Freak Ride IFS System

My issue with the American is the trunions. It just limits the size tires you can use.

Yes, being able to adj the ride height is the best deal.

Having AMC Fun,
Ollie

THE MENACE wrote: I have the Freak Ride coil-over conversion and their tubular upper and lower control arms on my 70 AMX and IMO they are very well made parts. Not the lightest weight control arms, but very stout for sure!

Dennis, how did you deal with the strut rods and strut rod bushings when you converted to Freak Ride control arms?

Thanks

Dennis: What keeps the lower arm from twisting with that arrangement? Just the bushing at the arm pivot at the crossmember, or is the line-of-action of your strut rod coincident with the centre of rotation of the lower ball joint .. or close enough not to cause issues?

Thanks,RD
P.S. The stock strut rod also works.

Red Devil wrote: Dennis: What keeps the lower arm from twisting with that arrangement? Just the bushing at the arm pivot at the crossmember, or is the line-of-action of your strut rod coincident with the centre of rotation of the lower ball joint .. or close enough not to cause issues? Thanks,RD P.S. The stock strut rod also works.

RD,

I'm looking for a replacement idea that does what you described and also doesn't shorten the moment arm of the strut rod and doesn't flex the heck out of the stock strut rod or the hugely stiffer bushings that appear to be the only choice available these days, unless the super soft ones are used and they turn to crap in a short time. I've had a strut rod break from too much flex and from then on I had to make sure the front doesn't droop too far. or compress too far. I have to limit the droop when I raise the car off the ground. Currently I'm using urethane but have a couple sets of more traditional bushings but still not factory hardness.

White70JavelinSST wrote: Red Devil wrote: Dennis: What keeps the lower arm from twisting with that arrangement? Just the bushing at the arm pivot at the crossmember, or is the line-of-action of your strut rod coincident with the centre of rotation of the lower ball joint .. or close enough not to cause issues? Thanks,RD P.S. The stock strut rod also works. RD, I'm looking for a replacement idea that does what you described and also doesn't shorten the moment arm of the strut rod and doesn't flex the heck out of the stock strut rod or the hugely stiffer bushings that appear to be the only choice available these days, unless the super soft ones are used and they turn to crap in a short time. I've had a strut rod break from too much flex and from then on I had to make sure the front doesn't droop too far. or compress too far. I have to limit the droop when I raise the car off the ground. Currently I'm using urethane but have a couple sets of more traditional bushings but still not factory hardness.

Stock strut rods typically fail due to a high-load or corrosion starting a crack that eventually fatigues and fails. Unless you have particularly rough roads and excessive suspension travel, doubt the bushings themselves will cause a crack ... but stiffer ones may cause a fatigue failure much quicker.

Some stock cars use strut-rod type lower arms. The arm and strut rod have spherical joints at the chassis pivots and the strut rod is fixed to the arm with a heavy clevis aligned with the arm axis so it allows easy adjustment, but doesn't add another degree of freedom (unlike Dennis' arrangement which relies on the straight bushing at the arm pivot and small strut rod offset to the ball joint for stability).

If the Open Tracker Racing arrangement works, could be a good option for a stock-type strut rod ... and if you changed the arm pivot at the crossmember to a spherical joint, you would eliminate any bind if movement exceeds capacity of the rubber/urethane bushing.
Open Tracker Racing strut rod spherical joint

One thing that also helps with the stock arrangement is to leave the strut-rod bolts to the arm snug when adjusting and torque after final adjustment to reduce induced preload. Slot the holes in the arm if you need more adjustment than stock.

Hope this helps,RD