Ron Sutton Suspension Components

BBShark said:
That is weird. Stress cracks that open a gap.
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There is now a bit of an explanation from the owner on the link. The LCA front pick-up point was cantilever and unsupported, so it was flexing with braking and cornering. Apparently the flexing (bending) back and forth caused stress cracks that eventually resulted in failure. I worked with Ron some on suspension geometry. He had a good understanding of dynamic suspension changes. But, in the end, I opted to build my own control arms and suspension mount points. Some of my stuff is a little heavy, but it shouldn't fail. I never liked his lower control arms (curved, unsupported rear link) and I guess there have been a couple of failures there too.
 
There is a reason people use round holes to remove weight. All those triangle holes just invite metal fatigue/crack initiation.
 
This is a major bummer as Ive got my drysump drive pulley and power steering pump in close enough proximity to make bracing that LCA bracket way more complicated than it needs to be... Better to catch now, than later I suppose. Thanks for the heads up, Pappy

PS I went to visit my car at the fab shop in NH this weekend... Slowly, but surely
6156124177dd3734.jpg
 
vette427sbc said:
This is a major bummer as Ive got my drysump drive pulley and power steering pump in close enough proximity to make bracing that LCA bracket way more complicated than it needs to be... Better to catch now, than later I suppose. Thanks for the heads up, Pappy

PS I went to visit my car at the fab shop in NH this weekend... Slowly, but surely
6156124177dd3734.jpg
Click to expand...

Car looks great! You might get by with a simple bracket that supports the top of the control arm mounting tab and ties it to the connecting crossmember. Or, if you have room, a "bridge" between the pick-up brackets. Looks like the failure was because the control arm was pushing on the bolt above where it was supported, if that makes sense. It might get a little tricky under the rack on the driver's side. I talked to the guy who was driving the Chevelle when it broke. He said the geometry (roll center, caster gain, etc. was good, but they did go with a softer sway bar and less front end travel.

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