Rear Suspension Adjustments?

Bizzyb0nes

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Does anyone know of a write up anywhere about how to setup your rear suspension since now I have everything double adjustable and dont know what to do with it? lol Got the UCA and relocation brackets put in yesterday to go along with my Adj LCA's and PHB...the rear end seems a little crooked, as if its rotated which Im thinking I fix in the lca's as its not a left/right problem but a front/back problem. Im really looking foward to my bilsteins and alignment next saturday :)

thx for the help,
tim
 

SoundGuyDave

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Okay, here goes... First, center the axle in the rear wheel arch. What you're looking for is to have the spring roughly centered in the spring well. You'll need to adjust all three arms to get them there, with the spring pads on the axle essentially parallel to the ground. This will be a starting point for everything else, and essentially just roughs in the axle position. Adjust the Panhard bar so that the axle is roughly centered under the chassis, and we'll call that good for a start. NOTE: all adjustments and measurements should be made with the suspension loaded, and the car on the ground, front wheels dead straight ahead. After every adjustment, bounce the car HARD a couple of times, and/or roll it back and forth a few feet to settle the suspension and take any bind out of the suspension.

Now, set up your wheelbase measurements. Measure from the center of the centercap on the rear wheel to the same point on the front wheel, and get them as even as you can. Confirm your measurements by cross-measuring from the driver's side rear shock bolt mount to the center of the passenger-side front balljoint. I use a plumb-bob and mark the floor, it's a lot easier to measure! Use the LCA adjustment to even them out. This will set the thrust angle.

Then, set your pinion angle. Using a digital level, measure the angle from vertical of the FLANGE on the output side of the transmission. It should read a couple of degrees off of vertical, and to get the level to 90*, you should have to rock the bottom of the level away from the flange. Now, make the same measurement on the FLANGE of the rear axle. It should also read a few degrees off of vertical, and to get the level to 90*, you should have to rock the TOP of the level away from the flange. With a stick car, and good suspension (Heim joints everywhere, right?) you should be shooting for a difference of -2* in net angle, subtracting the pinion angle from the trans angle. Depending on how your meter reads, your angles might be 88* (trans) and 4* (axle), or they might be 92* and 86*. Bottom line is that you're shooting for the axle flange to be tipped DOWN around 2* more than parallel with the trans flange. Use your UCA to adjust this angle, and then recheck that your springs are centered in the wells, particularly if you had to make a LARGE adjustment to UCA, which would rock the axle around. If necessary, adjust both LCAs evenly (then remeasure) to shift the axle fore and aft to recenter the springs, and then reset your pinion angle again.

Once you have those nailed, set your Panhard bar by taping plumb-bobs to the fenders, and measuring from the plumb line to the brake rotor on each side. Adjust the Panhard until the measurements are equal. Then, just for sanity's sake, remeasure all of the above one more time, and if everything is good (which it will be!), drip a little blue loctite on the threads where the jamb nut will sit, and lock down the adjuster jambs. Test drive the car, very gently at first to confirm that everything feels tight.

HTH!
 

SoundGuyDave

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Weird... my response posted, but the main page didn't update with a reply.
 

Bizzyb0nes

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thanks dave...gonna print this out and go to work on it sometime soon...probably will have to wait til next weekend...might try to eyeball it close for the time being
 

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