Chris Alston Chassisworks

I contacted Chris Alston Chassisworks about possibly making some better quality strut rods for Mopars. You would have thought I was asking to make space shuttle products...but if others are interested, maybe we can interest them.

Carl K Ogren - gStreet Specialist
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Chris Alston's Chassisworks
(916) 388-0288 Ext 247
cogren@cachassisworks.com

http://www.fastmopar.com/forum/index.php?topic=1057.0

I looked at those, they are way different in manufacturing and engineering. Those would be similar to just using heim joints, I was looking for something more robust and on par with a ball joint where its sealed and greaseable. Tim

Making your own is not that big of a stretch. Weld a ball joint receiver to the K frame. You can now thread an upper ball joint into it. Cut off the tapered end of a stock strut to seat into the control arm, weld it into a tube threaded to ball joint, viola' adjustable strut.

Don't want to weld, use a bolt in chevy ball joint and short section of swedged tube, thread the stock strut to mate to the tube.

I can see these on a drag car, but can those bearings hold the fore aft loading of a street car? I'd hate to pay $200 bucks for something that has a 1k mile service life....

They would have to thoroughly testing. Uniball and heims are designed for radial load, not axial. Since these need the K member opened up, might as well do the ball joint deal. Get 2 of these:
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/HOWE-K772-BALL-JOINT-KIT,213056.html
Then weld 2 of these into K member:

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Steel-Upper-Ball-Joint-Sleeve-K772-Style,2126.html

'better quality strut rod'...

What is exactly the issue that needs to be improved?
Are stock strut rods failing that often?

If you just want adjustability I would probably look at adding simple HD tierod-sleeves into them.
Cut the strut in half, cut threads, install sleeve, re-install and adjust.





Another $200 saved.

Well the mustang ones are $510 before I need modify them to fit a Mopar, but if you want to play, you have to pay....getting a lot of articulation is not cheap...

Biggest problem with stock strut rods is the bushings. Stock rubber is too soft, poly has poor articulation as mentioned.

Aftermarket heim setups are so poorly designed that whomever did that needs nutkicked.

For example

http://www.qa1.net/suspension/street-per...amic-strut-bars

Think about the new location of the strut rod's pivot point and how the LCA will act as it goes up and down.

With my torsion bars, my suspension never sees enough droop to know the difference. My torsion bars are out of load WAY before the suspension is. If a guy had .810 bars then yeah, he may see some fore and aft difference during cycles.

right, there's room for days on the front of the K to make the struts longer rather than shorter.

I don't think it would be too hard to grind a polybushing into a nice ball shape and along with some properly cupped washers and grease it will turn into a bearing.

Well whaddayaknow, this is pretty much what I envisioned.
Looks promising, although I don't quite see $200 worth of parts yet;

http://opentrackerracing.com/product/calvert-racing-strut-rod-bushing-set-1965-1966-mustang/

EDIT:
You can also just get the bushings alone for $100;
http://opentrackerracing.com/product/calvert-racing-strut-rod-bushing-set-1967-1973-mustang/

Maybe this will fit Mopars just fine with just a few minor mods.

wouldn't those bushings need to be turned backward to work as we intend ? this would mean a ball shaped surface on the strut rod mounting area,correct ? or am i not seeing the intent correctly ? my eyes are old too, along with my brain's comprehension...........

Yes

Okay, you pick up two of these for $25 each;
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/AFCO-20032-K5208-Standard-GM-Upper-Ball-Joint,38033.html

Add two of these for $10 each:
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Swedged-Steel-Tube-3-4-Inch-Thread,2091.html

Cut off, thread, and use the tapered end from your stock strut.

Total cost, $70 plus shipping and labor to cut,thread, and drill.

Or you can petition Alston to make up a single run set of their design for $1000. Maybe convince them there is a market for them at $500 for a run of 100 sets.

And gain ZILCH.

Ahh, c'mon. Its not a total zero gain. It would certainly minimize toe change under heavy braking.

Sure, but you get that by losing the bushing with a heim already. I could see the longer lever arm argument having some cred if our cars were cycling through ALL of there travel, but I know in my cars case it does not ever drop the front more than MAYBE 1.5" below ride height.

I have been watching this tread because I have a strut rod that is bent near the end, and I was looking at buying HD stock style with new rubber bushings, or the Hotchkis units with the helm joints...

My car is more of a street strip GTX, so I do see a lot of lift and drop off of the line...in my case what would your advice be on my issue above?

Thanks, Mark

A small torsion bar drag car would benefit from a ball socket style the most. I would at least go to a heim style though.