Truck Arm Rear Suspension

[WisconsinHick1]

Has anyone had much experience with a truck arm style rear suspension?

I was turn on to it by a guy that works on all classic cars and trucks and he was saying it might be a great choice form my 2wd truck. After doing some research I am highly considering that setup for my truck this winter.

Similar to these pictures below but I was thinking of putting coilovers on the back side of the axle at an angle and a pan hard bar if needed.

 

[Chevy1925]

you will for sure need a track/panhard bar.

that style suspension is what came factory on the late 60s, early 70s 2wd chevy/gmc trucks. only issue i see for you to drag race on is the lack of adjustment and they will need to heavy duty to hold up to the torque if you get it to hook

 

[WisconsinHick1]

Yes after more research a Panhard will be required. Yes I would plan to over build the bars for sure for that reason. As for the adjustment I was thinking with Double adjustable coilovers will help but I might need a few spring rate choices to really fine tune it.

 

[duramaxzak]

If your building the rear suspension more for drag racing, I think you would be better off leaving 2 leaf springs and adding ladder bars, pan hard bar and adjustable rear shocks like the photo. A long bar would be a nice cruiser suspension, but will not give you lift like the ladder bars will.

And, NO I didn't draw the picture!

View attachment 39525

 

[Chevy1925]

If your building the rear suspension more for drag racing, I think you would be better off leaving 2 leaf springs and adding ladder bars, pan hard bar and adjustable rear shocks like the photo. A long bar would be a nice cruiser suspension, but will not give you lift like the ladder bars will.

And, NO I didn't draw the picture!

View attachment 39525

The adjustment you show in the pic would only push the axle forward or back, you need the adjustment on one of the bars prior to the triangulated point to allow pinion adjustment and preload the springs. generally this is the bottom bar. im sure the adjustment you show will adjust and preload the springs some but it will also bind up suspension movement more than done with the adjustment where i stated

 

[duramaxzak]

The adjustment you show in the pic would only push the axle forward or back, you need the adjustment on one of the bars prior to the triangulated point to allow pinion adjustment and preload the springs. generally this is the bottom bar. im sure the adjustment you show will adjust and preload the springs some but it will also bind up suspension movement more than done with the adjustment where i stated

Yes, I agree there should be an adjustment point on the axle.

 

[duramaxzak]

This helps show the forces.

View attachment 39526

 

[c20elephant]

You'll find more information on the site below, company by the name of Porter has some pretty neat stuff for the trailing arm suspensions used by Chevrolet, GMC used leaf springs..

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/search.php?searchid=4646368

 

[JoshH]

I think you would be leaving a lot on the table from a weight and, as James pointed out, adjustability standpoint. I think a good 4 link kit would perform a lot better, but there would be a much steeper learning curve in getting it set up.

 

[WisconsinHick1]

Maybe I should hold off then. From my research the 4link is more expensive. Maybe I'll go down to 2 leaves, Panhard bar and some quality double adjustable shocks. I guess I'll have to do some figuring. I just thought sense NASCAR is using the setup it would be a logical choice and adjustability would be there.

 

[zf>allison]

I have 2 leaves and drop shackles on there highest setting and it gets wishy washy some times. Going back to stock shackles and still might add a pan hard. In a straight line with caltracs it does fine but I'm 4x4,

 

[Chevy1925]

Maybe I should hold off then. From my research the 4link is more expensive. Maybe I'll go down to 2 leaves, Panhard bar and some quality double adjustable shocks. I guess I'll have to do some figuring. I just thought sense NASCAR is using the setup it would be a logical choice and adjustability would be there.

its a good thought but you wouldnt use a nascar trans in a drag car would ya?

these trucks is all about weight transfer in a 2wd diesel. you gotta get that load on the rear tires and hook. huge slicks are one way ive seen guys get it done just to get traction from lack of weight transfer. 3500lbs over the front axles is hard to move but id build a 2wd dmax diesel over a 4wd. you can make a RC/LB light

if was on a budget for a 2wd truck, here would be my plan (same thing i told Tom). pull some leaves or change to a 1500 leaf pack, put cal tracs on, put a pan hard bar on to help axle location, a sway bar to help keep torquing up the corner of the truck, and some dual adjustable qa1 or viking shocks. for sake of being cheap, i would bet you could mod a stock front sway bar to work on the rear end and if you can weld, the pan hard bar is cheap to build. I have not personally tried this setup but watching a few 2wd trucks launch like Marks, i can see it improving launch and stability

 

[malibu795]

I'm been thinking about building a 60-72" long radius arm 3 link Setup.. Basically truck arm but lower arms run straight with the frame

 

[WisconsinHick1]

its a good thought but you wouldnt use a nascar trans in a drag car would ya?

these trucks is all about weight transfer in a 2wd diesel. you gotta get that load on the rear tires and hook. huge slicks are one way ive seen guys get it done just to get traction from lack of weight transfer. 3500lbs over the front axles is hard to move but id build a 2wd dmax diesel over a 4wd. you can make a RC/LB light

if was on a budget for a 2wd truck, here would be my plan (same thing i told Tom). pull some leaves or change to a 1500 leaf pack, put cal tracs on, put a pan hard bar on to help axle location, a sway bar to help keep torquing up the corner of the truck, and some dual adjustable qa1 or viking shocks. for sake of being cheap, i would bet you could mod a stock front sway bar to work on the rear end and if you can weld, the pan hard bar is cheap to build. I have not personally tried this setup but watching a few 2wd trucks launch like Marks, i can see it improving launch and stability

Maybe I will use a NASCAR transmission!

Thanks for the input I will look closer at the 2 leaves setup and might do that until I decide if I can afford a 4 link lol. And yes transferring all the weight from front to back is not easy lol. Oh the joys and challenges of a 2wd but man it's a blast and easier to work on!

 

[WisconsinHick1]

I'm been thinking about building a 60-72" long radius arm 3 link Setup.. Basically truck arm but lower arms run straight with the frame

From what I found you will want some angle to the bars otherwise it won't help transfer the weight to the back tires and in some cases take weight off the back tires.

 

[malibu795]

From what I found you will want some angle to the bars otherwise it won't help transfer the weight to the back tires and in some cases take weight off the back tires.

I'm doing it for different reasons lol

 

[Chevy1925]

Maybe I will use a NASCAR transmission!

:spit:

 

[MAXX IT OUT]

Brett is probably a good person to talk too. I asked him about his C10 in planning my build. This is what he said.

If I were going to do it again I would just stay with the trailing arm setup. It took me a long time to build my 4-link and even longer to get it dialed in and I only picked up 0.1 sec in the 60ft. With the trailing arms I was 60ing 1.45 now I'm between 1.33-1.40. It's not worth all the work. I would build a good set of trailing arm. I built mine out of 2x3 tubing 0.188 thick. Here is a how to that I followed http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=321100
Set the rearend up with a good set of double adjustable coilovers. The longer the better. I think mine are 7.5" of travel.

 

[DURAMAXD219]

Now you got me thinking about my 2wd LLY..... Damn you guys!

 

[WisconsinHick1]

For some odd reason your link didn't work MAXX. I might have to talk to Brett also.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=321100