Anyone have any info or experience? I'm looking to make my own, this is for an 88 t-bird turbo coupe, so they are a little longer than a mustang piece. I have converted my rear suspension to coil-over, so I don't need spring perches or sway bar attachments, just a rod end on one side and a poly bushing on the other. Wondering where to find the ends and which ones exactly to use?
Something like this:
http://www.cheperformance.com/cartgenie/prodInfo.asp?pid=279&cid=9
Trying to save a few bucks, and I take pride in making my own pieces
can I see some pics of your coil over kit I want to do this mod baaad!!!! sorry I don't have any info to trade
I've been slacking and haven't got out to my shop to get any new pics yet, the only one I have is of the front wheel.
http://picasaweb.google.com/horton678/TurboCoupeStuff/photo#5156551486640620562
You can see using the Griggs K-member and A-arms how far it pushes the wheel forward in the wheel well. Granted this may change a little once everything is back together and aligned. It's not exactly a coil-over kit either, just a set of koni DA struts with 350 lb springs in front and koni SA shocks with 250 lb springs in the rear.
As soon as I get more pics I'll post them.
I have looked around and I have decided to purchase some Mustang uppers and lowers, then have them modified to fit my cougar. I am getting the mustang arms cheap. My fabricator uses a TIG welder and is very skilled at custom fabrication. CHE makes some inexpensive control arms if you decide to save some time.
Are the cougars rear set up different from the birds because I bought hotchkis lowers and Jegs uppers for a mustang and they fit with no modification.That was like the only mustang part that fit without having to modify it to fit, Ford makes this spit too darn hard for us.:hick: :punchballs:
As mentioned dozens of times before, Tbird/Cougar rear control arms are longer than the Mustang ones.
The lowers are 1/2" longer and the uppers are 1-1/8" longer....
cheperformance.com sell tubular upper and lower rear control arms for cheap.
Awesome quality and full hardware.
thanks, but I asked if the cougar was different then the bird and also sorry I have not been a member since 2004 :shakeass: chuck you must be in customer service lol.:D
you should be able to get the arts to do this from a hardware store. or http://www.speedwaymotors.com sells the swedge tubes and fittings to do tubular suspension for late models you should be able to convert this over to your need.
And I answered your question, if you could put 2 and 2 together.
I never said anything about Mustang ones not bolting in...but your pinion angle would then be all to pen 15 due to the different lengths.
I could have told you to just use the search function...now THAT is customer service.
Oh, and I've been a member since '99....... :p
:p
I made my own control arms for my car from scratch but I can't seem to find the pictures of them but all I did was make a simple fixture so my new conrol arms were the same length as the factory ones and used dom tubing with 1/4" wall thickness which was quite overkill but they do the job. I used spherical bearings on both ends so there is no binding at all when the axle is articulating but there is some road noise transfered into the car but I don't mind. I had everything tig welded at work and had them powder coated siver. The spherical bearings were purchased from here http://www.stockcarproducts.com/susp3.htm (http://"http://www.stockcarproducts.com/susp3.htm")
After installing these all my wheel hop was eliminated.
I don't get it. You will lay out the cash for the Griggs front but will not buy their LCA's for the rear? Talk about reinventing the wheel but I guess I can understand wanting to build them yourself. I just get tired of fabricating all the stuff for my 83 so I take advantage of parts someone else has already engineered.
Darren
I've got the CHE's lowers. They went in great and are high quality.
I haven't moved them to the new bird yet. So if you need measurements PM me and I'll take them for you.
Darren-
First I didn't lay out huge $$ for the Griggs stuff I got a smoking deal on the tubular combo used, and there's a shiznit ton of time and engineering involved in making a k-member(correctly) "reinventing the wheel" would be trying to fab one of those vs. laying down the $$ for a Griggs or MM k-member. Yeah they are expensive but again, that's a lot of weld time, engineering, and a fair amount of money in material.
The LCA's, on the other hand, are a length of tube with a bushing end on one side and a rod end on the other. Pretty easy! Sure CHE only gets $150, but I'm pretty sure I can make them for less then half that. Plus I asked this question to see if anyone who had made their own LCA tried making the body from Aluminum? I'm a machinist by trade so making the body is easy, I just wondered what others have used for the ends.
Don't think I'm made of money b/c I have Griggs and coil-overs, most everything I've modded on my car I've either bought used or made myself. I save where I can so that I can spend where/when I want. If I can save a few bucks here, I can spend it over there.
Che's price of $150 is very reasonable and I've heard nothing but good things about them, however (and not to sound pen 15y) I think I can do better for less. (and that means better for my application not necessarily everyone else's)
I hope that makes sense without sounding arrogant, and I know what you are saying about getting tired of making everything, but whenever I buy something that I know I could have made, I think about what else I could have bought with that money. Like beer :)
Blu- thanks I'll send PM
Andrew-My original plan was rod ends on either side, but it seems like a lot of people are happier with poly on one end to eliminate bind. You say you are happy with a two rod ends? So the ones you made look something like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Autofab-79-98-Mustang-Upper-and-Lower-Control-Arms-Race_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33583QQihZ023QQitemZ360016894604QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW
Global West has me confused, read this, it's at the bottom of the page where it lists their tubular LCAs and different bushing combos
http://www.globalwest.net/mustang%2079-98.htm#Rear%20Tubular%20control%20arms
I like the choice at the bottom, is this right? del-a-lum=delrin
Granted this is from chevy guys, but here's what I found:
http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/suspension-chassis/374255-delalum-vs-urethane.html
thanks
D
Shoot man I hear you loud and clear. Typically you cannot find a used T-Bird aftermarket anything so my assumption that you bought it new was from that not to mention I am a bit jealous as I paid for mine new. Being that you are a machinist this should be super easy once you have the dims and figure out what type of joints you want to run with. When you get them done please post some pictures as I always enjoy seeing the end product especially when it comes to these cars.
Darren
My control arms are an exact replica of these
(http://www.bmrfabrication.com/Mustang/Lowers-thumb.gif)
here is the link to thier web site
http://www.bmrfabrication.com/Mustang.htm
When using spherical bearings on both ends there will be no binding at all! I have designed the same supspension as in our T-birds in SolidWorks 3D modeling software to see what happens when the suspension is moved. There is no binding at all just side to side location of the axle as in any four link design. Like I said before the only down side to using spherical bearings on both ends is the there is more road noise in the car.
my rear control arms use a spherical bearing at the chassis side and urethane bushings on the rearend..
Update:
This is exactly what I had in mind:
http://www.jonaadland.com/Z28/Mods/LCA/AluminumLCAs.html
A couple people came through with links over on the Corral when I posted this:
http://www.corral.net/forums/showthread.php?t=989018
I'm going to make a set of these as soon as I get the rod ends.
I've found the xmr-12/lml-12 rod ends for around $25 each, still shopping around for a deal on an improved 3 pc version like the hmr-12t/hml-12t. Probably start with the xm's for now.
My plan was to keep the cost between $100-150. I'll spend 100 bucks on four rod ends, and make the actual arms for around 20-25 bucks.
I'll use 1 1/4" diameter 6061 aluminum. Cut it to length (they should be about 14-16" long roughly;I haven't measured the centerline-to-centerline distance yet) then drill and tap either end, one side right-hand, the side opposite left-handed 3/4-16 threads.
I haven't decided for sure what I want to use for bushings/spacers, but I'll figure something out. I've found a few oil-lite bushings at work that I think are the same thing most people use, and I can make the spacers real easy out of tubing stock.
Has anyone else here, who has converted to coil-overs done anything similar?