ERICCAMARO

I think we need to set up a sticky with some info. like wall thickness for a panhard rod and what size tubing to use for the bushings. also this info for the lca's and some info on some tubular a-arms like what grade steel to use what thickness and what piece to use for a stock balljoint to fit in. more info on the wonder bar like mounting plate thickness and the same for a stb also if someone was to feel so inclined maybe some #s for a k-member as well. I know all this info is floating around either on this board or in your heads but if you all give me your input I will sit down filter through all the BS and organize it all into an easy to read article. HELP ME HELP YOU

camaro_1983_383

I just built some LCA's. they were 19.25 inches center to center. the ends are 1.75 od .120 wall tubing cut 1 and 15/16 inches long. the center piece i used 1 x 2 x .120, but i guess you could use anything for that. I used square tubing to help keep everything square when i used the hole saw for the ends. The only problem that i have with these is that stock replacement bushings dont fit them. what i did was bought a set of HPM performance LCA's and built mine the same as those, so i had to buy a set of their bushings for those arms. After i built them, I returned them to the shop i bought them from. I will be building a torque arm soon. but im going to relocate the mounting point. Ill let you know how it goes.

THEGENERAL

thats funny go and buy something use those measurements and then return it when finished ....lol...damn why did i think of that ....

ERICCAMARO

Keep um coming. TTT

Project Z

This kind of sputtered out. I'm looking for some measurments as well. I want to try my hand at making some parts. Panhard bar, LCA's ect...

Anyone with some sizes and measurments, let's hear em.

eXesiv|83ta

iTrader: (4)

yes please lets see some info.

RED92BIRD305

for my wonder bar i used 1/4 inch thick plates. the tubing is 1.5inch O.D. Drawn Over Mandrel(seamless) for extra strength with a .120 wall thickness that about 10 guage. i will attatch pictures

RED92BIRD305

another

RED92BIRD305

...

91banditt2

iTrader: (1)

I have a question?would you (members) find it helpful if someone posted thread with a ton of pix of suspension parts?

eXesiv|83ta

iTrader: (4)

I would say that pix with some of the critical dimensions would be the best thing.


J.

ERICCAMARO

Thats why I originally created this post was so people would homefully post pics and dimensions. I would still like to see some on LCA's , RElocation brackets, Torque Arm, possibly a front K-member, some a-arms and maybe some upper strut mounts. I dont know if anyone has fabbed up some of that stuff themselves.

Project Z

I'm in the process of gathering some materials for LCA's and a Panhard bar.

I'm debating going with poly bushings or with spherical rod ends. The car is purely for leasure. Not a daily driver, so I might be leaning towards the rod ends, at least on one end for adjustability.

I measured the Panhard for the bushings, I closest that I can figure:
ID 1.695"
OD 2.105"
Wall 0.205"

I figure that if you make the bars adjustable you only have to get within a couple of thousands of the original lenght.

I tried calling PST (makes polygraphite) for some dimentions of their bushings, but they're only distributors, no knowledge of the specs of the product. (kinda scary)

I'll get some pics uploaded if get them together.

oil pan 4

iTrader: (1)

I'm gathering Titanium for frount LCA build, I got FLCA's off ebay to copy.
Also want to do Ti Rear LCA's and pan hard or track bar.
They will be on my cardomain site.

91banditt2

iTrader: (1)

tie rod sleeves
1" hex stock
5" long
2 1/2" of 5/8-18 right hand thread
2 1/2" of 5/8-18 left hand thread

it cost me nothing for the stock but it cost me les than $5.00 for the 5/8-18 RH-LH jam nuts from local hardware supplier.if i would have had to buy the odd 5/8-18 LH tap it would cost around $12 through J&L industrial supply.

ERICCAMARO

where would you get that hex stock and jam nuts? I dont think my local ACE will have that stuff do I need to order???

91banditt2

iTrader: (1)

www.fastenal.com or coleman racing

the hex you'll need to get from a local metal supplier.

you can also get a set of these from coleman racing preety cheap.

ERICCAMARO

what size should I go for?? they have these all the way from 5 inches to 5 feet it looks like. Im guessing that the 6 1/2 will work what do you think??

91banditt2

iTrader: (1)

your talking about the hex stock?i don't know how you plan on cuting the stock but i cut it down with a machine lathe.
6 1/2 would work but if you comfortble with cutting metal 5 1/4" or 5 1/2 would work also.

i should look into making and selling these

91banditt2

iTrader: (1)

were you talking about buying the tie rod sleeves weren't you?

ERICCAMARO

yea im talking about on the coleman racing site, the adjusting sleeves come in all sorts of sizes. do you know what part # to go for??

91banditt2

iTrader: (1)

RP-129-5 5" Steel Tie Rod Sleeve

ERICCAMARO

yea ok that makes sense, I wasnt sure If I should order an Inch longer because when you made them you used the 5" hex stock plus a half inch nut on either side, so shouldnt it be the 6" one? back at ya :lala:

91banditt2

iTrader: (1)

I say the 5" because i think the OEM sleeve is like 4 1/4 or 4 1/2.i know i made mine longer than the OEM.get the 6" and see if it works :werd:

ERICCAMARO

yea those stock ones are pretty short and only usually end up having about 1/4 of the threads on the tie rod goin in anyway so Yea a couple inches may actually make the front steering a little tighter. good call.

