http://www.g-forcesuspension.com/pag...og/i.php/81/55

i want to know what kind of power and 60ft times people have run with this type of setup? i know there are few people on the board that have ran/still run this setup. i have a front mount turbo car and want to do a 8.8 swap and do away with the torque arm. i have clearance issue with the torque arm crossmember dragging.


i have a friend that did his own build , but his is just a bolt on car. but one thing i have noticed is that under hard acceleration/launches the rear lifts up. is this normal with this setup?

 

Man, two glorified LCAs with two small rods for $450, what a deal!

I have read alot of 8.8 build threads and several guys seem to be happy with the mini bar setup, sorry I dont have any real feedback.

 

double post

 

have you priced a torque arm?

 

What is your torque arm dragging on? it doesnt look that low.


I have no experience with them personally but have seen alot of threads on them. The general opinion is they hook, very well, but it likes to stand up coming out of the hole. That might not be 100% on, but i know its close. It creates an instant center that is too far back i believe.

I know there is a guy on here, Ed, who i believe is in the 9s on a ladder setup. I think they call it the PeteZ bars or something.


Im sure him or JL will chime in on this

 

Interested as well. I got an 8.8 with plans of doing the mini ladder bar setup as well. Because it seems to work decent, and will be significantly easier than a TA mount will be.

-Will

 

Mad Man says running a mini ladder bars is dangerous because if one break the rear end going to roll out of the car. I have everything that i need to make my 8.8 set up but i going to doble think if i going to go with TA or minis set up on my car. I think i going with TA because more safety is not bad!!

 

if the mini latter bar breaks or if the entire LCA arm brakes ?

if only the mini latter i would asume that the lca would still hold the rear end in place and you aslo have the shocks and pan hard bar holding it all together .

but i may be wrong ..

 

I mean i going to use the TA because is a more stronger point to hold the rear in place. But if you delete the TA and use miniladder bar and a u join break the shocks and panhardbar not going to hold the rear en in place.The panhard bar only hold the lateral movement of the rear end and the shock are not designed to hold anything.
Not is not a bad idea like Madman says use both TA and minilader bars at the same time.

 

If its built properly it should be just as strong as the TA. What happens if the TA brakes?? Same thing will happen, or the TA mount brakes you could have a TA coming through the floor looking for your arm.

I am currently using a UMI full length TA and am going to be switching to the mini ladder setup. My car is not a drag car, hasn't ever been to the track but I'm planning on taking it someday though. I thought it would be something a little bit different and eventually I may convert it into a 4 link setup.

 

I'm planning mini-ladder bars and a 12 bolt for my car. Sure wish I could ride in one first before I go through all the work to see if the ride and handling suits me. lol

 

I built my 8.8 and was gung-ho to use the mini ladders. I fabbed up some using swaged rods and heims. I welded brackets on my lower control arms and on the tubes of the rear end. Ok, as far as straight line traction, it's a huge improvement over the T/A. As far as drivability, it's not even close. The rear end will not articulate now going over bumps. It will lift one rear tire off the ground going over a speed bump at an angle or up a driveway. Ultimately what has happened is this has created an infinite roll center on the rear. When going around curves, if you power into the corner, it will drift at the drop of a dime. It's seems rather dangerous to me. It's fun, but not real safe. I'm fabricating a torque arm mount right now and going back to a short torque arm with front and rear adjustability.

 

razorback ill take one when you start production looks awesome

 

I'll see how it turns out. The plate that'll mount to the rear end housing at the cover flange was cut by a buddy of mine on a CNC plasma. I was going to do it, but all I had was a torch and grinder...didn't think I could do it this good!

 

Yes, my rear does lift up (antisquat). Not real bad, but you can feel it. It actually feels like the car is quicker (less wasted energy), but I don't know because I haven't got any ET's to tell. If you drive your car every day or alot, you will not like the mini ladder bars. The car doesn't handle nearly was well as with the T/A and the non articulating issues as stated above make it somewhat dangerous. If you have a weekend warrior street/strip car, it may actually work better for you over the torque arm. Traction is definitely improved, but the short instant center really hits the tires hard and I don't really know how it will react with slicks or drag radials. It may unload quickly too. Others have had pretty good success with it though. It's a matter of opinion really. I don't like it and am changing back to the T/A.

 

Man that torque arm mount looks nice! Definitely make a thread on that when you get it fabbed up, interesting idea for sure.

-Will

 

That looks alot like the design used to mount 12 bolts into 3rd Gens from back before dedicated housings were cast.....it was made by Summers Bros. (I think) I have thought of copying it myself now that Plasma cutting and Waterjet cutting have both gotten somewhat affordable. My local CNC Plasma cutter charges about $150 for an hour....they said they can cut as many as would fit from about a 10' sheet of 3/8" thick steel in that time. So that plus the cost of the steel (not cheap) and you could have several to sell to recoup the cost for a whole setup for oneself. Maybe have them program the maching to cut 1/2 the sheet for a 12 bolt and the other 1/2 for a 8.8" ?? They bought a waterjet a few months back....I'm not sure if it is more or less money compared to Plasma.

 

Razor, nice job.

About the mini ladder bar, how do you adjust the I/C? Looks like all you can change is the pinion angle.

 

There's no adjustment of I/C with the ladder bars, but you can design in your own I/C by heightening the mounting point at the lower control arm. My brackets are only like 2.5" tall where the G-Force mounting point looks to be 4-6" tall.

Luckily I got the "buddy" deal on this plate. He cut it from a scrap piece of 1/2". I modeled it in Solidworks and sent him the file. I'm going to put it on the surface grinder at my machine shop at work to true up the flange mating surface. I'm going to run studs and counterbore the holes and run nuts to mount it to the rearend, then use a second nut on the outside of the cover. I can get more of these made if anyone is interested. I may have to tweak the dimensions a little on the mounting pads still yet. I don't know if I can get them for free, but I can get a better deal than $150/hr I guarantee.

Sorry OP, I seem to have hijacked your thread. I did have some of the info you were requesting about the ladder bars though

 

I had the mini 4 link on my 02 SS and will soon have it on my 98, the best 60 foot I got was a 1.53 on nitto DR, with the TA 7.5 the best I was getting was mid 1.6'S