Building better strut rods
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2005
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Building better strut rods
Well the most expen$ive 1980 Corvette rear suspension rebuild continues, albeit slowly... I have discovered that one of my strut rods is bent and have decided to replace them both. I am considering building my own with rod ends and sleeves. My question is, isn't there a better length to use to improve the rear geometry? I remember reading about this somewhere but, of course, can't remember where now.
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 65,492
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From: Orange Park Florida
The '80 has about as good an overall geometry as can be had, for general sporty car use, but for drag only, yes you maybe want to put in a lower inner mount, but not for handling....
VBP makes a set of lower rods, check them out, also Van Steel, either one knows what's about....
OH, i'ts not the length but the rod ends that matter.....
GENE
VBP makes a set of lower rods, check them out, also Van Steel, either one knows what's about....
OH, i'ts not the length but the rod ends that matter.....
GENE
Race Director
Joined: Dec 1999
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actually the roll center is pretty high in the rear, I lowered the inner mounts to drop it a bit, this eliminates (heopefully) the jacking effect, early C4s had this effect also, something was changed on the later models (I suspect the inner mounts)
Premium Supporting Vendor
Joined: May 2000
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From: Clearwater FL
How are your rods bent? Are the ends bent or is the rod u-shaped? If the ends are bent, they are supposed to be. If It's u-shaped, you have other problems as well as bad strut rods. Check your t-arm bushings.
Racer
Joined: Jan 2005
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From: Birmingham AL
Originally Posted by Van Steel
How are your rods bent? Are the ends bent or is the rod u-shaped? If the ends are bent, they are supposed to be. If It's u-shaped, you have other problems as well as bad strut rods. Check your t-arm bushings.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2005
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One of the ends is bent and has a slight twist. I did notice that they have a slight bend, one of them has considerably more. Furthermore, you can see where someone was hitting it with a hammer trying to straghten it. It may have been bent when a u-joint broke. There is evidence that one of the half-shafts came out, one has a new yoke. Of course, they couldn't do that right either. That half shaft is 3/8" shorter than the other.
Safety Car
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 3,725
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From: Minnesota
Someones obviously been mixing and matching parts. If I remember correct the 80-82 automatic half shafts are about 3/8" shorter. I know because I bought a used one, sandblasted and painted it and then noticed the difference. 
I suppose you could use these parts (I wouldn't) but I would check your toe and camber.
I suppose you could use these parts (I wouldn't) but I would check your toe and camber.
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Ususally the reason for bending the control rods is to get back some degree of toe and/or camber adjustment, the problem for the toe may be a worn front trailing arm bushing and in the case of the camber a worn stub axle or clutch pack, bringing the stub inboard and that will result in a control rod that is "too long" so they bend them to make it shorter.
Racer
Joined: Jan 2005
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From: Birmingham AL
Originally Posted by Twin_Turbo
Ususally the reason for bending the control rods is to get back some degree of toe and/or camber adjustment, the problem for the toe may be a worn front trailing arm bushing and in the case of the camber a worn stub axle or clutch pack, bringing the stub inboard and that will result in a control rod that is "too long" so they bend them to make it shorter.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2005
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I think the half shaft ended up too short when they replaced the yoke. The strut rod, well who knows, it is bent though. It appears someone was trying to straighten it. I've decided that this rebuild isn't going to be expensive enough so I'm going to swap in a C4 rear suspension while retaining the 1980 center section. I will have the rebuilt trailing arm / hub assemblies for sale soon.