L-Body suspension upgrades

[turbo2point2]

Here is a few shots of Dan Carson's suspension upgrades. The LCA's are being fitted with sperical bearings.

This shows the various parts for each arm.


This is the rear bearing housing. The steel part will be welded to the Kframe. The removable retainer ring allows for replacement if necessary.


This is the front assembly, 2 bearings a sleeve and an inner compression sleeve.


Next shows both assys. attached to the LCA.


And finally attached to the car.


More updates to follow, next will be coilovers and camber plates...

[omni_840]

Looks good!

Looking forward to the updates

[t3rse]

autox car?

[turbo2point2]

autox car?

Actually, drag only. But us straightline guys can really benefit from stuff like this

[GLHNSLHT2]

you really should sell stuff like that. I love the spherical bushings in my 89/90 kframe. But being able to do it to the early cars (especially the Lbody) would really be awesome.

[GLHNSLHT2]

I really like these. I'm interested in how the ride improves. It substantially improved when I did them in my 89 dual pivot setup. The thing would rip across railroad tracks at full throttle like they weren't even there. As well as the instant steering responses.

If the ride is noticeably better how much for enough parts to do 4 LCA's?

[turbo2point2]

I really like these. I'm interested in how the ride improves. It substantially improved when I did them in my 89 dual pivot setup. The thing would rip across railroad tracks at full throttle like they weren't even there. As well as the instant steering responses.

If the ride is noticeably better how much for enough parts to do 4 LCA's?

Thanks for the compliment
I am sure we will see an improvement. After I switched from the bushings on mine, I dropped .1 on the 60' and ultimately put the car on pace for it's current best.

I would like so much to sell these but, I really can't put a price on them as of yet for a couple reasons: I have to make sure the final design will stand up to the abuse. And I am not a vendor...yet(don't wanna step on toes). With that said, I will let you know if/when I decide to get a few sets out there.

[turbovanman²]

Nice,

Have you thought about using the Minivan control arms, they are the same but braced for the added weight of the van,

[johnl]

Brian - great stuff.

[OmniLuvr]

i have the mini control arms and i noticed a slight difference, i would love to add these bearings for sure!

[rx2mazda]

Might as well do that to my car while it's there..........

[Badger]

Simon makes a good point. I have said control arms on my rampage and they are much beefier then the stockers.

Brian would the mods your doing benefit an auto-x or road race car?

[bakes]

Dam you should market this as a kit i would buy 2 sets !!!

[turbo2point2]

Simon makes a good point. I have said control arms on my rampage and they are much beefier then the stockers.

Brian would the mods your doing benefit an auto-x or road race car?

Any type of car could benefit from these. Reducing compliance is just another piece of the puzzle. I can't remember what the mini control arms look lke, anyone got a pic?

[GLHNSLHT2]

The biggest improvment for an early stub strut car over poly is going to be in ride I feel by allowing the suspension to articulate freely. There will be a small improvment in grip in a straight line and in cornering because the wheels will be able to follow bumps more. But not as much so as the gain is with a dual pivot because the stub strut has so much less bushing material that one with poly really holds the suspension in place.

something to think about though. When making this part of the suspension have no give in one direction you're going to transfer that force to another part of the car. Where? Either the kmember will flex or the body will. So adding bracing to other points is going to be something you'll want to look into.

I think Corner carvers really benefit more from this than straight line guys just based on putting spherical bushings into my 89/90 setup on my ShelbyZ. The car goes wherever you point the front wheels the instant you move them. I actually need to dial out .3 degrees of camber vs the PB poly bushings that were in there as the inside of the tire likes to scrub in the turns instead of being flat like it used to be. These and the Rod ends on my sway bar really help the car to hook up in the corners as well. I have to be fully cranked over at lock in 1st gear and stomp on it to even have the inside wheel THINK about spinning before the other. But 99.9% of the time both spin at the same time with my open diff. So much so that I've pretty much thrown the idea of a posi out the window at this point.

I'd love to see Brian make these. I'd rather pay for a good job than take time after work to make my own.

[turbovanman²]

Any type of car could benefit from these. Reducing compliance is just another piece of the puzzle. I can't remember what the mini control arms look lke, anyone got a pic?

Exactly the same but braced, you can see the bracing, sorry for the bad pics, didn't want to drag it out.

[OmniLuvr]

its really tough to see, but theres a brace before the ball joint, a brace around the bushing, and a brace on the other side of the sway bar (it goes from the side of the arm almost to where the sway bar mounts to the arm). i remember doing something wierd to make them fit, like using the l-body metal bolt bushing inside the rubber bushing, but they work.

[GLHNSLHT2]

I just put in the ES bushings I pulled from my stock arms and bolted them right up. Didn't have to do anything to make them fit at all when I put them in my ShelbyZ years before going to a dual pivot setup.

[SpoolinGLH]

Here's my polybushing rear sway bar...I also did a 4 wheel disc conversion from a Shelby Daytona

[turbovanman²]

its really tough to see, but theres a brace before the ball joint, a brace around the bushing, and a brace on the other side of the sway bar (it goes from the side of the arm almost to where the sway bar mounts to the arm). i remember doing something wierd to make them fit, like using the l-body metal bolt bushing inside the rubber bushing, but they work.

They fit with no mods, maybe your K-frame was tweaked??????