pics of triagulated 4 link

[81chevystep]

here they are

[r0lf-]

Pretty sweet man! Im gonna cry the day im gonna need to put in a 4 link for my rear. I have a feeling once those bags go in the front of mine, the rear wont be too long to follow. Oh well, atleast it will handle like a champ

[Izzy]

Is that a suicide doors 4 link?

The only reason I ran the parallel over the tri was the shortness of the upper bars.

[RockHQ]

looks great, except for a few things:

1. Your parallel links have the air bags awfully close to the pivot point on the frame, how much pressure do you need in the bags to get to drive height?

2. The triangulated link brackets are welded to the banjo, which isn't a very safe thing to do in my opinion (nodular cast iron combined with steel will not create a strong weld).

This is supposed to be constructive criticism, i'm curious to know what your thoughts are?

[81chevystep]

Yes it is fron suicide doors

the bag mounst are mounted so close to the pivout points becuase that is where i get the most lift(i get about 12" of lift)

i should not have a problem with welding the uper link bars to the pumkin, i have done several trucks like that and some of them have been on the road for a few yeas now

thanks for the coments

chris

ps here is the money shot

[lolife99]

Just a question. Shouldn't the upper pivot points of the 2 bars, (short and long) be in the same vertical plane? Like both on the axle tube centerline? Just looks like it would rotate the pinion angle, as you air'd up and down. I thought a 4-link should keep the pinion angle pretty close, through its full length of travel. I know the triangulated 4-link helps control "side-to-side" movement,...Sorry,... maybe just a stupid question. Any comments would be appreciated.

[78chevstepside]

Iam suprised the mild steel to cast would hold at all .

[low 84]

so what steps did you take to weld the tabs to the center section? did you preheat and use a special filler material or???

[bagged74]

Originally Posted by lolife99

Just a question. Shouldn't the upper pivot points of the 2 bars, (short and long) be in the same vertical plane? Like both on the axle tube centerline? Just looks like it would rotate the pinion angle, as you air'd up and down. I thought a 4-link should keep the pinion angle pretty close, through its full length of travel. I know the triangulated 4-link helps control "side-to-side" movement,...Sorry,... maybe just a stupid question. Any comments would be appreciated.

yeah, what he said. The pivot points should be on the same plane. It looks like you are going to have some pinion angle problems. I know it will probably work, but that doesn't necessarily make it correct. Maybe i'm wrong, but the geometry does not look good to me.

[bagged81]

Did I miss something? When did you get the front that low?

[AirMale]

I doubt those welds could pass tech at my track. I was thinking about maybe a boxed brace that can bolt to the 10 or 12 bolt cover would work better for a triangulated 4 link. I think I'm gonna play with my plasma cutter and see if I can make a template that will sit on top of the rear cover and utilize all 12 bolts. I've yet to see a triangulated set up for our frames that can be used with a 10 or 12 bolt rear.

[RockHQ]

The ultimate version would be a rear end cover, that's also a mounting bracket for the tri-links and is sturdy enough to use bearing cap support studs. Then again, it would be mounted with 1/4" bolts to the pumpkin without any dowel pins to locate it securely.

[81chevystep]

yeah the more i look at it the more i realized that i need to change the position of the uper links.


thanks for the input guys

chris

[lolife99]

I think I've seen a bracket that "sandwiches" between the rearend, and the cover. Mount some studs in the rearend housing (and use two gaskets),... then build your upper link mounts off that. Just a thought.

[raceman6135]

Originally Posted by bagged74

yeah, what he said. The pivot points should be on the same plane. It looks like you are going to have some pinion angle problems. I know it will probably work, but that doesn't necessarily make it correct. Maybe i'm wrong, but the geometry does not look good to me.

In addition to pinion angle problems, there will also be a change in the vehicle's wheelbase when the upper and lower links have different front rotation points.

That's caused by the rearend trying to rotate in two different arcs.

DJS

[raceman6135]

Originally Posted by RockHQ

The ultimate version would be a rear end cover, that's also a mounting bracket for the tri-links and is sturdy enough to use bearing cap support studs. Then again, it would be mounted with 1/4" bolts to the pumpkin without any dowel pins to locate it securely.

I know this isn't quite what you're describing, but here's an axle tube brace and a rear girdle assembly. Courtesy www.lpwracing.com. Good springboard for some custom fabrication?



DJS

[Izzy]

You could do a center support similair to this Rob Roddell piece.

[badone07]

I probably would've looked for a rear, with the 2 upper mounts, although I'm not really fond of the stock setup. Probably something out of a full size monte or impala for example. Otherwise I would've fabricated a 3 link setup with a panhard bar. Then the pinion angle is easily adjustable, so you don't get any bind. Basically similar to a coil spring circle track car, since you are using bags. I find it interesting that people notch the frame over the rear. I would probably use 4 pie cuts and flip flop the frame. A plate bolted to the back of the diff, like previously mentioned, works fine. Below is a picture of one. You would just have to take into consideration how high the mount will sit in relation to the bed, when bottomed out. I use 1/2" thick steel and use a gasket for a ready made template. Then add height to the plate for the upper link mount. Not surehow long your uper mounts will last, although I have in a pinch, mig'd on brake caliper brackets to cast spindles, that held up.
Good luck.