I have an old set of ladder bars from lakewood. These are the bolt on types for early GM cars with coils. Bascially these were a suppliment to the existing suspension on those cars. I would like to use them as radius rods with a pan hard and coilover shocks for the rear suspension. Thats it, no other components. This is for a light modifed car that will be around 1200 pounds. I would weld the top half round bracket to the axle once I set the pinion angle. This would prevent the axle from rotating. I would also get rid of all the extra parts that were required for it to be a bolt on kit. Do you think this will work?This is basically like the old truck arm suspension found on mid to late 60s chevy trucks.
Using Ladder Bars for radius rods
- Thread starter jayzx6
- Start date
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donsrods
Well-known member
Sure, as long as it is made stout enough. Check all the welds and gussets to make sure they are up to the job, and weld it and gusset it to the rear housing. These were designed as you mentioned to suppliment existing suspension, not to be the entire support like you will be doing, so make sure it is strong enough.
Don
Don
These are very stout, that's what got me thinking of using them. These are much stronger than the hairpin radius rods I have seen being used on the rears. Also, I have quite a bit of weld surface to the rear axle to prevent it from turning. I just have to take my time not to wrap the rear axle while welding. Moreover, there are 4 bolts 1/2" grade 8 on each side to clamp the axle to ladder bars. My only place of concern is where the bushing is up front, however, I can add extra shear plates for strenght. This is basically the stock car setup:
http://www.stockcarproducts.com/trkarm.htm
http://www.stockcarproducts.com/trkarm.htm
