring is like 7.5 OD so I can safely move outward or inward by at least 2.25 inch, but as I said before, the camber plates is the limiting factor, I can maybe get 1 inch either way.

http://www.thelostartof.net/tryingbe/dodge/omniproject/camberplate/pic67.jpg

http://www.thelostartof.net/tryingbe/dodge/omniproject/camberplate/pic58.jpg

http://www.thelostartof.net/tryingbe/dodge/omniproject/camberplate/pic54.jpg

[Dr. Johny Dodge]

wow !
thanks guys , this is much better than I'd hoped

the link and the pics in it will be a huge help

I should have said in my first post that the crossmember and control arms I have are 89 stuff so it turns out I already have the correct arms to use for this plan - re Pat's post about the cast arms not clearing the frame so well

I think there's probably only one question I could have left and that would be as to how to ensure I have the crossmember positioned in the correct position before I start trying to attach the front mounting legs or posts from the L body crossmember onto the G body one

I'm thinking the back mounts would be realitively simple , allow for the change in center to center distance and position as needed
but how do I determine if I have the crossmember "level" from front to back before I start trying to finish the front mounts ?

the camber plates look like they could give me the 3/4's inch needed at each side as is to find a mostly stock allignment and being adjustiable should still give the advantage of they're intended adjustment to boot

failing that it still dosen't look to hard to modify the base mounting plates for the camber adjustment kit to suit if needed - even if it means making two new slightly different base plates

I read about someone having one of these plates crack but it looks like they're made from aluminum - I have a couple of pieces of 16 x 16 x 1/4 -3/8 inch plate steel I could possiably make the new base plates from along with any little bits of steel or gussets I may need as I go

[tryingbe]

I read about someone having one of these plates crack but it looks like they're made from aluminum - I have a couple of pieces of 16 x 16 x 1/4 -3/8 inch plate steel I could possiably make the new base plates from along with any little bits of steel or gussets I may need as I go


http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/showthread.php?79555-L-body-Koni-coilover-with-camber-plates-and-other-improvements

Discussed already.