old style ladder bars ( use or not to use )

[blown66chevelle]

i sure like the looks of the old style 70s ladder bars on a 66/67 chevelle, i am caught between the pro street and g machine suspensions.

i want the g handleing and straight line hook of a drag car .
anyone want to chime in with there opinions to the pros and cons of running the chev 4 link with ladder bars and trieing to race a corvette in a tight road course? how much will the suspension bind?

[JohnUlaszek]

You may want to consider a truck arm suspension, it would give you some of the "look" you like and allow the car to hook up and turn.
Check Hot Rods to Hell (www.hotrodstohell.net)


You might take a look at the team-chevelle forums too.
team chevelle (http://www.chevelles.com/forum/ultimatebb.php/forum/7.html)

[parsonsj]

Ladder bars are awful for any kind of racing that involves turns. They function as a huge 3" diameter anti-roll bar since it forces the axle housing itself to deal with body roll.

Perhaps David Pozzi can regale us again with his tale of the ladder-bar car on two wheels at an autocross.

Now to clarify, are you considering an A body with both the factory tri-4 link and ladder bars? Or do you mean running ladder bars at the strip and swapping back the factory 4 link for street/road use?

jp

[blown66chevelle]

no just running them all the time !
at first i wanted to tub out the car , i bought 18 by 33 " mickeys for the back and purchased centerline rims , the next step is to purchas the back half ,
i just cant bring myself to cutting up a near perfect the car!

so i decided to run stock 4 link with tt2s
imrunning a 396/671 and makeing good h.p
and need a traction aid.

[dhardison]

I origianally had CE weld-in ladders bars in my '70 Nova. I added their "ladder-link" conversion kit which allowed quicker, more precise adjustability. Overall, the ladders made the car ride HORRIBLY on the street and were a bear to get set up for the drag strip. This past winter I tore all the ladder stuff out (minus the crossmember) and installed good 'ole slapper bars. My 60' times instantly improved and the ride on the street isn't nearly as harsh now. IMHO, ladders do look good, but it all depends on what you want to do with the car. If you're considering x-cross any kind of sport with "turning handling" you definitely DO NOT want ladders.

HTH,
Dan