Hey fella's
Could any of you suggest a retailer on the westcoast for an 4 link setup? I know Mid fifty and Sac Vintage carry a setup...is there different variations? in the future I'll want to replace the stock rearend for a 9inch. Thanks for any help!

 

You can replace the rear end with a 9 inch without going to a 4 link. Some versions will directly bolt in place on the stock springs, other years/donors will require adding spring mounts.
IMHO 4 links are best for drag racing applications, and are not well suited for street/daily driver use. Others may have a different opinion. There are a large number of chassis makers that offer 4 link setups: Heidts, Art Morrison, TCI, just to name a few.

 

No Limit engineering makes a triangulated 4 link system also.

I have to disagree with AX ,on the suitability of 4 link for street/daily use. Mine rides like a dream and was really easy to install. The mounting and adjustabilty of the coil over shocks also give you a lot of adjustment for ride height.

But what do I know? Uff Dah!

P.s. my 4 link was a t.c.i. unit.

 

Thanks AX. I don't think I'll be drag racing...However, I will be changing out the rearend for sure...as for the 4 link My research will continue...I appreciate your advice and will check out the Manufactors you suggested.

 

I have the Heidts Classic 4-bar, very nice kit easy install. I cant comment on the ride quality since she is not road worthy, YET!

 

I personally would choose a 3 link (triangulated top bar) or a NASCAR type long trailing arm for the street. BB is your 4L a parallel or trapazoidal arrangement? The trapazoidal (front pivots significantly closer together than at axle) setup if properly engineered is a streetable setup IMHO. A Parallel 4 link is what jumped into my mind which I consider a racing setup that puts heavy loads on the pivots when turning corners.

 

AX my 4-bar is a parallel type, and my knowledge of diffent systems is is very limited. My comments on ride is directed to comfort of the ride,setting up pinion angle,and adjustable ride height. I wouldn,t have the slightest idea if it is prone to failure in the long run.

 

I'm also using a TCI 4-link. I like it, and it hooks up nice and NO wheel hop what-so-ever. I like it for the adjustability and it rides real nice.

Here's a link to TCI's 4-link, the price seems to have gone up since I bought mine some years ago:

http://www.totalcostinvolved.com/pro...cfm?prodID=863

 

Yes, they are very adjustable which makes them great for racing. The problem is when you turn a corner or hit a bump with one wheel. To illustrate: picture the bars as solid steel with T tubes on each end for the pivot bolts. the unequal up and down motion of one side compared to the other would impart a twisting motion to the bars much like a sway bar. Since they aren't spring steel that twisting would soon result in failure of the bar, the pivot bolt or the mount, whichever was the weakest link with potentially fatal consequences, and give a very rough ride up to that failure point. One comprimise is to use resilient material bushings around the pivot bolts. That will help, but the range of twisting motion will still be limited by the thickness of the bushing before the pivot bolt will "bottom" against the side of the bushing housing, and the spring like nature of the bushing it will get stiffer the more it is compressed. So unless you drive on relatively smooth roads and don't turn many corners, you will still be imparting a fair amount of twisting force both to the bushing and the rest of the parts. Failure is still inevitable you've just postponed it a bit (more likely the bushing will now become the weakest link and have to be replaced regularly) or made it a little less costly or potentially disasterous. Next improvement for ride and failure rate extension would be to use spherical bushings/bearings (heim ends) on the ends of the links instead of tubular bushings. Spherical bearings can allow the bars to pivot without imparting a twisting force to the links or mounts providing the suspension's range of motion is less than the bearing's range of twisting motion. The downside is that you are now back to a non resilient pivot point so bumps in the road that impart a rearwards motion such as potholes or RR tracks will cause the bearings to eventually beat themselves to death and transfer the shock back to the chassis and to you.
The way the manufacturers solve this problem today is to use a triangulated 3 bar or trapazoidal 4 bar arrangement. In the 3 bar, the upper bar is a V shape and pivots in the center of the chassis and outboard on the sides of the axle which takes most of the bind and twisting force out of the system. Incorporating rubber bushings at the pivots absorbs what little twisting is left as well as the road shocks. The problem with the 3 bar arrangement is to give the upper bar enough clearance to go thru it's range of motion requires a lot of room resulting in a reduction in rear seat/trunk/gas tank space. Some vehicles to get around this limitation use a trapazoidal 4 bar arrangement where the bars point towards the center of the vehicle. This allows the designer more freedom in controlling the roll center by determining where the extension of the line thru the pivot points of the upper and lower bars meet as well as needing less space in the center of the vehicle.
Junior Johnson through seat of the pants/ school of hard knocks engineering figured out a lightweight and effective alternative rear suspension system by crossing the early ford rear wishbone/torque tube with the long trailing arms and coil springs utilized by Chevy on their trucks! In his system he used long bars attached solidly to the axles under the frame and brought nearly together at the front right at the driveshaft front U joint (the theoretical center of rotation for rear axle movement). He sat the coil springs on top the bars just in front of the axle and used adjustable height frame mounts at the top. To keep the axle from moving side to side he added a cross the vehicle track bar from the frame on one side to the axle on the other side of the car. By making the frame end mount also adjustable in height he found he could easily adjust the balance and handling of his cars and there was no significant binding, thus no suspension failures due to fatigue! It was such a great system that it is still under every NASCAR racer today! I really don't understand why it isn't the system of choice for street rods as well, it has so much going for it! Short of a full IRS it's the system I would use.