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Suspension for small tired drag car that isn't dangerous in curves.

4K views 7 replies 4 participants last post by  Too Many Projects 
#1 ·
I am about to pick up a new project car. Its a 1966 Volvo 122 that I want to turn into a street/drag car. I'm doing alot of reading and trying to decide how I want to build/modify the rear suspension for this car. I intend this to be a fairly big chassis project. I have a 600hp Volvo 4 cylinder turbo motor and TH400 setup that will power this car when the chassis is ready.

So the basic idea I have in my head right now is a small tired drag car. I'd like to run a 28 x 12.5 x 15 ET Street or similar sized slick and have the car sit nice and low and plant the tires reasonably well in a straight line. In addition, I'd like to run the car on the drag radials or similar height street radial on the road for weekend cruises.

I'll need at least a small tub job to make this work Im quite sure. And the car will need an 8 pt roll bar at least for the speeds its going to run. Probably in the 9s or 10s. If I buy a 4 link kit and install that in the rear. Is there a way to get some articulation in the rear suspension so that it corners safely without binding? I don't expect to have a road race car, but I would like the car to be able to cruise the mountain hiways in Colorado on the radials and not feel completely awkward and dangerous. Im reading about the various suspension types and its a bit overwhelming processing all of the information out there on the internet...

Maybe you guys could help me weigh my choices here.
My first guess at these rear suspension types would be:
1. a true drag style 4-link somehow tuned for street driving..
2. a simpler 4 bar / 4 - link with a lower profile rear frame since I won't need to fit 33" tires.
3. A 3 link setup with a sway bar??? I'm not sure how those do for drag launches at all.

Here is the car as it sits now. I still have alot of work to do:

 
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#5 · (Edited)
Resurrection time. Fire up the Way back machine.

I started this thread, then completely forgot about it. Just recently I was searching for some ideas again, and found my own thread near the top of the Google search. Funny how the internet works sometimes.

I never bought the car I was talking about in the first post. But more recently I picked up a nicer shell to use for a project, and have been driving it while collecting parts.

what's stock? coils or? room for traction bars ? Ladder type?Built pretty tough from the factory.How'bout a neoprene bushing kit with gussets welded where needed. 4 bar kit with adjustable coilovers?
Stock this car has a parallel 4 link with a panhard bar. Coil springs are on top of the axle tubes, and shocks are at about a 60 degree angle.

Here is the car.


I have decided to work with the current suspension layout. I might move the arms inboard a little bit for a bit more tire clearance, and do some sheet metal work to fit an 8.5" wide slick under the rear. I need to get the tires mounted up and see if I can tuck them under the rear.

I narrowed a ford 8.8 from a Ford Explorer to fit under the car. I'm going to use the disk brakes from the Ford.


I need to put the axle under the car now and add the mounts. But I need to get some tires first and see where I am for fit. This isn't going to be a complete backhalf job. I just need the strength from the ford parts, and be able to plant the tires effectively. The 4 link has been modified with urethane bushings now, and it seems solid. Though I'm not putting much power to the stock axle.

 
#6 ·
Here is the stock layout.


The arms are very close together. For adjustability I could rebuild the links with a rod end on one end to remove some slop and give some length adjustment. I would like to leave rubber or poly at the body end of the car to keep noise level low. That lets me adjust pinion angle and general alignment. Would there be some benefit to making a longer lower axle bracket with a few holes for changing the position of the mounting at the lower axle bracket? I'm thinking about this for some anti squat tuning?

Here is swedish ops axle swap kit. I might mimic this setup. It was built to be a bolt in Ford 9". I don't mind altering things for performance, but it seems the basic 4-link with panhard bar could be effective with the right tweaks.

 
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#7 ·
Thanks hcompton, that is very helpful, and a pretty simple to execute plan. 1960s Volvos were pretty sophisticated with their rear suspension, many had disk brakes too. It definitely looks good when compared to a leaf spring setup that was so common in that era. The weakness is there is alot of flexy rubber in the links.

I'll be running a turbocharged 4 cylinder with a manual transmission. So the launches will be aggressive. I am guessing that I'll launch near redline to keep the turbo on boost and not bog the motor. So it will likely shock the tires pretty good. I'm not sure there is an easy way around that. Its going to be a heavy hit to the drivetrain and rear tires.

The car is 2250lbs right now with full interior and spare tire, etc. I'm counting on that for free horsepower.
 
#8 ·
That swap kit is a clean looking install but as noted the upper arms need to be on the inside. The "frame" rails would be my main concern, especially with a clutch launch. I would be overplating them nearly full length with 3/16 plate while tying the new inner mounts to the lower tabs. Those tabs are going to rip right off with the power and launch method you will be using.
 
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