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’32 Update: Rear Suspension Setup (article 2, archived)

Originally posted June 2007 on our old website.


OK, grille me again for not having the camera ready. We put a 2×2 steel tube on top of the frame, with tie down straps used to hold the rear end at the height we wanted it. This height was determined when we had the rear wheels mocked up in the wheel wells. The other (and most important) thing to consider when you’re setting up the rear end is the coilover (or ShockWave in this case) designed ride height. If you don’t, you could be bottoming out or topping out your shocks. That’s bad.

Parts shown:
Rear end: Currie Enterprises
Shockwaves: SKW7001, Air Ride Technologies
Rear Crossmember: Welder Series


This is Air Ride Technologies’ ShockWave. It is an airbag with a shock running up the center. At 4″ diameter, it’s not much bigger than a coilover, and we can adjust the spring rate from the driver’s seat. That’s a lot easier than trading springs. Adjustable shock valve dampening, 13″ ride height with 4.1″ stroke, set it up the same as a coilover but have a lot more adjustability. We put a Schrader valve in so we can inflate it to ride height without installing the tank and compressor right away.


You can see the Nine-Plus 11″ drums on the rear in this picture.

Parts shown:
Drums: Currie Enterprises


12 Studs

I had to title this picture that way…. Here we’re mildly straightening out the studs in the housing. It doesn’t take much misalignment and the diff. won’t slide smoothly over the studs. We threaded the front panhard bar (it has 3/8-24 threads) over the studs in question, and using a square tweaked them all so they were perpendicular.


I’ll let my dad hold the engine in place, and I’ll worry about the diff. We got the whole shebang; 3.89:1 gears, axles, carrier, differential, plus the 9″ housing kit from Currie Enterprises.

Notice how nicely the carrier is sliding over the studs?


Installing the 4-bar rear axle brackets was easy – just measure the distance between the frame brackets, measure flange-to-flange on the rear end, subtract the four-bar frame dimension from that, and divide by two. The pieces for these brackets come with the Welder Series WS2220 rear four-bar kit. It’s designed for a ’32 Ford but is really easy to use in a lot of frames.

Parts shown:
Rear four bar kit: WS2220, Welder Series


Mr Billet Boy (you know who you are!): aluminum axle, aluminum hubs, aluminum caliper brackets, aluminum calipers, aluminum heads & intake- if we used aluminum wheels, we wouldn’t be able to keep the front end down at a launch! It’s strategic. Now I hope the baby moons will fit over those hubs!


Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’… Now we can move to the body for a while.

September 1st, 2011 | Tags: , , , , | Category: 32 Build, Chassis, Suspension | Leave a comment

Dear Welder Series… triangulated vs. parallel four link questions

Dear Welder Series…
Hi there, just wondering if you make a specific rear 4 link kit, set up for air bags, for a ’57 GMC long box. I’m also not sure which way to go on the triangulated or parallel scenario. if you have any input there it would be appreciated. do your kits weld brackets to the frame or bolt on? the truck will be a daily driver with a gm 5.3-4L60E  for power and a rear diff from an S10 truck. not going to the track or doing burnouts all the time, just looking for an awesome smooth ride and dependability. also, would you recommend air bags or shockwave struts (for the same reason, ride and dependability). I will tow a boat with this truck on occasion. would the air bags be in front of the diff or behind the diff? if you have pics that would be great. I can weld the stuff myself, but if you could price the parts both ways and include shipping to Calgary Ab that would be great.

thanks, Dennis

Dear Dennis…
Dennis, the triangulated rear 4-link costs less than the parallel by the amount of the Panhard kit.  The parallel kit with a Panhard bar is easier to adjust to center the frame left-to-right, to adjust the wheelbase, and to adjust the pinion angle.  When the Panhard is installed with the bushing bolts both the same height from the ground, there is very little side-to-side movement through normal suspension travel.  I have built and driven on both suspensions and couldn’t tell the difference.

We could do a rear kit (triangulated or parallel) without the coil-over bolt support blocks in the axle brackets.  Those brackets could then be used as shock mounts.  The air bags could be mounted from 21870 and 474208 brackets.

The ShockWaves use adjustable shocks and the whole package is easy to mount.  The shocks are the key to ride quality.  The air pressure will support the load.

All of our kits require welding to the frame or axle.

I like mounting the bags or ShockWaves behind the axle.  I feel this gives better suspension control.

We don’t sell ShockWaves or other air bags.

Here are some part numbers and links to our web store.  You can plug them into the order form (cart) to get totals for the various combinations.  The store will calculate the shipping for the different groups of parts.  If you send the part numbers you’d like, I can do a quote for you if you would rather not use the store.

Triangulated and parallel 4-link kits cost the same.
Triangulated 4-link (This is the “large bushing” kit.  It is only $15 more than the regular kit and is much more popular.)
Parallel 4 link (Again, the large bushing kit)
Rear Panhard kit
Air spring axle bracket (2 required)
Air spring frame bracket (2 required)
The support blocks can be deducted if you use the above axle and frame brackets, but I don’t know if the store will let you put in a negative quantity.  We can do it on your actual order, though.

