Watts link rear set-up

[FRENCHBLUE72]

I have been looking at getting one of these so I can get my truck on the road as the wanted modifications seem to never end and at this rate im never gonna drive it agian. So whats the pro's and con's of a watts link set-up. Any pointers on setting it up. My frame is already notched and boxed so I believe it is ready to go I just wanna do some homework before I jump in..

[Slmd92DIME]

The bars need to be horizontel with the ground at ride height. When the truck is totally aired out the the centerlink should be just slightly off centered. There was a read up of suspensions in street trucks and it told you everything about each different set up. Here is mine.

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Is that a kit you bought or is that home made?

[Slmd92DIME]

Originally Posted by FRENCHBLUE72

Is that a kit you bought or is that home made?

I bought the kit from speedway but only ended up using the bars. Which I stilll had to cut down and retap them. So I pretty much wasted that 60 bucks on their kit. I made everything out of some thick flat strap, a suicide doors bushing and bung, and some box tubing.

[lowestsixty7]

We did this watts link about 6 years ago.

[gringoloco]

I've read that the optimal set-up is to have the outer links on the axle and the pivot point on the frame. Seems like it would be easy to do by building a crossmember behind the axle- but I've never seen one done that way...

[Big H]

Originally Posted by gringoloco

I've read that the optimal set-up is to have the outer links on the axle and the pivot point on the frame. Seems like it would be easy to do by building a crossmember behind the axle- but I've never seen one done that way...

It's designed to be set up just like that. In a performance application with heavy cornering, like a track car, the watt's link creates equal left and right cornering controls at the roll center when then pivot is located on the frame. When the pivot is located on the axle, like in the above images, the roll center of the vehicle changes as the axle moves up and down and creates differing cornering forces at different drive heights. For an air suspended truck that isn't seeing major cornering then it's really not much of an issue. There's "perfect world" and then there's an okay compromise. Mounting the pivot on the axle in airbagged trucks is an okay compromise.

[87Wrangler454]

A link to this subject http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=238020

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Thanks 87 for the link.