ZT-R Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 im building a tube chassis in the front and i am at the point i need to mount the upper suspension. ive built the car back to stock specs. i was thinkin cut off the strut tubes and weld in a bracket for eye mount tcoilovers (typical QA1 or something). they have a conversion kit for the top to convert it to stut mount... then use like AZ camber kits? do u think that could work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 I think that's the first time anybody's ever posted a life-size photo of a shock. Anyway...if your talking about cutting the strut tube low, near the spindle boss, then you've removed the struts intention of being a rigid member of the suspension. The OEM strut is a suspension arm itself in liew of the double A-arm or wishbone suspension. Unless the bottom of the strut can be rigidly attached to the spindle boss (no bushings or flex), the suspension will fold under the weight of the car. And even if you could do this, I'm not sure this design (the shocks in particular) are designed support the side loading that a strut tube and insert are designed to withstand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deja Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 I think that's the first time anybodys ever posted a life-size photo of a shock. ROTFLMAO, I was thinking the same thing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badjuju Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 i'm at 1680 x 1050, and it took three full screens to get from one eye to the other. that is great, lmao Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehelix112 Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 It boggles the mind that you would go to the effort of building a tube frame front end and keep the strut suspension, unless you had to (regs). Put double wishbones on it and be done. Note: it may be more complicated than that. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZT-R Posted October 25, 2007 Author Share Posted October 25, 2007 i was building it back to the stock specs.. now i wonder if its to late. i dont know much about suspension crap. i was thinkin of using a corvette front suspension at one point but never really got around to it. im using the stock z xmember and steering rack atm... what do you guys reccommend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 What are you wanting to do with the car? My guess (I hate guessing) is that this is for drag applications because if it was a road application, suspension would have been the first thing on you mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZT-R Posted October 25, 2007 Author Share Posted October 25, 2007 street/strip i have the main frame rails and stock crossmember done tacked in the car ready to go.. now im thinking c4 front end.... is the stock frame rail width ok for that? or do i send this basterd to the crusher. haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
74_5.0L_Z Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 I built my tube chassis front end to quazi-stock dimensions and used the front strut suspension. My reason was simple: I had recently finished the front suspension before I wrecked the front end. I had brand new coil-overs, koni struts, camber plates, and aftermarket brakes. Given the expense of doing the chassis, I opted to save some money by using the components that I had. If I didn't already have a bunch of new components, I may have gone with a upper and lower control arm. As it is, I did not. I do sometimes think about modifying the front suspension as follows: Keep the stock mounting fo the lower control arm and rack. Eliminate the strut. Create mounting points for an upper control arm (this would be easy once the tube chassis is in place. Use either a readily available factory front spindle (Mustang or Corvette) or one of the modular circle track spindle assemblies from Coleman racing or Afco. Whether I use a factory spindle or aftermarket racing version, I would source tubular control arms from Coleman or Afco racing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nismoman Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 bad ass looking man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehelix112 Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 I just went over your album 74_5.0etcetc, bloody nice work mate! Love the radiator ducting. Is that fibreglass? Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
74_5.0L_Z Posted October 26, 2007 Share Posted October 26, 2007 The front fenders, airdam, and hood are fiberglass. The ducting was shaped in foam and covered in fiberglass. About the front suspension, I have a proposal: Why don't we (the members of HybridZ) undertake the design of a front suspension that utilizes the factory front frame rails. We have several members on the forum with some expertise in this area and several like myself who wish to know more. As a start, I propose that the front frame dimensions (just the frame rails not the strut towers), front crossmember, and rack be retained (to the inner tie rod only). By holding a few things constant, we can reduce the number of variables in the design. The design should use upper and lower control arms and a readily available spindle assembly. Things that should be considered are bumpsteer, roll center, camber gain, scrub radius, etc... Is anyone interested in playing? Who has suspension design software to try out various proposals? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehelix112 Posted October 26, 2007 Share Posted October 26, 2007 I'm interested in playing, later. I have no time atm, but perhaps you should start a new thread, and PM johnc, tube80z, jmortensen to get the ball rolling. susprog3d is available for demo, and thats about the most help i'm going to be i'm afraid. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
260DET Posted October 26, 2007 Share Posted October 26, 2007 If I was doing a S30 it would be the same as with my project S130. Transplant an entire front S14 suspension including steering and Xmember, assuming everything measures up OK. It has excellent geometry and there is heaps of aftermarket stuff available. The only problem might be that the S14 has a rear mounted rack which may interfere with an L engine sump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZT-R Posted October 26, 2007 Author Share Posted October 26, 2007 my chassis looks just like 74 5.0L chassis.. im planning on single turbo rb26... that would be nice not to have to change the oilpan and sump but whatever at this point. i just dont have the tubes for the upper strut done yet.. ehhhh im not real familiar with non strut designs but i do have a chassis building book. time to break it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehelix112 Posted October 26, 2007 Share Posted October 26, 2007 Uh oh, i see tube80z is currently viewing this thread. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustinOlson Posted October 26, 2007 Share Posted October 26, 2007 I'm willing to doing the modeling of alternate suspension designs in solidworks if need be. Sounds like a fun project to me. Regards, Justin The front fenders, airdam, and hood are fiberglass. The ducting was shaped in foam and covered in fiberglass. About the front suspension, I have a proposal: Why don't we (the members of HybridZ) undertake the design of a front suspension that utilizes the factory front frame rails. We have several members on the forum with some expertise in this area and several like myself who wish to know more. As a start, I propose that the front frame dimensions (just the frame rails not the strut towers), front crossmember, and rack be retained (to the inner tie rod only). By holding a few things constant, we can reduce the number of variables in the design. The design should use upper and lower control arms and a readily available spindle assembly. Things that should be considered are bumpsteer, roll center, camber gain, scrub radius, etc... Is anyone interested in playing? Who has suspension design software to try out various proposals? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelman Posted October 26, 2007 Share Posted October 26, 2007 I'd be interested in playing along but I don't have any design experience or software. I've been considering an idea similar to this one for the SN95 Mustang. http://www.agentfortyseven.com/racing/suspension01.html Seems to me this design wouldn't be to hard to replicate for a Z chassis and also reduces the amount of cutting required to get it installed. Wheelman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehelix112 Posted October 26, 2007 Share Posted October 26, 2007 Justin, Do you have the COSMOSMotion SW package? Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e_racer1999 Posted October 26, 2007 Share Posted October 26, 2007 I'm interested in playing, later. I have no time atm, but perhaps you should start a new thread, and PM johnc, tube80z, jmortensen to get the ball rolling. dave, i started that thread if you guys wanna come play: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=126992 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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