Installing a triangulated 4 bar. Need help
I have searched the forums for hours trying to find information on setting up a triangulated 4 bar setup. First of all, let me say that this isn't the first triangulated setup that I have made. I have done two others that have turned out very well. This one in particular is giving me fits and if anyone can give me help I certainly would appreciate it.
I originally bought this setup for a 31 Model A Coupe that I had. I sold the car because of lack of funds to finish it (not much has changed, but trying harder). I am intalling the rear suspension in my 29 Buick 29-27 4 door sedan. Some of the mods I have made to the car are a 383 stroked LT1 that I am building, 700R4 transmission, a 9" ford disc brake rear, Scott's IFS front suspension and coilovers for the rear.
The frame for my Buick is much narrower that the other two setups that I have completed. It is about 30" outside-outside. I have the bottom bars located and tacked into place. The top bars are a real problem though. In order to mount them at a 45 deg angle as they should be, they would have to be mounted on the very top center of the differential hump which would cause them to have frame clearance problems, and be angled down at the front at a rather harsh angle.
One option that I have thought about is to shorten the upper bars, thus allowing them to be mounted on each side of the hump and "might" possibly solve the problem with the harsh angle of dropping down at the front. The problem with that is that the upper bars will have a shorter arc because of the shorter length and will require substantial modifications to the rear frame crossmember. I am sure that it woud do harm to the geometry of the suspension but I am not smart enough to figure that out.
I can use the upper bars in the current length by changing the angle from 45 deg to approximately 70 deg from the plane of the differential. My thoughts with this would be that it would cause the differential to be less stable from side to side. I would still have to do considerable modification to the rear crossmember but could reinforce it in other ways to compensate. I had the frame boxed but removed a portion of it to get the 45 degree angle but in turn made it worse.
The current length of the lower bars is 29" eye to eye and the upper is 17" eye to eye. How bad will it screw me up to use a 70 degree angle on the uppers instead of a 45? How important is it that the upper and lower bars are parallel with each other? I have never seen any kind of instructions or guidelines to suggest proper installation. I know that some of you guy's have considerable experience in this matter, so this is the place to come.
I want to use the triangulated setup because it looks neater and mainly because I already have it. I have tried to give all the information that I could. It is hard enough to diagnose problems even if you are standing in front of it, much less be email (or forum). Thanks a bunch in advance.
Ed