Truckarm suspension

[cvickers]

Anyone have any thoughts on the Hotrods from Hell truckarm rear suspension. Just looking for input.

[JMarsa]

Hi, search here for HTH or truckarm. Lot's of posts. I have a kit not yet inststalled.

--JMarsa

[deuce_454]

truck arms are actually a great rear suspension as long as the forward mounts are sufficiently close together to allow body roll.... if you get a well engineered setup it is a great upgrade from most stock suspensions.... id considder a wattslink instead of a panhard, just to get more controll of the rollcenter location, but im one for overengineering everything.....

[JMarsa]

I like the idea of watts too, but I asked HTH about it a few months back and he suggested sticking with the panhard. I like the idea of fitting the most tire out back and never having to worry about it rubbing with a watts.

--JMarsa

[wendell]

A panhard bar will give you just as much tire clearance as a watts. It will also give you more adjustability easier than a watts. Enjoy your truck arm. ithink that's what the NASCARs use.

[Project69]

A panhard bar will give you just as much tire clearance as a watts. It will also give you more adjustability easier than a watts. Enjoy your truck arm. ithink that's what the NASCARs use.

Yup nascar uses the truck arm. Im still deciding what to blow my money on for a new rear suspension.

[JMarsa]

A panhard bar will give you just as much tire clearance as a watts. It will also give you more adjustability easier than a watts. Enjoy your truck arm. ithink that's what the NASCARs use.

My point was that the panhard bar pivots creating an arc through the suspension travel. It will push the rear end off center slightly where a watts will keep it perfectly centered.

--JMarsa

[wendell]

Take the time to plot the amount of lateral deflection that a panhard bar causes before you start tryingto package a watts.

I wouldn't run a truck arm suspension if you paided me. Neither would any race class that didn't mandate it.

[6'9"Witha69]

Just because NASCAR runs it as a MANDATED setup doesn't make it great. If you want something cool, do whatever. If you want an effective rear susp, save some money and get custom leafs. You will be surprised what can be done with spec springs.

[gt1guy]

truck arms are actually a great rear suspension

Please tell me why the truck arm design is so good. Nobody would run a truck arm if they didn't have to. Name me one single class of racing that chooses to use it when they don't have to.

Kevin

[streetk14]

Is a Truckarm rear suspension the best thing out there? Probably not, but it works great as an all-around street suspension and I am happy with my HTH rear suspension.

I've said it before but I will say it again: I agree that a well designed leaf spring can perform well. The one thing that I think makes people (at least me) avoid leafs and go with a more modern aproach is this: ride quality. This is something I really value in my cars, and it really is nice to have a car that handles well and doesn't beat you up.

I can tell you there is a HUGE difference in ride quality between my Hotchkis leaf equipped '68 Camaro and my HTH truckarmed '67. The truckarm car also can handle much more throttle during cornering without snapping the rearend loose. It also has zero wheel-hop, even with 600 hp. I could not get rid of wheel hop in my leaf spring car without using Caltracs. I'm sure I could have gone with a stiffer leaf spring, but then the ride quality would have been even worse.

This is of course just my opinion and what I've experienced personally with my cars.

Andy

[Norm Peterson]

Please tell me why the truck arm design is so good. Nobody would run a truck arm if they didn't have to. Name me one single class of racing that chooses to use it when they don't have to.

KevinGiven the additional unsprung mass, it works better in the relatively heavier cars. That alone narrows down the possibilities . . .

What it does do rather well is keep roll steer stable, meaning that you don't have to run quite as much axle steer to keep you out of [vehicle] roll oversteer. The best illustration that I can come up with offhand is the various NASCAR driving experiences, where benign handling/no surprises has to be worth more than most anything else. Any newbie with zero performance driving credentials is normally permitted to run quite a ways up into triple digits on a speedway (read: concrete walls) within three or so laps. Provided that they demonstrate at least a little competence and comfort at speed while behind the wheel.


Norm