need help with 6 link suspension setup

[Twin_Turbo]

Here's a tidbit on the johnny joint install. All you need is the joint a hole saw, an undercut 7/16 drill (so the stock sleeve acts as a guide) and a welder. This isn't my welding, a buddy did this after I recommended the JJ to him.

You start off with a std. arm:


Then you have your hole saw w/ 7/16 drill with the shank cut down to fit the arbor, and use the stock sleeve as a guide:





Making the cut and removing the stock bushing:




Disassembling the 2" JJ. The outer sleeve needs to be welded into the arm:


Cleaning up the bore and the surrounding metal for a clean weld:




Welding in the sleeve. The better you are at welding, the better the job will be done of course. However, penetration is the most important. Anyone can grind welds to make it look cleaner.




Finally a little grinding, some painting and final assembly and presto, one JJ equipped trailing arm for long smooth operation.

 

[Twin_Turbo]

What I'm wondering is what is the movement on the stock stub axle with the stock suspension? (basically how much movement is built into the stock suspension) Or is there no movement at all? And how much movement can be ok? I understand that any movement at all is bad because it increases wear on the yoke and seals, but is there a somewhat acceptable amount?

Just the factory tolerance, or better the tolerance that's there now. In the ideal situation it should be almost zero. A .0005 enplay is tight, about .001 is the max I'd want it to be however it can be quite a bit more, up to over .05

That movement is especially bad because it messed up the camber setting, it makes the suspension "loose"

One other quick question, sorry if it's stupid I've never dealt with diagrams like this before, why does the length of the strut rods in the picture change as the same suspension is put in different positions?

FlexusMark did those pics, the dimensions should nto change, in some pics the lower struts are fixed dimensions, in some the upper. I don't know why he did that, it could be an oversight, it could also be a rounding error in the software depending on the settings. Considering the lengths should be absolutely fixed, you can assume that (especially for the example with nothing parallel, is aw some discrepancies there) that the stub axle play is actually more because of that tiny error.

 

[killervette666]

What I'm wondering then is how did that 6 link kit thats posted in the sticky section work then? They say that they simply shave a little off the yoke so it can move in a little more and take out the c-clips so it can move freely in and out, do they basically live with the fact that there's going to be more movement due to the 6 link design and build it anyways? It does not look like they found the IC of all the components and used it to eliminate yoke travel, they just set the rods parallel to everything, that should make for a ton of movement based on the sketches here.

 

[Twin_Turbo]

Exactly that! Shortening the stub does allow a little more movement (the max is when the dist shield hits the case, something that yous ee on diffs with heavily worn stubs sometimes)

Hey, it's corvette aftermarket stuff, if it bolts together and looks cool it must be the beez knees....if it works properly, or if it could be better? Who cares! There are tons of "products" that are available that fall in this category.

 

[killervette666]

haha interesting
Here's the thing though, they supposedly ran .97 G's with that 6 link and a few other basic mods, many of which I have, so I'm thinking maybe its better to bite the bullet and see how long the yokes last with that setup and enjoy the performance gains, or is that all bs as well and I wouldn't actually see that big of an improvement

Also, if I go with slip shafts, is it a bolt on kind of deal? Do I have to custom fabricate anything? Do they completely solve that problem (as in no matter what 6 link setup I run I won't have to worry about the yoke as a source of problem in the geometry?)

This thread so far has been a great help, lots of info I would have otherwise never gotten:drink:

 

[Twin_Turbo]

There's no actual performance gain. What it does is alleviate the stress on the halfhsaft/stub axle by taking it out of the susp. equation.

If you have a 6 link and a regular setup, both with the same camber characteristics and static settings, and the std. setup is tight with no excessive stub axle play, then they will perform the same.

 

[Belgian1979vette]

TT did you take a look at strokers setup ? What do you think ?

 

[Twin_Turbo]

I think it's simply awesome I have discussed it with him when he was in final stages of development. We discussed shock placement and such. It's much like the old greenwood setup (and the C4 one).

He should start selling DIY fab kits

 

[Belgian1979vette]

I agree. What do you think would be a good choice for the heim joints.

 

[Twin_Turbo]

FK, Aurora