4 bar front end

[KAA]

I've seen 4 bar setups with the upper bar mounted just below the frame rail and also on the side of the rail. What determines how it mounts or does it make a differance?

 

[Brucer]

position of the rearend... if your running a parallel 4-link you want the bars sitting level or as close to level when your at ride height..

 

[LKE]

Ride height is the big factor. you want to keep the bars somewhat level at ride height. On a car like a fendered model A, the frame rails are pretty high, so the brackets drop down from the frame to mount both bars. On something like T bucket, the bars will mount higher to keep them close to level, so one can go thru the frame.

 

[Brucer]

i've had this drawing for a while and i use it as a reference.. ive made some variances of this setup.. i change the hole locations of the brackets to move the bars up on streetcars for clearance

 

[engine24355]

Great question KAA. I have wondered the same thing.

 

[Youngster]

here's a 4-bar i just did on a model A frame;

 

[KAA]

How about the front end?

 

[Ted Brown]

If you take a piece of conduit and play with it, with nuts tacked in and ends screwed into them, or easier still, lay it all out on either a table with paper or cardboard?? anything that will be the length you would like to see on your T. use a thin piece of wood, drill a hole in each end at the desired tube length, put a nail either up from the backside of the card board to let that frame end pivit, put a pencil in the other end, now with any angle you like the looks of for a staring point, move the rod up and down the amount it will travel while the car is doing it's thing. You will see (the pencil lines from an arc) just what moves and where and how much. If the rods are pointed up from the axle, you will see the exact travel this way. Now You can make up your own mind as to how You want to mount them, to the look You like... Good Luck with your project

 

[Rick]

If you take a piece of conduit and play with it, with nuts tacked in and ends screwed into them, or easier still, lay it all out on either a table with paper or cardboard?? anything that will be the length you would like to see on your T. use a thin piece of wood, drill a hole in each end at the desired tube length, put a nail either up from the backside of the card board to let that frame end pivit, put a pencil in the other end, now with any angle you like the looks of for a staring point, move the rod up and down the amount it will travel while the car is doing it's thing. You will see (the pencil lines from an arc) just what moves and where and how much. If the rods are pointed up from the axle, you will see the exact travel this way. Now You can make up your own mind as to how You want to mount them, to the look You like... Good Luck with your project

Good job Ted thats as good an example as iv'e heard yet.

 

[LumenAl]

Excellent tip Ted!

 

[Ted Brown]

Just to make it real simple, the shorter the rod length, the more the axle moves back and forth, when level, if the rods go upwards from the ft. axel to the frame, when the car moves down the axle moves forward only, then back again when the chassis comes back down.. If the rods are lower than the axle (level line) then when the chassis goes down, the axle moves backwards, then bach to that same forward position when driving. when mounted at a level position, the movement is just less in one direction or the other, so, if you give your spring shackles a bit of room to slide in and out of your spring, by using the next size up (wider) this lets everything move freely, without any binding... Hope that was understandable :lol: Same goes for hairpin style RRs. only now the caster changes, more with short rods, less with long rods. Simple, Yes??

 

[EX JUNK]

This is how I mounted my front 4 bars. I am using quarter elliptic springs and the tubing on the bars is 21" long. It is not the "traditional" front suspension that some prefer but it has performed very well for me.

Jim

 

[putz]

Nice pic of how your steering shaft runs also