nascar rear suspension

has anyone ever built or used a nascar style of rear suspension?..there much the same as older gm trucks..i have been thinking of what to use on my 28 chevy coupe.

 

it's just a truck arm suspension (64-72 g.m.)

your basic split wishbone is VERY similar.

 

I was just flipping through magazines last night and I saw an article in R&C about it, I think it was the issue that had the 2006 lonestar round up review in it, if that helps at all.

 

I got a set for mine. A friend of mine works in a race chassis shop and hooked me up. He's knows a guy...

 

For the record, GM trucks, as in GMC, didn't use that, (that I know of,) Chevy trucks did.

 

DrJ is right, GMC's typically had leaf spring rearends. Chevys came with trailing arms from '60-'72. A guy in my club used the truck arms in his '51 Chevy coupe, came out real nice. The reason the chevy arms work so well is because of their length and the way they are slightly angled. The slight angle helps with articulation of the rear axle and the long length minimizes pinion angle change as the suspension cycles.

 

I used a set of Nascar truck arms in my 57 chevy. The car tracks nice and straight, and hooks up good. I bought them from Muscle Motorsports, they were a very good deal.

 

I have them in my 1971 3/4 ton truck. They confounded a local mechanic when he inspected it for licensing but have never had trouble with the setup. Seems like you could score the whole back of a 1968-1972 frame for a reasonable price, or buy a project and take what you want and sell the rest of the parts to the Super Truck crowd

 

I have a set from a 61 chevy truck if you're interested. They need to be cleaned up but I'd let em go for 65.00. Let me know if you're interested.

 

i have a set on my 70 3/4 ton that i`m junking but i wanted to hear if anyone had them on a car and how well they worked...no wheel hop on burnouts?

 

My 71 truck does not hop. But the bed sways side to side more than I remember my old 76 leaf sprung truck did.

 

No wheel hop, and the car launches hard and straight. It has no sway side to side as someone mentioned. Does burnouts fine, of course the healthy small block, 4 speed, 4:56 gears help.

 

Hot Rods to Hell also carries a truck arm kit, for various cars, classic and muscle:

http://www.hotrodstohell.net/truckarm/truckarm_index.htm

I've e-mailed them, and as long as they know the wheelbase, etc., they can fab up a set for earlier frames, including As.

 

i did a scratch built setup like that on my 51 chevy using 1 1/2x3 tubing and airbags. works great so far. only hooked to a mild 350 right now. absolutely no wheel hop.

 

This is sorta off subject here, but do airbag setups completely replace the springs and shocks? Does this give a better ride, or is it preferred by some just because it lets you lower the car easier?

 

Springs, yes, Shocks, no.
You still need shocks with airbags....think basketball dribble....

 

I scored a pair at the local u-pull it only 25$. Used the crossmember as a the trans mount,used airbags instead of coil springs,stock shock mounts and a panhard bar.Works and rides great . BURNOUTS OHYEAH,wheel hop no,launches nice and straight.They came out of a 66 chevy 1\2 ton,stock chevy rear end out of a 70 chevy bolted right in.Running a b\b 455 buick turbo 400. all this in 50 chevy truck 10" slicks nothing but fun,later Rob

 

My son and I have rebuilt a 67Chevy pick-up with the trailing arms and added 2" lowering blocks. We also bagged it. When lowering it this much we had to relocate the shocks so they were at a better angle. We also put in a longer panhard bar. It hooks up pretty good and does burn-outs easily without side sway. You can get the trailing arms at most of the Chevy truck parts sites. Be careful with used ones as they do rust out and could break if real rusty.
Red

 

I fabbed my own 'truck-arm' rear suspension for my shortened-A-sedan.

 

Be carfull building box tubing trailing like this. The chevy PU arms were built out of two c chanels to alow for some flex during body roll. Boxing them wont allow flex and sooner or later something gota give and probly without warning

 

Flynj1 is right in that the flex in the pick-up arms allows the chassis to articulate in turns. The Pete and Jakes rear ladder bar kit (which utilizes the same basic design) does the same by using urethane bushes at the front attachment points and also by having those points close together and as far from the rear end as practical.
True drag race type ladder bars on the street are scary as the frame is undable to roll in turns without twisting either the chassis or rear end housing. The same goes for split wishbones on the back. The look cool and retro but if you drive the car hard it will try to break the 'bones at the rear axle attachment point. I know this from experience. Back in the late 60's a mate of mine had a Chevy bodied bucket with early Ford running gear (flathead, banjo rear, wide fives) and he had a hard time keeping the rear suspension alive. He did drive the snot out of it and was prone to drifting it around corners.
On the subject of axle hop with the pickup style arms it should not be a problem is the spring and shock rates are correct. I built a 68 Chevy pickup for a customer in the late 70's using the stock trailing arms and even though it had a really stout big block he never had any suspension problems with hop etc. We did use good Koni shocks to control the great mass of unsprung weight.

Roo Man

 

I did mine out of square tube. I put big urethane bushings on the ends and triangulated the arms to allow movement. My mindset when I built them was building a stronger split wishbone for my big car, but turned out a little more like a nascar setup.

 

Here is how Clark did mine. He used I-beam with air bags in front of the rear and shocks out back. While this isn't a traditional setup is is the most comfortable I've had in a model A so far.

 

I used Chevy truck arms in a '31 Model A Slant window town sedan in the mid-70's. Used Corvair coils (which were junkyard available at the time). I sold it to a guy that has been to the west coast, pulled a tent trailer through the Rockies and used it regularily for over 30 years. Last time I saw the car it still had everything I put in it. I'd say the compenents are a good choice. Unfortunately up here in the rust belt there aren't many junkyard truck arms that aren't rusted through. Like others here have said, you can fabricate the equivalent pretty easy.

 

that just isn't true! this setup works regardless of what you make the arms out of. because the front mounts are very close together, the triangualation makes for very little flex where the control arms bolt to the axle, yet the suspension articulates freely. also the longer the arms the less flex at the axle.

 

You can also run Johnny joints (suicide doors.com sells them as another name) . PLENTY of articulation.

 

The binding the guys are thinking of would come from the stiffness of the tubing arms, combined with the distance between the front joints and the solid connection to the axle itself...not the actual type of joint at the front.

Considering the amount of movement a car rear axle would see I can't imagine tubing being a problem...as long as the front joints were close together of course.

 

How does this type of rear suspension ride and handle when compared to 4 bar, triangulated 4 bar, and leaf spring setups?

 

Could someone post a close up picture of one of the Chevy Arms if they have it? Please

 

These are from a '67Chevy pick-up. We changed rear-ends and bagged it. We've been real happy with the ride and handling. With the air pressure in the bags right it's easy to drive and is smooth, not like most trucks with stiff springs.