K, First, I searched... Did'nt find what I was looking for. I was thinking of ways to eliminate the strut towers on my 85 T/A and got to thinking about using a 4thgen upper a-arm + spindles and brakes, this got me to thinking about using a 4thgen k-member with LSX motor mounts. The 4thgen k-member would have the mounts for the rack and pinion. Anyone ever done this? I seem to remember someone putting a factory 4thgen k-member in, but couldnt find that...
Thanks guys!

 

That wont eliminate the towers, 4thgens still have them.

 

not totally sure but wouldnt eliminating the towers be a very bad idea with these cars with them being a uni body car? and apparently the towers take alot of the weight of the car since these things are heavy and thats where most of the weight is.. not to sure if im right or not but would be interesting to see if u can actually pull it off..

 

It is possible to get rid of the towers. A few members on the fabrication boards have managed to do it. One was a dirt track car and the other was a chum-car vehicle. The dirt track car had shock-hoops and used a factory style strut and the chump-car had an upper a-arm from a chevelle, If I remember right. The shock towers dont actually take a lot of weight. The spring actually does that, however they do take a fair amount of side-force because they are what the strut attaches to and that locates the spindle. I was just thinking" Cool! If I could pull this off, then every part that wears out can be replaced with an off-the-shelf piece. (Except the coil-overs) . On the 4thgen's when you select the "coil-over" from BMR or spohn, does that eliminate the need for the shock tower? Seems like it would, but I really need to do a lot more research... I know a lot of people on here have tried the rack and pinion swap, but If I recall correctly, they lost quite a bit of turning radius.

 

R&P is just the steering type, you dont eliminate any suspension pieces with that, its simply a few weld tabs and a new shaft

Think about it, the strut tower has two jobs: locate the strut mount so it doesnt go side to side or any direction and to take the load from the front dampners (struts)

Figure out a way to incorporate those two features in a non-tower setup and you're golden. Be aware, GM used the McPhereson struts for 3rd gens because they are VERY simple, inexpensive and quite effective at achieving good handling in a bottom tier car

 

yes, you can get rid of the towers with a different front end design using an upper and lower control arm, however, the 4th gen style of this setup will not accomplish this. You really need to know what you are doing to attempt this conversion and have a front end that will function properly when you are finished.

 

no it doesn't, the upper control arm is mounted to the tower.

 

Someone called my IROC a bottom tier vehicle?!! Those are fighting words buddy!! LOL

 

Thanks Guys! Looks like it's not going to be easy!

 

I'm sure pocket didn't mean it...

 

This couldn't be more false. The shock towers take as much abuse or more than the spring mounts. The strut has to dampen the spring's movement, that is what shocks and struts do. When you go over a sharp bump, the strut dampens how fast the suspension compresses. So the shock towers can see some incredibly high loads when you hit a bump, even higher loads than the spring itself can exert.

 

Ah! I didnt realize that!

 

Can I swap the subframe from a 4th generation to my 92 camaro?

 

With great effort, yes

Why do you want to attempt that?

 

and thats QUITE the understatement.