Need a little rear suspension help.

[wayne69]

I have a 69 camaro that I am in the process of building a triangulated 4 link.
My questions are.



1. How much vertical travel do you typically need for street and some road courses. I only have about 4 in. vertical from ride height.
2. Right now I am running 17x11 wheels and I have 3/4 in. gap from inside tire to frame, is this enough?

[68sixspeed]

sounds like you are in the ballpark assuming your 4" is +/-2" but I'd prefer a bit more droop in the rear, to help on bumps or when the suspension unloads over a up-hill. Can you fit a longer shock with more travel?

3/4" tire/frame should be fine as long as the rear isn't moving side to side. (although is that 3/4" clearance with the rear end in a rolled position or level?) -Dan

[JRouche]

3/4" tire/frame should be fine as long as the rear isn't moving side to side. (although is that 3/4" clearance with the rear end in a rolled position or level?) -Dan

Good point. And one I almost forgot (ok, I actually DID forget) to take into consideration. With a live axle housing the tilt of the car in relation to the housing will reduce the clearance the tires have as the body rotates in a turn.

I finally saw this when I was mocking up the rear suspension. I induced a 5* roll and then it was clear. Even though my watts link was able to keep the housing centered. The rotation of the car still brought the upper part of the tire closer to either the inner quarter (unloaded tire in a turn) or the inner suspension or frame (loaded tire in a turn).

I dont have any frame or suspension parts that will contact. But the inner quarter panel was getting REALLY close at a 5* tilt. But I got lucky, still no touching, I missed the bullet. But it is one part of rear travel that I overlooked.
And 5* of body roll is the most I ever expect to see, if even that much. JR

[wayne69]

All the measurements so far are taken at ride height and level.

Maybe I should have told you more. I ordered an axle the width I needed and with the Ride Tech Air Bar brackets on it (I figured this was easier to get the bracket angles to start from and it was cheep.) I didn't go with the cradle because I wanted longer upper bars and the cost.

So far I only have the lower arm length's. I haven't figured out exactly where the upper mounts are going to locate on the frame yet (looking into vertical travel, axle tilt, and geometry to figure that out). I'm having some figuring to do to make sure I have enough travel in the upper mounts to allow for movement.

I don't have the exact shock height yet but I can go longer than 4". I am thinking 5" or 6" of stroke with about 15* to 20* angle.

These wheels are for mock up and when I get a lot farther along with the build I am going to 18x12.