Tag: ws318500

Dear Welder Series… 1950 Studebaker Four Link?

Dear Welder Series…
Hi I’m going to narrow the frame on my 50 studebaker car so I can pro street it which would you recommend a 4 link with a panhard bar or a triangulated 4 link without the panhard I like the triangulated better but I’m not sure which is stronger the car is putting out around 350 to 400 H.P.
Thanks Jim

Dear Jim…
Jim, there’s not much difference, strength wise, between the parallel and the triangulated kits. If you don’t want or need the adjustments of the Pro/Street kit, I’d suggest you go with the kit you like best.

The parallel kit is easier to install and easier to adjust because the Panhard does the left-to-right without changing the pinion angle or the  squareness of the rear end to the frame centerline. The Panhard might be fairly short, depending on how narrow the frame is. You could use the 2184 kit to keep the bar as long as possible.

The triangulated kit is less money, because there’s no Panhard to buy. You might consider running the upper bars from just inside the frame to a crossmember above the driveshaft. Weld the kit’s upper bar frame brackets to this crossmember. This will give more stability to the upper triangulation.

In either case, since the car will be Pro/Street, you should consider adding a gusset to the lower bar bracket.
I hope this helps with your decision. Please ask if you have other questions.

Dear Welder Series…
Thanks for answering my e-mail only I’m not sure about the gusset to the lower bar bracket you mentioned is there anyplace on the website with a photo?
Also I’m guessing the car is going to weigh  around 3,000 lbs. estimated. Is there a specific triangulated 4 bar kit for that size of a car?
Thanks again Jim

Dear Jim…
There aren’t pictures of the lower bracket gusset. This is just a suggestion if you plan to beat on the car with stickier tires.
The 318500 kit (shown above) is a versatile triangular rear 4-link that would work fine.

Thanks for getting back to me.

Paul Horton

Dear Welder Series… Triangulated four link upper bar angle?

Dear Welder Series…
Hi Paul I am in the middle of installing one of your triangulated four links. How much angle do I need on the upper part. (angle from frame rail to rear housing if looking from top). If I have to shorten the upper bars what would you suggest the min. length be? Thanks

Dear Derek…
Derek, the upper bar frame bracket is designed to mount the bar at 27 degrees off of the frame. It might be hard to reduce this angle very much and still put a wrench on the nut, if the nut will even go on. Another option might be to mount the axle end of the upper bars just inside the frame rails and angle them towards the frame centerline. Then add a new crossmember and mount the frame brackets to it. This way the bars can stay at their original length. As the bars get shorter, the pinion angle changes more dramatically as the suspension works. I hope this helps.
Paul

Dear Welder Series… 1969 F100 Four Link Install Question

Dear Welder Series…
I recently purchased a triangulated 4 link universal kit. I’m putting it in my 69 F100 swb. I have a couple ?s. If the horizontal angles on the upper and lower bars are the same will it have adverse effects if the sitting ride height angles are at 10 deg higher on the front? I’m thinking of raising the front frame mounts up to 10 deg so they won’t be so close to the ground. Also, is there an optimum angle for the triangle? As in looking down on it. I’m pretty close to the angle on the upper frame brackets but was wondering if any +/- is OK?

Dear Kevin…
Kevin, a 10 degree angle on the bars would put the front about 4-1/4″ higher than the rear. This would cause the rear end to “walk” as the truck leans in a corner. This “walking” will make the truck steer from the back end and could be dangerous. I’m o.k. with the front of the bar about 1″ higher than the rear. The angle of the upper bars relative to frame center line can be changed slightly. I don’t have a maximum spec to give you because we haven’t tried to see when it becomes unsafe. Thanks for these questions.
Paul Horton

Dear Welder Series… triangulated four link angle question

Dear Welder Series…
Hi Paul I am in the middle of installing one of your triangulated four links. How much angle do I need on the upper part? (angle from frame rail to rear housing if looking from top). If I have to shorten the upper bars what would you suggest the min. length be? Thanks

Dear Derek…
Derek, the upper bar frame bracket is designed to mount the bar at 27 degrees off of the frame. It might be hard to reduce this angle very much and still put a wrench on the nut, if the nut will even go on. Another option might be to mount the axle end of the upper bars just inside the frame rails and angle them towards the frame centerline. Then add a new crossmember and mount the frame brackets to it. This way the bars can stay at their original length. As the bars get shorter, the pinion angle changes more dramatically as the suspension works.

I hope this helps.

Paul

Dear Welder Series… will I need a sway bar with triangulated four link?

Dear Welder Series…
I have a quick question relating to the rear axle/ triangulated four-link:
Will I need a rear sway bar in addition to the triangulated four-link set-up? I see conflicting responses online, and figured you may have the best answer.

Thanks,
-A
Dear A…
Depending on who is doing the defining, a sway bar might refer to an anti-roll bar (shown below):
or a Panhard bar (shown below):

Our sway bar/anti-roll bar is designed to resist the tendency to lean when in a turn. A Panhard bar keeps the frame centered, with some tolerance, between the tires and has a minimal effect on the tendency to lean in a turn.A Panhard bar, or some other location device, is necessary when a parallel rear 4-link is used because the bars themselves don’t offer much resistance to left-right chassis movement. (Left-right movement is different from leaning or rolling left to right.)

The triangulation of the bars resists the left-right movement when a triangulated rear 4-link is used so a Panhard bar is not required.

I hope this is clear.

Thanks for asking.

Dear Welder Series… centering the rear end?

Dear Welder Series…
Can the upper arms on your triangulated 4 link be used to centre the rear housing? After installing mine is out by about 1/4″ so I was wondering what limitations are on the upper links for that type of adjustment.

Regards to all,
Doug

Dear Doug…
Doug, if the frame is out by 1/4″, it will only be necessary to move it 1/8″ to get it centered. This can be done with the upper bars without causing any other problems.
I hope everything else is going well for you.

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… 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.