I hope this helps you get closer to actual “garage work” making sparks.

Paul Horton

January 7th, 2011 | Tags: , , , , , | Category: dear welder series, Rear Suspension | Leave a comment

1966 Mustang Rear Four Link

Dear Welder Series…
I have a 66 mustang that needs a new rear suspension. I am interested in your 4-link rear upgrade. Can you please tell me what I would need to purchase from you to complete this conversion?
Thanks,
David

Dear David…
David, you might also want to get the coil-over bolt kit. The sway bar would be another good part to use. If you will use the parallel rear 4-link, use a rear Panhard kit.

Thanks for looking at Welder Series parts.

Paul Horton

October 18th, 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , | Category: News | One comment

Dear Welder Series… four link options

Dear Welder Series…
Hello,
I have a 1973 dodge D100 pick up that I’ve been building for a road and strip truck. I was wondering which kit i need to take this project to the next level. I have a built 318 with a MP235 5speed transmission. The rear end is an 8.75 locker with 355 gears. This truck runs great now, but the rear end gets a lot of hop and the body roll is terrible! I didn’t want to tie up your phone line with a lot of questions rite now. I am planning to tear into this after Christmas and plan to order rear 4 link in a couple of days. Any advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated!
Thank You,
Kevin

Dear Kevin…
Kevin, the parallel and the triangulated 4-link are good street systems, but not good drag strip suspensions.  They don’t provide any leverage to transfer weight to the rear tires.  They probably would eliminate the wheel hop, though.  Our Pro/Street rear 4-link would let you run the bars parallel for the street and adjust them to give more traction at the drag strip.  The bars are shorter than the parallel kit, so the ride won’t be as good.  Some builders use our urethane bushings on the street and switch to spherical rod ends (“Heims”) for the track.  The spherical rod ends are narrower than the urethane bushed ends, so you will need spacers to make up the difference.

Our rear sway bar kit would help with the body roll issue.

Thanks for considering Welder Series’ parts.

Paul Horton

December 21st, 2009 | Tags: , , , , , , | Category: dear welder series, Rear Suspension | One comment

Canadian Hot Rods’ Rambler 4-link install

Canadian Hot Rods is a Canadian high-quality magazine produced and edited by Terry Denomme.  Terry is chronicling the build of a Rambler station wagon, and sent me the article from the four link install.  He used Welder Series #2220.  Follow along!  You can check out their website too: www.canadianhotrods.com.

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June 4th, 2009 | Tags: , , , , , , | Category: News, Tech | Leave a comment

Dear Welder Series… four link setup

We get emails.  We reply to emails.  All of them.  Even those nice people who want to see me more satisfied.  (What’s a “male product”, anyways?  Am I a product of my own imagination?)  Anyways, I thought some of these tech type emails would be beneficial to more of you than solely the person who penned keyed the question.  Onward.

Dear Welder Series…

Hi there,
I recently purchased one of your triangulated 4-link from Horton’s (www.horton.on.ca).  I am currently building a 28 Model A Tudor and I am building my own frame.  I’m about ready to start fabricating the rear section of the frame and I was wondering if you can give any tips on how to rig up the rear suspension/frame so I can get the car as close to the ground as possible without loosing to much headroom since the car is going to be chopped.  I will be running 32″ tall rear tires and I would like the frame to be about 5 inches off the ground (at the floor before the rear Z).  Also, I will be channeling the body.

Thanks a lot for your help!
Paul

Dear Paul…

This will be a neat project, Paul, but will require some planning.

The rear suspension set-up depends on the tire size.  The frame mount for the lower bar should be about 5″ lower than the axle centerline (c/l), as shown in the installation drawing.  With your 32″ tall rear tire, axle c/l will be about 15-1/2″ from the ground.  We figure about 1/2″ for tire “squat” (the flat part of the tire on the ground).  Using this information and your 5″ frame-to-ground dimension, and assuming(?) a 4″ high frame rail, the lower bar frame mount will be about 1-1/2″ higher than the top of the frame rail (2-1/2″ if you use 3×2 rails).

The upper bar frame mount should be about 2-1/8″ higher than the axle c/l height, or about 17-5/8″ from the ground.  This would be about 8-5/8″ above the top of a 4″ frame rail or 9-5/8″ above a 3″ rail.

You might be able to incorporate both of these frame mounts into the kick.  Or the lower mount could be a “bump” on top of the rail and the upper mount could be on the kick-up.

I would do lots of mock-up work before cutting anything.  Then I’d tack everything in place and carry on with the build.  This makes it easier to deal with “ambushes” (things that crop up that you weren’t prepared for).  Specifically, check the angle and position of the upper bars.  This will have an effect on the frame width (or vice-versa).

I hope this helps.

Paul Horton

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April 8th, 2009 | Tags: , , , | Category: dear welder series, Rear Suspension, Tech | Leave a comment