Land Speed LS

cammerfe said:
There has been an on-going discussion in the regular forum about what to do with the end links for sway bars. One of the suggestions was from a display ad that showed the use of a set of specialized Heim joints to make adjustable links. I said there that it should be possible to make your own from over-the-counter Heims and save a bunch of money.

The discussion got me thinking about the last serious suspension upgrade I did, on a Fox Mustang. I was working with Rancho, and one of the things they suggested was the use of 'dogbones'. These are fabricated from 1/4 inch stock and are simply poly-urethane bushed lengths of steel made up to join the swaybar ends to the anchor points. Because of the size and shape of the Rancho bar, it was ultimately necessary to make the dogbones offset.

Such extra work would not be necessary for the LS. All you'd need to do is to get the 1/4 inch stock and go through the Energy Suspension catalog to pick out the proper bushings. A bolt through the bushing with a pair of nuts and appropriate washers to hold things properly and you'd be all set.

If you wanted to be more aggressive, it would be easily possible to use Delrin barstock to make your bushings.

KS
Click to expand...

This is tempting !! How much are we talking about approx. for all 4 corners?
How should the stiffer Delrin bar stock bushings affect the vehicle performance over the softer poly ones?

They seem to have cool stuff here
http://thorbros.com/catalog/4-link-parts
 
In my own case, I had (have) the necessary tools and equipment to make dogbones in my garage. I bought a three-foot piece of 1/4 inch bar stock, and found an end piece of one-inch Delrin at the plastic supply. I don't think I had $10 in it totally.

There is no 'give' at all to the Delrin. But it is self-lubricating. If you were to be dissatisfied with the degree of harshness, simply change to poly.

KS
 
I dont really care if it gets harsher dude, as long as it improves performance.
 
Helpful information

Hi KS,
My name is Mike and im fairly new to this forum,i have been verry interested in your build threads you have been verry informative and your accomplishments are amazing congrats on your land speed record holdings.
I belive you needed some information on strut demensions for your coil over project as i have just lowered my LS with new struts and springs i have the stock 05 struts in the garage,if you would like any peticular measurements please e mail me at mcaccamise@centurylink.net.
i will be following your story as im verry interested with your progress on the 4.0 build Mike.
 
Hi Mike---

Thanx for the kind words.
Since I first posted regarding the struts, I bought an entire front suspension from another member here, so, as far as the front is concerned, I'm all set.

When I get to that point, I'm going to be looking to, more or less, duplicate the front work on the back.

Little bit at a time!!

KS
 
mcaccamise said:
please e mail me at mcaXXXmise@centXXXlink.net.
i will be following your story as im verry interested with your progress on the 4.0 build Mike.
Click to expand...

Might want to edit your post to remove your email address, or at least write it in this format: "myemailaddress at xyzlink dot net".

If you leave it the way it is, the spambots combing the web for email addresses are going to find yours and you'll end up getting so much spam you'll have to abandon the address.
 
ken, got an odd question.

what are the outside dimensions of the 3.9?

the reason im asking is, i would like to swap one into another car
 
Wilfred said:
Might want to edit your post to remove your email address, or at least write it in this format: "myemailaddress at xyzlink dot net".

If you leave it the way it is, the spambots combing the web for email addresses are going to find yours and you'll end up getting so much spam you'll have to abandon the address.
Click to expand...

If it's a bot, it won't be able to fill in the x's
 
I dont even own an LS anymore, and I just read all of the 308 posts in this thread. This has served as a learning expereince for me, as well as inspirational. I see myself getting back into an LS again, knowing now that there really is potential for these cars to compete out there.

To the original poster, I look forward to any further updates- either here or somewhere else if someone can link me? I dont want to lose track of this project's status.

This has me thinking of a 4.2 s/c swapped LS like never before. Or even a heavily modified 3.9 for that matter. Oh the possibilites.

-Devin
 
Thanks for the kind words---both here on the forum and in PMs

Thanx for all the kind words from all those who have PM'd me or posted here recently. A general update:

The economy just about did me in!. 'Play' money has been practically non-existent and the project has been on the back burner while I pay attention to 'first-things-first'.

ECTA has completed the move from North Carolina and I expect to be up and running in the coming months. I'll continue to post here regarding activities.

KS
 
yes, thanks for the reply.

I will definitely be watching this for anyh/all updates.

-devin
 
Hey Cammerfe! Still hangin in there? (I hope...):confused:
 
Hello...

again. I've been distracted by the vagaries of daily life. More-or-less just gettin' through the day. No change in intention but nothing new to report yet!

KS
 
cammerfe said:
again. I've been distracted by the vagaries of daily life. More-or-less just gettin' through the day. No change in intention but nothing new to report yet!

KS
Click to expand...

I've just looked in again to say there's nothing new yet. Too much winter and too many distractions. Just had a death in the family after a several-month illness.

KS
 
This is another look-in to report---nothing new. After the above stuff the wife wanted to down-size and we've moved to an apartment. All my garage stuff is piled-up in a cousin's garage about five miles from here so it's hard to get anything much done. I'm in hopes that this winter I'll be back up and running!

KS
 
Here's an extension of the rear radius rod thread in the general discussion. I'm awaiting the delivery of the rod-ends, jam nuts, clevises and all-thread. Swedged tubes are already here and delivery on the other stuff is scheduled for tomorrow. I'm taking the approach of using McMaster-Carr clevises because I'd have to dig into my storage unit to dig out my chop-saw and MIG welder in order to fabricate them.

More when things are all in hand.

KS
 
Package came from M-C and only contained one clevis. Shipping it back will cost as much as the refund so I'll just keep it.

Decided to make anchor points for the inboard rod ends. They'll bolt to the factory mounts. I'm making them from 1 1/4 inch square tubing. I'm little-by-little getting the work space in my storage rearranged and will have my drill-press, bench grinder and chop saw all set sometime over the weekend. New generator works fine. Lots to do.

More later.

KS
 
Great to see progress, even if it's slow and steady. Keep up the work man.
 
Cammerfe, It has been awhile since I've been on, and whenever I start thinking of a 4.6 swap, I immediately think of your project and check in. We've hit a critical two-year lapse in reports. You still working on this beast?
 
As I said several times above, a variety of issues has put the project on the back burner. I still have the car but only drive it occasionally. I'll undoubtedly keep it forever and little-by-little have been working on it albeit it's been mostly maintenance recently. Got lotsa plans.

KS
 
LS6_5SPD said:
This is tempting !! How much are we talking about approx. for all 4 corners?
How should the stiffer Delrin bar stock bushings affect the vehicle performance over the softer poly ones?

They seem to have cool stuff here
http://thorbros.com/catalog/4-link-parts
Click to expand...

Thor Bro's. have a limited list. They seem to be mostly re-sellers and are QUITE proud of their stuff.

KS
 
My LS is simply setting for the winter. I walked over to where it's parked and looked in yesterday afternoon. Maybe when it gets warmer...

KS
 
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