Stumbled across this today. It's a different type of system that gives simplicity of a ladder bar and adjustability of a 4-link. Looks like a system that could fit under a third gen with little to no floor modifications to easily allow a diff swap without needing to worry about using a torque arm, panhard or any other diff locating device. The photo layout on the web site really sucks though. Poor formatting.

The kit is a little pricey compared to other suspensions systems but when you don't have to do major surgery to the car to install it, it's actually quite cheap.

http://www.ultralinksuspension.com/

 

Cool stuff! That looks very similar to other designs, i'd think it's nothing new...? (ie, why didn't *I* think of that eh?)

That looks like it'd be very easy to build one in your home garage. I'm assuming the left side gets welded onto the axle tubes, and the right side gets welded to the frame somehow. With another tube bracket type of thing?

Nifty.
You'd still need a panhard though if you were going to corner with this car at all i'd think. Or is this meant to be a PURE dragstrip item?

 

You would get absolutely 0% articulation with that setup. very primative. Might as well just go bck to the old school dragsters with 0 susepension. That could not be run on a car that needs to turn corners even slowly with any kind of traction safety.

 

I was thinking that it wouldn't take much to build either. You can buy the thick walled tubing for the bars. Buy left and right weld ends and rod ends. The front and rear brackets could probably be a combination of ladder bar and 4-link brackets. Scratch building it might only cost half of that kit. CM rod ends are $20-$25 each.

Yes the left side attaches to the axle. The bar mounts are in roughly the same positions as ladder bars would be but also offer some adjustability.

The front mounts need to attach to a front crossmember which can be purchased at any speed shop. To mount it high in the chassis, it will have a dip in the center to clear the driveshaft. The front mounts are similar to a 4-link allowing you positions to set the IC at. Unlike ladder bars, these bars are available in different lengths so shorter bars could fit easier under a third gen.

Because the bottom 2 bars are welded together, you don't need a diagonal link, wishbone or panhard bar to keep the diff centered under the car. They triangulate the bars preventing and sideways movement of the diff. Technically 2 separate bottom bars with a diagonal link will work just as well however a diagonal link and a panhard bar can bind or cause misalignment when the diff moves through a rotational arc as it moves up and down or when one wheel moves up or down going over a bump etc. The bottom 2 bars welded together like that will work like a wishbone and eliminate any bind or alignment issues as the diff moves up and down and still keeps it centered under the car.

 

That's similar to what the Pro Stock guys run.

 

I'm just thinking about cornering loading here. You'd be putting side loads on the rod ends. That setup is very weak as far as strength when you're thinking about cornering. I would be wary to use on it on the street, that's all i'm saying. If you're only going to be using it at a dragstrip, it's probably a moot point.

 

Right... it's very much like ladder bars, in that it is designed to go STRAIGHT ONLY. It forces the car into a straight line. That's part of its point, is to always render it impossible for the car to do ANYTHING BUT go straight, and isf the car tries to go in a turn, it tries REAL HARD to straighten it out. Note how all those cars they show are leaving STRAIGHT and LEVEL. Good design for that, terrible for anything else.

Definitely not streetable in the normal sense.

 

Ok fair enough. I don't know anything about ladder bars or 4 links, so I can't make comparisons.
But I guess the idea is - Get a high powered dragster to go straight and plant the tires well - cheaply if possible. A mig welder, chop saw and a grinder and you could build this setup. Put it on any kind of rear end you like, add springs and shocks and you're done eh?

 

Yup, pretty much.... looks like all it needs at the front is the usual horizontal crossmember installed to the chassis at a convenient spot that will put the optimum points within the thing's adjustment range.

 

Any rod end rear suspension including ladder bars and 4-link are not designed for long life or high mileage. The rod ends do wear out and need to be replaced every few years depending on how much use they get. In a street car with a 4-link that may get 6000 miles a year, the rod ends would probably need to be changed every year or 2.

 

Basically it's a 4-link system, but some alterations that IMO would make it less useable. Yes, with the lower links being tied together you wouldn't need a diagonal, but this would also eliminate body roll, making it act like ladder bars. Also, with the upper and lower links being so close together, it would require some fairly stiff shock valving to slow dow the reaction enough to not rebound. As for street use, just as a regular 4-link kit, lowering the front of the upper bar will create anit-squat, helping traction, but non-parrallel bars create roll steer in corners, although since the lowers would not allow body roll, this should be non-existent.
If you were to mount it low enough to not remove the rear seat, then either your geometry would have to suck, or you would have to jack the back of the car up. If you were to run short enough bars to attempt to fit it behind the seat, again, your geometry would suck, and the short bars quick reaction coupled w/ the close upper/lower links quick reaction would put more demand on the shocks than would be feasable.
As far as the site bragging about the 60' times and ET's, ? You need to be bottom 1.1x 60's and mid 4's in 10.5 outlaw to play, so bragging about 1.18 and 5.20 is kinda dumb. As for the car on 11" slicks, we've got factory suspension cars on 10" drag radials going 1.3X 60's.

sofa - Pro Stock? Pro stock is running a standard configuration 4-link system that has clamp blocks that mount between the frame/diff brackets and the link bars. The clamp brackets have multiple holes for the bars and multiple holes for the brackets, thus creating 1/4 hole increments of adjustment at each end of each bar.

all in all, this would be slightly better than a ladder bar set-up, but not as good as a race 4-link.

 

As stated this is just a glorified lader bar with the ability to move your IC slightly. It will still tri-cycle if you tried to turn fast. Also you are loading the lower heim's in shear instead of simple tension/compression. This is a BIG no no and will result in broken heims if too much cornering loads are applied.

Also you can see in their litterature that that they have no clue what they are talking about. They claim this setup does not bind....which it does 100% while they also claim that a panhard will bind.....which it won't.

These guys don't have a clue.

 

...hadn't thought about it, but yes, buy tieing the lowerlinks together and not using a diagonal link, you are loading the lower heim joints in sheer when cornering. - I wouldn't be susprised if they built a panhard that binds.