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adjustable strut rods....

Posted By: Dart 340

adjustable strut rods.... - 08/28/09 02:29 AM

Anyone using adjustable strut rods? I'm having
problems getting my poly bushed lca to stay constant
and thought maybe some adjustable rods might do the
trick. ESPO has them for 70 ea.

thoughts?

And yes, I'm keeping the poly lca bushings, the
set on my E body has performed flawlessly for
over 10 years.
Posted By: RemCharger

Re: adjustable strut rods.... - 08/28/09 05:22 AM

What do you mean, stay constant.
Posted By: Dart 340

Re: adjustable strut rods.... - 08/28/09 12:47 PM

What I mean by that is that the lca will move
backwards when I sweep it up and down. When I bolt
the arm in place without strut bushings, the
flange of the strut rod is even with the hole
in the frame. I'm sure over the years something
was knocked around but I dont see and damage that
has caused it to change, but the rod is now about
1/4-1/2" too long and pushed the arm out of place
rearward. My easiest fix thought was to just use
an adjustable strut rod and that should keep the
front end alignment in place correct/
Posted By: Noblewk

Re: adjustable strut rods.... - 08/28/09 01:14 PM

Quote:

What I mean by that is that the lca will move
backwards when I sweep it up and down. When I bolt
the arm in place without strut bushings, the
flange of the strut rod is even with the hole
in the frame. I'm sure over the years something
was knocked around but I dont see and damage that
has caused it to change, but the rod is now about
1/4-1/2" too long and pushed the arm out of place
rearward. My easiest fix thought was to just use
an adjustable strut rod and that should keep the
front end alignment in place correct/



Is the pinion bolt torqued to 145Lbs? There shouldn't be any lateral movement from the lower control arm. If its torqued then I would be looking real close at the Control Arm bushing or the K-Frame mounting holes....
Posted By: therocks

Re: adjustable strut rods.... - 08/28/09 01:15 PM

I used RMS in my 65.They are a nice piece with heavy heim joints.They are like 190 bucks for the pair but Bill makes quality stuff.Rocky
Posted By: Dart 340

Re: adjustable strut rods.... - 08/28/09 01:33 PM

Quote:

Quote:

What I mean by that is that the lca will move
backwards when I sweep it up and down. When I bolt
the arm in place without strut bushings, the
flange of the strut rod is even with the hole
in the frame. I'm sure over the years something
was knocked around but I dont see and damage that
has caused it to change, but the rod is now about
1/4-1/2" too long and pushed the arm out of place
rearward. My easiest fix thought was to just use
an adjustable strut rod and that should keep the
front end alignment in place correct/



Is the pinion bolt torqued to 145Lbs? There shouldn't be any lateral movement from the lower control arm. If its torqued then I would be looking real close at the Control Arm bushing or the K-Frame mounting holes....



They are poly bushings so they float on the kingpin which is torqued down to 145. I did
take a close look at everything and cannot find
any structural bends or damage. Poly strut
bushings are always thicker than the rubber but
I did trim them down. The issue is still something
either from day one at the factory or over the
last 40 years has made it so the strut rod is
"long" and tips the lca out of position. The
rubber bushings I removed were way worn to one
side which coincides with what I am finding upon
reassembly with the poly, and subsequent kicking
back due to the strut rod length.

I was thinking an adjustable strut rod would fix
this. I see FFI has some and use them for a similar purpose.

Hodgekiss has some but way pricey and ESPO also.
I see some also adjust angle with a ball type end
that might be nice as I think mopar strut rods
had some inherent binding issues.
Posted By: Lefty

Re: adjustable strut rods.... - 08/28/09 08:57 PM

I have the RMS adjustables with heim joint ends. They work fine in my 66 Coronet.

Posted By: RemCharger

Re: adjustable strut rods.... - 08/28/09 11:49 PM

Quote:

What I mean by that is that the lca will move
backwards when I sweep it up and down. When I bolt
the arm in place without strut bushings, the
flange of the strut rod is even with the hole
in the frame. I'm sure over the years something
was knocked around but I dont see and damage that
has caused it to change, but the rod is now about
1/4-1/2" too long and pushed the arm out of place
rearward. My easiest fix thought was to just use
an adjustable strut rod and that should keep the
front end alignment in place correct/

The control arm is being pushed forward ?? Is the king pin mounting hole pushed forward? Wrong bushing washer on the strut rod?
I'd personally want to know whats wrong first rather then bandaiding it.
Posted By: 540DUSTER

Re: adjustable strut rods.... - 08/29/09 12:43 AM

measure from the front wheel to the rear wheel on both sides they should be close to the same>
Posted By: jbc426

Re: adjustable strut rods.... - 08/29/09 12:58 PM

Are you using the poly strut rod bushings as well? If so the strut rod bushings usually have to be trimed to shorten them about 1/4 inch, so they are the same heigth as the stock rubber ones. I read that on this site from some knowledgable posters.

Also, there is something written up on Firm Feels website regarding "wandering toe" as a result of the issues in the parts you describe, and the cure for it. I'd look on their website and give them a call.

The added benefit of having adjustable strut rods is that you can adjust(read increase), eliminate the bind. and match up your castor from side to side to some degree. I need to put a few sets of them in my cars as well.

I made a mistake and passed on buying and installing them when I rebuilt the front ends in my cars, and wished I hadn't now. Now I'm going to have to put in a little extra work and $ to pull everything back apart and install them, plus the cost of another set of alignments...

Attached picture 5448338-UndercarrigeReassembly116(Large).jpg
Posted By: therocks

Re: adjustable strut rods.... - 08/29/09 01:39 PM

Plus the RMS ones let the arms swing easier.Bill makes a good part.The heims he uses are big so they should last a long time.It will give you a little adjustment for caster also.Rocky
Posted By: Dart 340

Re: adjustable strut rods.... - 08/29/09 03:39 PM

Quote:

Are you using the poly strut rod bushings as well? If so the strut rod bushings usually have to be trimed to shorten them about 1/4 inch, so they are the same heigth as the stock rubber ones. I read that on this site from some knowledgable posters.

Also, there is something written up on Firm Feels website regarding "wandering toe" as a result of the issues in the parts you describe, and the cure for it. I'd look on their website and give them a call.

The added benefit of having adjustable strut rods is that you can adjust(read increase), eliminate the bind. and match up your castor from side to side to some degree. I need to put a few sets of them in my cars as well.

I made a mistake and passed on buying and installing them when I rebuilt the front ends in my cars, and wished I hadn't now. Now I'm going to have to put in a little extra work and $ to pull everything back apart and install them, plus the cost of another set of alignments...



I did read that posting on shortening the bushings
and ended up cutting them down to near what the
stock rubber one piece were. One side it is about
a half inch thick and the other is only about
a quarter inch think. This gives me a pretty
stable arm location sweeping it up and down. If
I have any fore or aft movement it looks to be
limited to about 1/8" at the most.

100% of everything on this beast was 40 years old
and shot bad. Hopefully this will get it back to
if not perfect, decent driving shape.
Posted By: autoxcuda

Re: adjustable strut rods.... - 08/29/09 03:56 PM

Poly strut rod bushing shortening:

http://users.erols.com/mathewg/bushings.html
Posted By: captaindodge

Re: adjustable strut rods.... - 08/29/09 04:21 PM

I think that the working length of the strut rod is getting shorter as the suspension goes into jounce or rebound because it is a radius and moving thru an arc.
Posted By: Dart 340

Re: adjustable strut rods.... - 08/29/09 07:36 PM

How do I measure my torsion bar height to set that?

I am ready to go for a spin around the block then
check to make sure the arms are staying put.
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