Project Z

I had a chance to get to the steel supplier on Friday and picked up some scrap that they sell by the pound. I made a quick jig with some flat stock that I had and tried to get pretty close to the stock LCA's I took off of the car. (Close within 1/32")
I don't think that I'll us this one, but it gives me an idea of where to go from here. The one's that I'll use will be adjustable, that way the tolerances don't have to be quite as tight in the fabrication.
Any thoughts as to spherical rod ends vs. poly bushings???

The ends are 2" OD 10 gauge and the shaft is 1.25x0.095 wall thickness both are mild steel. For the ones that will go on the car, I'll probably spring for the DOM steel for the shafts.

Project Z

another pic

Project Z

I keep trying to post the last pic, but for some reason it won't let me. Sorry.

ERICCAMARO

wow thats a pretty good job and what did it cost ya?? There selling those things on ebay for 100+ and they look almost identical to what you have there. Will the stolck bushing or a poly replacement directly fit into that?? How long did that take you to fab up?????

jocww

project z what are those. also where does the wonderbar hookup to

ERICCAMARO

those are rear lower control arms, theres no wonderbar in the rear , I dont know what your thinking of.

eXesiv|83ta

iTrader: (4)

The wonder replaces the sway bar in the front!

jocww

pictures would be nice. i havent really looked under my car in awhile as i havent driven it in 2 yrs but i just pulled the engine and trans so i see all these things and i dont know crap about them very confusing. so anyway do u have any pics of them installed

THEGENERAL

....

83BlackBeauty

If someone planned on fabbing some of these up and selling them I would be interested. Want to get my suspension done on the cheap, but good. Plus I would rather see someone making money than some already rich company.

91banditt2

iTrader: (1)

no it doesn't the steering brace is mounted in between the frame and the sway bar to frame bushings.

you have alot to learn grasshopper.

eXesiv|83ta

iTrader: (4)

Doh!!

I guess I was misinformed. for settin me straight.

J.

RED92BIRD305

i will post the pics of my wonderbar as soon as the rain and what ever else the weather can throw at me will dry up i also have

JPrevost

wtf happened to my thread?
https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=221912

I guess we'll have like 20 of these threads eventually .
I told the moderators to put my post up as a sticky so that we dont' get these same questions OVER and OVER. It's worked to cut back repeat questions on the TBI, TPI, and DIY prom boards very well.
Maybe they'll listen to all of us if we shout loud enough.

ERICCAMARO

Maybe we should pull our resources and make a master list for these parts and put it in a well orginized format and present it that way. Im sure they will sticky it then, but I want some #s on a torque arm and some front a-arms first.

oil pan 4

iTrader: (1)

I have FLCA's and a T arm on the way over here.
Reason:
I want to copy them. Not just remake them with steel, that would be to easy.

Project Z

Sorry it took so long to get back, computer has been down. Eric- Thanks, this one is just a prototype. I didn't try to make the welds bulletproff. I took all measurments from the stock LCA's that came off the car. (87 Iroc) It didn't take that long once I had the right materials and measurments. I made a Jig to hold it all in place and just glued it together. I figure it cost maybe $5 to make this one. Not counting what my time is worth so total cost is $5. The stock or replacement bushings should fit just like stock in these. They'll have to be pressed in, just like stock. Unfortunatly I don't have a machine press in the garage so I'll have to find someone who does. (I hate paying for stuff I can get others to do for free.) I want to make a set of adjustable ones as well. I'll be sure to post them when I'm through.

83BlackBeauty--I would be willing to make some for others if they want to test them out and let me know what they think. My car isn't anywhere near roadworthy yet and winter up here just hit. Keep in mind I don't do this for a living, so turn around time isn't going to be 5-7 business days like summit or Jegs. E-mail me if you want to talk about it.

ERICCAMARO

Dong get a shop to press them in. YOu can use your vise (supposing that you have one) and a piece of tube if you want, tube is optional. you can buy a vise for the price it will cost for a machine shop to do it and if you dont have one I would suggest buying one, I use mine daily.

eXesiv|83ta

iTrader: (4)

Hey guys,

I have built a torque arm at school for one of my projects and it looks pretty good. I will have pics of it up later.

I also need some overall dimensions for a stock panhard bar as I am going to be making one of those also. I don't have my car on this side of the state so it is hard for me to measure it my self.

Thanks, J.

oil pan 4

iTrader: (1)

Could some one post a pic of a wonder bar installed and where they mount to.

JPrevost

I just gave you a link that should be used instead of this one.

eXesiv|83ta

iTrader: (4)

Here's a rendering of the completed torque arm.

stenseltizm

iTrader: (1)

eXesiv|83ta What CADD program is that?

JPrevost

I'm guessing Solidworks 2003 . What do I win?

ERICCAMARO

I dont know about you guys but I dont think that is the style of toque arm I want to use. I was thinking of the design that spohn uses that hooks up to the cross-member. Its supposed to put less force on the tailshaft of the trans and when running a 350+t5 that is an issue.