My rear suspension setup }{ (pics coming soon)

[Fire67]

I know, but I left my camera in the shop last night and it'll be lunch time before I can go get it.

Anyway, all my suspension parts finally got welded/bolted up yesterday afternoon.

Here's all the BMR stuff we installed:
Boxed Subframes
Tubular LCA's
Trak Pak Tq Arm w/weld up safety loop

I also installed an Air Ride bag in the right rear coil spring...
This car handles so much differently its crazy!

[AAron]

yes pics please.

[Fire67]

Here we go:

[Fire67]

Dont pay any attention to the sh!ty weld on the y-pipe! Its already fixed

[AAron]

good stuff

[turtle]

Nice

[96SilverRam]

I like it alot !!!

[1bad2k2ta]

Looks sweet, Justin. Does that torque arm setup transfer much noise into the cabin?

[Fire67]

I was kinda worried about that, but really its not too bad... My diff has been a little noisy lately, now I hear it a little louder cause its directly linked to the body through the TQ arm.
But, the creaks and rattles from the T-tops and hatch are now gone. It is much quieter now than it ever was. The trade of one noise for the other was a good one.

[impaladave]

Justin,
What does that torque arm do exactly? I am setting up my car for track and street use and am doing global west LCA's, but can't do uppers on the Impala due to suspension bind. Would this be another way to go with my setup?
What do panhard bars, subframe connectors, and instant center brackets, and an adjustable sway bars(Wolfe Race Craft) do? I want to have a drag setup that can also handle the turns, am I asking too much?

Sorry to hi-jack the thread, but when I saw the pics of your set up, I had to ask.

Oh ya, by the way, that set up looks awesome man. Great work!

Dave

[Alex94TAGT]

impaladave said:

Justin,
What does that torque arm do exactly?

Not Justin, but...

It maintains pinion angle -- the angle of the driveshaft to the rear differential. Basically, for drag racing, we want to have a slightly negative angle, because when you hit the gas, the rear differential will push upwards and raise the pinion angle. We're aiming for zero pinion angle under load. For the street, you'll probably want it closer to zero pinion angle to start out with, to reduce u-joint wear.

That is, the rear differential WANTS to just do backflips over itself. The torque arm's job is to prevent that from happening, and keeps it in-line with the driveshaft. Most aftermarket torque arms are adjustable, though the factory stamped-steel unit is not.

I am setting up my car for track and street use and am doing global west LCA's, but can't do uppers on the Impala due to suspension bind. Would this be another way to go with my setup?

Not sure what you're asking.

What do panhard bars, subframe connectors, and instant center brackets, and an adjustable sway bars(Wolfe Race Craft) do? I want to have a drag setup that can also handle the turns, am I asking too much?

Generally, yes, you're asking too much. A suspension that is good at cornering isn't exactly good for drag-racing, and visa-versa.

Panhard rod: centers the car's frame over the rear axle. Or, keeps the wheels centered side-to-side in the frame. Adjustable PHR's will allow you to fix clearance issues with wider rear tires.

Subframe connectors: At least in our Fbodies, we have a weak unibody frame. SFC's connect the front and rear subframes, greatly strengthening our chassis. Really makes a night-and-day difference.

Instant-center brackets: aka LCA relocation brackets. These lower the rear mounting point of the rear lower control arms. Upon acceleration, this helps push DOWN on the rear axle while lifting UP on the frame -- helping to firmly plant the tires into the ground. This prevents wheel hop issues, mainly intended to correct suspension geometry issues on lowered cars. I'd recommend them.

Adjustable Sway Bars: Adjustable? Never heard of such a thing. But, swaybars prevent body roll. This is more for corner carving than drag racing. In fact, a lot of people remove their front swaybars for dragracing, which allows the body to separate from the frame -- helping lift the front end of the car, and promoting weight transfer to the rear. Without the swaybar, the car will corner like a river barge.

[impaladave]

Nice! That's just the response I was looking for!

What I meant by "another way to go with my setup" is that if I shouldn't use aftermarket UCA's, what can I do that is equal to the adjustable UCA's. By your responses, the torque arm seems that it would do the same thing, in allowing me to adjust pinion angle, and hold the rear in alignment with the driveshaft.

Here is the adjustable sway bar link

www.wolferacecraft.com/detail.aspx?ID=217

It seems that it can be preloaded to fight against the chassis twist in relation to the rear end. I think it would be a replacement for an airbag setup, and the adjustable UCA's.

I'm just a dummy! I'm trying to learn as much as possible so I don't waste my $$$$.

Thanks for the schooling!
Dave

[96SilverRam]

Looks real good !

[Fire67]

Dave, your cars suspension is pretty much a four link. You should have some sort of "Track locator" that does the same thing as our Panhard rod. With these F-body's, the suspension is a "Torque arm suspension". Meaning we do not have Upper control arms, instead we have the Torque arm.
I guess traditionally, you stock suspension layout is ideal for drag racing. Because most people with older cars doing half tubs and such, switch to a Four link drag suspension setup. But if you want to race in a class requiring stock suspension, us F-body guys have to keep the torque arm.
Why would upgrading your lower control arms not allow you to upgrade the uppers? Most of these parts are stock dimensioned, so having something stiffer and stronger should not cause a bind. Unless your LCA's are differently dimensioned to change suspension geometry or something.
If there not dimensioned differently from stock, it should not cause bindage at all.

Sorry for not watching my own thread, I was in the process of enjoying my new suspension when I blew my motor and had to dig deep into that project.

[Fire67]

Update:
The new motor's in and about done with break-in... The last part of which is gonna be done on the dyno.

Im in my new house now, and the garage is just about done with setup, unpacking boxes, etc. So the mods cometh again!

I just ordered yesterday:
28X10.5 ET Drags
Lug nuts, valve stems, and center caps for my new ProStars...
And today I will be ordering a 9"!!!!!!

Im having Scott at Driveline Solutions build me a 9" with the following specs:
-Moser housing and 35spline axles, 1/2"-20 studs (also drilled for 5/8"-18 studs just in case )
-Pre welded Moser back brace
-Strange Pro Nodular center section with Pro pinion support and big bearings (just in case I go to a 35spline pinion Pro Gear set later)
-35 spline Detroit Locker
-Billet 1350 series pinion
-BMR swaybar brackets
-Custom Cromoly Driveshaft

Then Im either getting QA1 double adjustables for all 4 corners with custom front springs and a BMR drag sway-bar, or a Stenod 8pt roll-bar... I just cant decide which I wanna wait for.

The shocks and springs will get me launching at the track sooner, but that will only last so long before the track makes me get a roll-bar installed... Decisions, decisions... I wish the lady of my life would just let me get it all at once!