I'm bringing this old thread back up.
I "roughed in" my rear suspension a couple years ago.
At the time, I noticed that the lower arms I had were an inch too long, and I used a shorter lower link to solve the problem. My car came with a total of 6 trailing arm links, and I was told by the previous owner that some were the wrong size and that I might need to get a couiple more made. I thought I had this problem licked until the other day I observed that my rear wheels sat forward in the wheel wells and I checked my wheelbase measurement. Frank Catt had told me that the best way to align the suspension is to center the rear wheels in the wheel wells, square up the rear end, verify that the wheelbase is 95 inches, and move on to the front alignment.
So I measured my wheelbase and it was 94 inches, a full inch less than what I need. There wasn't enough thread on the rod ends to lengthen the arms a full inch. So I remembered the pair of one-inch-longer trailing arms I had in the basement and I started playing around with the right rear suspension. Before I go further, let me follow up on Dan's last question and post up the sizes of the trailing arms I have (from the flat on the rear of the trailing arm to the center of the pivot hole on the front of the trailing arm. It's hard for me to accurately measure the lower arms that are on the car and I haven't taken them off (doing so will require moving the LP fuel pumps), but here are the approximate lengths of the three pairs of trailing arms that I have:
- The long links that have been off the car are about 29-1/4".
- The lower trailing arm links are about 28-1/4" long
- The upper trailing arm links are about 27-5/8" long.
So after installing the long upper link in the top trailing arm position, my wheelbase is now about 96-1/2 inches. Too long. Can someone let me know the dimensions of their upper and lower trailing arm links?
Also, as while we're getting the RF rear suspension set up, I have two questions about the upper link from the chassis to the upright:
- This link is slightly off of perpendicular. Should it point forward or aft?
- This upper link can mount to the chassis in one of two holes. Should I use the upper or lower pivot location?
Thanks for any help you may be able to provide.