1934 Cadillac

[Flipper_1938]

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I love what you are doing with this car! ...looking forward to the next update.

 

[Todd]

Look at a camaro rack, gen 3 I believe. and I think it would take a '04 malibu outer tie rod.

 

[zzrodder]

I have one from a subaru outback (2001) that I could measure. It is a front steer, power, and had a short center section as the subarus use a very long lower control arm. And they usually run about $50 in the bone yard. they were also a fairly heavy car and made for rougher terrain (not really off road)

if memory serves me right (sometimes it does!) it was about 18" across the inner pivots.

Thanks, great idea, those Subies have a lot of great parts on them - off to the boneyard I go !!

Look at a camaro rack, gen 3 I believe. and I think it would take a '04 malibu outer tie rod.

Thanks, I'll check the Camaro out too.

 

[jfg455]

3rd gen F body (camaro firebird) is the same box set up that is in the G body (monte gran prix etc) and a 4th gen rack is wider than the mustang rack. I have a 4th gen rack here at the shop. [P

This car is sooo gangster it isn't funny! Makes you want a fedora and a tommy gun!!![ddd

 

[zzrodder]

Finished the frame to clip graft - I'm no fan of overlapping plate joints but in this case I thought it best. Before I welded on the top plate, I welded the side and bottom plates on the inside too.
Introduced the 500 Caddy mill to it's new home (whoda thunk, a Caddy in a Caddy ) to get it used to it's distant relative......
Advantage of a big car - tons of room ! No need to cut the firewall, very low tranny hump in the floor, plenty of space in front of the motor. Made some ears to hold the poly engine mounts and I'll put a crossmember under it to connect up to them. [

 

[hotwheels]

Lookin good man......

 

[RAT FINK]

Great looking build!!!nice to see something different.Is this the new Escalade!!![cl[P

 

[zzrodder]

Finished up the engine mounts and tacked in the brake pedal/booster. My mig welder was on the fritz today, drove me nuts stopping and starting, [S[[S eventually traced the problem to the cable inside the gun shorting out, so the result was some nasty booger welds that will need a little dressing up with the grinder.

 

[BigIrish]

Power brakes huh? You going to have power steering and a/c too? What is the final goal for this one - shiny or ratty?

Either way it's going to be awesome. Good thing there aren't more old caddy's like this or you would have alot of people trying to copy your build (like me).

 

[zzrodder]

Power brakes huh? You going to have power steering and a/c too? What is the final goal for this one - shiny or ratty?

Either way it's going to be awesome. Good thing there aren't more old caddy's like this or you would have alot of people trying to copy your build (like me).

Power brakes yes.
Power steering yes.
Power windows yes.
A/C no - too much plumbing, belts, brackets, condenser, etc.[S

Dunno on the finish yet, maybe what's there with some spray bomb squirts to cover the body welds or do a peel and smooth it out for semi-gloss black.[ddd
I have a problem with not being able to leave stuff alone, I like to paint the frame at least and it's hard to stop there. The plan is for a full interior so that means painting the door jambs sooo.....

 

[zzrodder]

Got the 96 Explorer rack installed today, had to cut a big notch to clear the input shaft and notched the other side as well to match, also to make room for the radiator. Since this would likely weaken the crossmember cutting so much out, I added a 1x2 crossmember in front to restore strength.
After that I bucked off the hideous stock front frame horns and welded in new 2x4 front horns, much neater looking. The rack is mounted on a gusseted plate that will also act as a kind of skid pate to protect it.

 

[Gastrick]

Looks nice and clean zzrodder.

 

[jfg455]

Nice! Good to know the exploder rack is a close fit. looks good![P

 

[zzrodder]

Made my 4 link bars with adjusters on the front ends and got them tacked in place. The front brackets when finished will tie into the X members that will replace the temporary 1" crossmembers seen here. Shocks will be mounted in front of the diff and the air bags will go behind.

 

[Got Rust?]

should be stout,
like the build, keep the pics comm'n

 

[bob w]

Beautiful work. And fast too.

What is the geometry required for a triangulated 4 link?

 

[zzrodder]

Beautiful work. And fast too.

What is the geometry required for a triangulated 4 link?

Well, I've seen it done 100 different ways and everytime I've done a 4 link it comes out different too since there are so many variables. A lot of things come into play, frame width, ride height, rearend type, suspension travel limits, intended use (street, drag, corner burner )etc., etc. With this one, I want to keep the bars below the floor and keep enough room for exhaust pipes - the biggest issue is probably trying to get enough of an angle on the upper links to stabilize it, which is tough on these GM diffs since you don't want go welding tabs onto the cast center section to bring them closer in.

So here I made the upper links shorter to try to acheive that, and from experience have found it will work right. I actually ended up with less angle on the upper links on my 28 Hennway and have logged over 11,000 miles on it, and it handles beautifully with no sidestepping of the rearend, and it's a haevy beast.

I'm sure one can get buried under technical geometry trying to figure out the ideal setup, but this is what works for me. It doesn't show well in the pics but the bars are going up to the rearend in this lowered position - at ride height they should be almost parallel to the ground.

 

[clamor]

In the 4x4 world 4-links are generally dual triangulated. I imagine that this might be due to the extreme travel involved. With a single triangulated 4-link there's enough lateral stability to not need a panhard?
I'm guessing the unintended rear steer would only be evidenced in extreme articulation and is not a concern in a street car.

Would you say my assumptions are correct (or close)?

-Chaz

 

[jfg455]

In the 4x4 world 4-links are generally dual triangulated. I imagine that this might be due to the extreme travel involved. With a single triangulated 4-link there's enough lateral stability to not need a panhard?
I'm guessing the unintended rear steer would only be evidenced in extreme articulation and is not a concern in a street car.

Would you say my assumptions are correct (or close)?

-Chaz

I a word, yes. extreme articulation of an off road setup would create rear steer issues but the travel here is only going to be 8" max. Some dirt cars actually itentionally create rear turn in under power so that the car bites better out of the corners. Neither is an issue with a road car

 

[zzrodder]

I used a double triangulated 4 link setup on one build, patterned it after what I saw under late 60's Chevelles, etc. It worked fine, but I've found it's not necessary for street cars, it was probably more viable on the GM cars as they used squishy rubber bushings on the bar ends, and they had a habit of getting wheel hop with sticky tires.
As JFG pointed out, single triangulated setups are fine and very common on street cars, they are intended to do without the panhard bar.
I love checking out the 4x4 suspensions, some amazing stuff being created, I get lots of ideas for adapting 4x4 tech to hot rods.