i am building a 3-link rear suspension for my '59 chevy apache and i had a couple questions.
my lower links will be converging, at an angle of 11 degrees. can i mount the axle brackets (and frame brackets maybe) parallel (with the frame, not the links), and let the rod-ends make up the angle?
it would be much easier than fabbing axle brackets to mount on an angle.
the rear will be laterally constrained by a panhard. i don't know how much side to side movement will be, but it shouldn't be much at all with a 30" PHB.
11 degree's is fine for a Heim. I use more than that in several racecars I had over the years and I see no difference in wear from one to the other. The PHB at 30" pretty darn much eliminates all the lateral movement of the rear axle when the axle bumps and rebounds.
Next time I have to make angled brackets I'm inviting you over for the weekend OMT. I have a devil of a time even THINKING about how to make these up from scratch. I guess I just don't understand the process you are describing. I faced the dilemma on my current chassis and finally ended up just going with straight brackets and heims.
It is in my journal under making "Z's" layout the or draw the part full scale and then "pickup" the angles using a carpenters bevel square..use the bevel square to set your angles on your saw and there you go..sometimes if the part calls for it I use my rosebud torch and a vise and bend it to shape..using the bevel square to establish and measure my angles..
11 degree's is fine for a Heim. I use more than that in several racecars I had over the years and I see no difference in wear from one to the other. The PHB at 30" pretty darn much eliminates all the lateral movement of the rear axle when the axle bumps and rebounds.
I get cars in my shop with heim type ends that are mounted using up all of their range of motion. When they bind, they definatly wear more than if they are mounted properly. Sometimes all they need is the misalignment spacers to keep them from binding.
Not all heims are created equally. You don't know if the ends that bet on black is using will even accomodate that much misalignment.
I've seen some economy rod ends in the 5/8- 3/4 sizes that will only move 14-16*.
In a 3 link on the street there will be twisting as well as up and down.
Given the opportunity to make a mount properly, I would.
I'll agree, staying within the designed range of misalignment should not make a rod end wear significantly faster, but IMO there is no reason to use up your range of motion just to save some fabrication time.
We don't even know what rod ends he is using. If it were me I wouldn't run heim type ends on the street anyway.
One thing i think is very important here is that the retaing bolts or pins should remain at 90 degrees to the link, otherwise the bolt gets sideloaded more frequently and will oval the bolt holes and wear the bolts in short order. Yup, seen it on a poorly made 4 link rear.
If you draw that diagram out full size on a sheet of plywood you can then pick up all your dimensions and angles directly from the drawing that you have made..This is a very helpful old school method that works great for us computer challenged guys..
Whenever I have to do a project like this, I cut up a cardboard box and use scissors and an X-acto knife to fashion the pieces that will fit together to make the mount. Use masking tape to tape each flat piece together until you have it right. Then disassemble your piece and lay the flats down on a piece of 0.188" flat stock to cut them out.
By the way, the design of the Panhard bar is not ideal. It should be as long as is physically possible to fit on the truck. All the way to the backing plate on one side and past the frame on the other side. Again, make up pieces of cardboard to fashion mounts. Also, it should be level at ride height, not angled up as you have shown.
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