Ok so I know very little about suspension... can anyone tell me what set up this is? Also, when i accelerate or brake, I can feel and hear the axle moving....is that normal or should something be tighten?
Appears to be some sort of homemade triangulated four bar. You should not feel or hear any type of movement on acceleration or breaking. I would start by checking the four attachment points for a loose bushing or worn bolt. If you jack up the rear and use jack stands under the frame, remove the wheels and tires, you should be able to pry the rear end back and forth to show the wear points.
Looks like a very bad copy of the 50's / 60's, General Motors, triangulated 3 or 4 link. Is there one or two upper bars ? Your picture really doesn't show a whole lot. But what it does show, I'm not surprised that the rear end moves. Mike
Its supposedly an early 70s gm frame. Possibly nova. It looks like a stock set up for whatever frame it was. Not sure though....its under my rat rod now. I will get some pictures up
Couple more pics. Its 2 tubes with threads at the axle and going to above the pumpkin and 2 rectangle going from the frame rail to under the axle
Looks like a home built copy of a 64-72 GM intermediate car. If copied accurately , or it's a whole frame section, it should work okay. Of course it shouldn't clunk. Look for bad bushings or wallowed out bolt holes. Novas didn't have a removable frame , so quite sure it's not Nova...And don't use the R.R. term around if you want much help.
It looks like a hacked up cludgey mess to me, but that sounds about right for a rat rod. None of the joints should have steel touching steel. Are there any bushings on those front upper bar joints? They bars themselves look like I wouldn't trust them under a lawn mower, let alone a car. Were those the mock-up pieces that the original builder was using for sizing, that accidentally got left in place?
It looks like the upper brackets on the axle are factory, everything else looks like a homemade hackjob. Also the jamb nut on your upper suspension link is loose, now would be a good time to check the whole car over for loose hardware.
Definitely not Nova, they have leafs in the rear. The rear trailing arm angles, at least the top, aren’t even close to correct. Try to find a factory GM four link you can crawl under, with it at ride height, (weight on the wheels) and you will see what I mean. This should be in the dictionary under “Fabricobbled”. You have limited space to work with, Good Luck.
Looks like OreTrac bars, sort of on the same line as CalTrac's but not as popular for obvious reasons.
Glad it's your mess and not mine. the angle s on the top bars look all wrong. You need to take it to someone who knows suspension's and get their opinion.
Torch it all out, grind it all smooth. Put this in: https://www.peteandjakes.com/parts/part-4011-1933-34-ladder-bar-kit-fits-3-inch-housing/
Got a chance to look again. It's way worse than the above. Seems like someone tried to build a ladder bar suspension..in the worst possible way. Way too short, too. I agree..Get out the Red Wrench.
Gimpyhotrods, I used that same setup in my old pro street Morris Minor. It was really good. I used their coil overs. Mike at Honest Charley's set me up. Pete and Jakes built mine to my measurements at no extra charge.
With the angle of the upper bars going down toward the lower pivot, that has to go into a bind when the suspension moves when going over a bump in the road. That would be your clunk.
Did you not check the car out before you bought it?, I don't mean to be too hard on you but Ray Charles would have seen that the rear suspension is a cobbled up mess. Personally, I would cut all that out and start over. HRP
Nova's were strictly uni-body construction, until 1968, when they got a complete front sub-frame assembly that was bolted to the "uni-body"; rear suspension was strictly uni-body. This is a Chevelle type (GTO, 442, Etc) or later G-Body (Malibu, Regal, Cutlass, etc) type rear suspension setup. Can't see enough of the frame to ID it. The length of the bars are at least close to what stock would have been, but the actual work itself is no where near that of stock; at least he knew enough to make the uppers adjustable, which is how the aftermarket does it.. The rear end housing will have the rubber bushings for the top bars, the lowers, it should be in the lower bar at the rear end housing, then the front ends of the upper and lower bars should have bushings, and those are what's really hard to see; maybe the lower fronts have them? It looks like whoever built it knew what they wanted, and it all works well with the factory setups; he just did't have the "skills" to completely carry it out. And the loose jam nut is the source of your "clunk". I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
The rear will raise under acceleration and drop with hard braking if anything else is going on something is loose.
Thanks everyone for the replies. It was an early 80s build. I tighten everything down and its good to go!
Is the upper control arm longer that the lower? This looks like the frame mounts are right above each other ? That’s not 64-72 gm frame mount arrangement ,,, not even close
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