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Adjustable strut rods - A Body

Posted By: TMBOOTS

Adjustable strut rods - A Body - 01/09/10 03:44 PM

Are they worth the extra expense?
383 dart 4-speed car - probably won't see the drag strip
Posted By: 69MOPE

Re: Adjustable strut rods - A Body - 01/09/10 06:08 PM

No, the only advantage on a street car would be getting more caster. If you are using modern tubular upper arms, they have more caster built into them. If you have stock upper arms you can install offset bushing at your next rebuild to get more caster.
Posted By: Lefty

Re: Adjustable strut rods - A Body - 01/09/10 06:21 PM

Quote:

Are they worth the extra expense?




That depends on what you want from the car. I like to go around corners as fast as possible. The after market strut rods get rid of the factory rubber bushings and replaces them with heim joints. Removing the rubber prevents the suspension geometry change that happens with hard braking. Unless you brake very hard comming into corners with modern tires you will never know the difference imo. I've seen people spend mega $$ on their suspension and brakes only to loose most all of the benefits by going with old school 15" tires.



Posted By: jcc

Re: Adjustable strut rods - A Body - 01/09/10 07:16 PM

Quote:

Quote:

Are they worth the extra expense?




That depends on what you want from the car. I like to go around corners as fast as possible. The after market strut rods get rid of the factory rubber bushings and replaces them with heim joints. Removing the rubber prevents the suspension geometry change that happens with hard braking. Unless you brake very hard comming into corners with modern tires you will never know the difference imo. I've seen people spend mega $$ on their suspension and brakes only to loose most all of the benefits by going with old school 15" tires.








IMO, No, but regarding suspension geometry change under hard braking, first I don't there is that much change in a decent OEM system to begin with, second, it would only occur under very hard (max) braking, third, that hard of braking is only done when going in a straight line, fourth, any suspension geometry change is likely symetrical, fifth, not likely a big negative anyway. However the OEM type struts allow for compliance/movement, which is needed to reduce suspension geometry changes as the LCA arcs thru bumps or vertical travel as a car rolls in a turn, and that geometry change would be increased by having a strut that does not have any compliance (because the heim strut now swings thru an arc), and I suspect that geometry change during cornering effects handling far more then any change found in hard straight line braking. Using the struts to gain a lot of caster is doable but not preferred, since it begins to induce LCA bushing binding. They do have a lot of bling though. Urethane IMO is the best compromise
Posted By: ahy

Re: Adjustable strut rods - A Body - 01/09/10 08:58 PM

The adjustable strut rods are a big help if running poly LCA bushings on an A. The poly bushings can be thicker than rubber and let the LCA locating pin move around which changes toe and upsets handling. The adjustable rods let you pull the LCA up snug. There are heim joint adjustable versions ($$) and straight adjustable versions. Have a look at Firm Feel's web site.
Posted By: autoxcuda

Re: Adjustable strut rods - A Body - 01/09/10 09:47 PM

Quote:

The adjustable strut rods are a big help if running poly LCA bushings on an A. The poly bushings can be thicker than rubber and let the LCA locating pin move around which changes toe and upsets handling. The adjustable rods let you pull the LCA up snug. There are heim joint adjustable versions ($$) and straight adjustable versions. Have a look at Firm Feel's web site.




Or... you could just cut the poly bushing with a hacksaw. Even quicker and cheaper yet:

http://users.erols.com/mathewg/bushings.html

I did that years ago and never had and issue with alignment or pulling the LCA foward. I just run stock UCA's but I use the offset moog bushings. I can always get 4-5 degrees of positive caster depending how agressive the camber I choose to run.
Posted By: Lefty

Re: Adjustable strut rods - A Body - 01/09/10 10:19 PM

Quote:

They do have a lot of bling though




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