Category: Rear Suspension

Questions we’ve been asked about rear suspension- parallel vs. triangulated, leaf springs, air ride, etc.

Dear Welder Series… 1957 GMC truck four link?

Dear Welder Series…
Hi, I contacted you last year before Christmas sometime and was going to order up a rear 4 link with air bag brackets. Since then things have changed and now I will be doing the same thing but with a smaller axle. It is the gm 8.5″ from an S10. The axle tube dimension is less than what your brackets are cut for. Do you have a different axle bracket to fit the smaller axle tube diameter? Or do you have a suggestion for my problem?
thanks,
Dennis

Dear Dennis…
Builders have used a short length of tubing, 3″ O.D. and the same I.D. as your axle tube, as a bushing. Split the tube into 2 “C” halves. This will make up the difference in the axle to bracket diameter. It will also spread the load over a wider area for more strength.

Thanks for asking, Dennis.

Dear Welder Series…
Hi Paul,

thanks for getting back so soon. This is going to be installed on a 57 GMC truck. I am thinking the bars should be sort of parallel with the road at ride height, which means the lower bar will be below the frame quite a bit. Do you make a frame bracket for these trucks?
thanks,
Dennis
Dear Dennis…
I have a similar bracket that was designed for the Ford F1 truck. One bar mounts just above the bottom of the frame rail and the other is lower. Will check it out when I get a few minutes.

Thanks for asking.

Paul

Dear Welder Series… 1968 Chevy pickup rear suspension?

Dear Welder Series…
I have a 68 Chevy c10 pickup that I would like to replace the trailing arms w an adjustable 4 link setup using a Chevy 10 bolt rear. I would like to delete the Panhard bar also.
What do you recommend? Do you have a complete kit with shocks and springs?

Thanks Chris

Dear Chris…
If you want to eliminate the Panhard bar, our triangulated kit would be a good way to go, Chris. Check out the product below for details.

If your GM 10 bolt rear end has the ears on the differential case, you could look at this product.

I’d suggest the big bushing kit.

Sorry, we don’t sell coil-overs.

Thanks for looking at Welder Series parts.

Dear Welder Series… Ford 8.8 Four Link?

Dear Welder Series…
I have a 1980 MGB and am installing a narrowed Ford 8.8 rear-end. I have a leaf spring original rear suspension and want to install a 4-link to my 8.8, with coil over shocks. Can you help me?
Dave

Dear Dave…
Dave, our parallel rear 4-link kit could be used with a Panhard bar kit (both shown below).

If your 8.8 has the ears on the case for the stock triangulated upper bars, this product can be used:

This is a fairly new kit that has special brackets for the 8.8″ upper bushings. The upper bars have to be cut to length and then the bracket gets welded to the bar. This allows for different frame widths.

The WS222501 and the WS318588 each costs $340.00. The welded versions cost $390.00. The Panhard kit costs $93.00 ready to weld and $115.00 welded.

Thanks for looking at Welder Series parts.

Dear Welder Series… MII & rear four link dimension questions…

Dear Welder Series…
Hi there

I’m working on figuring out ride height and road clearance for my 51 Chevy if I use your MII set up and have a few questions, hoping you can assist.

1. For your MII front crossmember,  what is the distance from the underside of the chevy frame to the bottom of the crossmember and what should a reasonable /safe clearance below the crossmember to the road be?

2. What is the distance from the spindle centerline to the underside of the crossmember. (assuming 2” drop spindle)

I am trying to determine from this what size wheel/tire size should be.

3. For the rear suspension, triangulated 4 link kit or individual pieces, can you please clarify the dimensions of your bars so I can figure out where they will attach to my frame?.

Your drawing indicates the lower bar should be 27-1/8 from the axle centerline but you list a 27-7/8 bar and then 23-1/8 bar and nothing in between.

Are dimensions nominally center to center on the bushings?  Or center of bushing to edge of notch?

4. The upper bar should attach about 15 from the axle centerline according to your drawing so I want to see where that would end up mounting on the axle.

Can you clarify roughly what angle in plan view the upper bars are relative to the axle or roughly what length the upper bars are so I can figure out where they will sit and if that is similar to your drawing showing the bars 2-1/8 above the axle centerline?

Thanks very much for your assistance.!!

Steve

Dear Steve…
Thanks for looking at Welder Series parts for your project, Steve.

I suggest you choose the tire size that you feel is best for your project, rather than work from ground clearance up.  Our crossmember can be notched to accommodate the ride height you want with the tire size you choose.

I’m going to duck the ground clearance question… This depends on the roads you travel as well as possible laws in your area.  NSRA has a practical suggestion with their scrub line definition.  This is defined at http://www.dmv.state.pa.us/pdotforms/pub_45/appendix.pdf .  Some areas say the line should be drawn from wheel rim to wheel rim and no suspension component should below that line.

With a 2″ dropped spindle, it is 7-1/4″ from spindle c/l to the bottom of our crossmember.

The dimensions on the triangulated rear 4-link installation sheets are correct.  The assumption is that you know where the axle centerline is but don’t know where our axle bracket locates the urethane bushing.  The bar length is from the center of the urethane bushing tube to the threaded end of the bar.  The adjuster is not included in this length.  Add 1-3/4″ for the large bushing adjuster.  Note that the lower bar for the triangulated kit is the 23-1/8″ bar.  (The 27-7/8″ bar is 7/8″ diameter and is used in our universal rear Panhard kit and the hiboy front 4-link kit.)

The frame brackets for the upper bars will likely have to be trimmed to the angle suited to your frame width and rear axle.

Thanks for these questions.  I hope this info, and the install sheets online help you.

Dear Welder Series… Four Link for 1965 Mustang?

Dear Welder Series…
Hi, I’m after a rear 4 link for my 65 mustang for general road use, no racing, do you have a setup similar to [the other guys] setups & if so prices & cost of  shipping to California 90200, USA, unless you good rates to New Zealand, if you can help I’ll phone you.

thanks Rob.

Dear Rob…
Rob, Welder Series has a parallel and a triangulated rear 4-link.  Both kits are “universal”, meaning they can be used in a wide range of applications, but they require modifications (mainly bar length) to use in your Mustang.

Here are the kits:

The parallel kit will need a Panhard bar:

Freight cost to California would be 10% of the order total with a minimum charge of $15 and a maximum charge of $60.00.  All of our prices are in Canadian Dollars.  We can ship to New Zealand by Parcel Post and would quote a rate based on what you would like to order.

We are working hard at getting the website picture issues resolved.

Thanks for looking at Welder Series parts.