Lift Bar questions

[ask0329]

New to late models. 2003 shaw DLM. when at the back of the car looking towards the front, the lift bar is mounted to the rear end then goes forward. As it goes forward (from the rear) its angled to the right. Lift bar itself is straight, its just on an angle to the right as opposed to the drive shaft. Is this correct or should it be parallel to the driveshaft? What are the effects of moving it side to side or pointing it to the right vs more straight ahead? Thank you for the education.

[Matt49]

New to late models. 2003 shaw DLM. when at the back of the car looking towards the front, the lift bar is mounted to the rear end then goes forward. As it goes forward (from the rear) its angled to the right. Lift bar itself is straight, its just on an angle to the right as opposed to the drive shaft. Is this correct or should it be parallel to the driveshaft? What are the effects of moving it side to side or pointing it to the right vs more straight ahead? Thank you for the education.

Pointing it out to the right a little is pretty common. The purpose is to avoid 5th and 6th coil interference with the drive shaft. How far to the right depends on how the lift bar is braced. Some builders brace it to the frame and some builders brace it back to the axle tube.
It's angel to the right will not dramatically impact handling. Changing where the 5th coil attaches to the chassis is a different story.

[TheJet-09]

With everything at ride height and assuming the rearend is centered in the car, does the fifth coil/lift arm appear to be inline with the upper mount (that is, fairly straight up and down)? Like Matt49 said, there needs to be a certain amount of offset to the right to clear the driveshaft. I had a driveshaft break once because of the fifth coil rubbing...not good when that happens!

[ask0329]

I'll try and post a pic tonight. Nothing is close to the drive shaft at all. plenty of clearance front to back. The lift bar is braced to the side of the chassis rail.

[FlatTire]

I used to have a 2002 Shaw and now i have a 2011. My torque arm is angled to the right as you are describing on both of my cars. As far as clearance goes, where you set the engine(left to right) in the car will make a little difference on how close the spring comes to the driveshaft.

Here's a video of a shaw car. You can see his spring must have rubbed the shaft at some point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF4oVOzaSCQ

[TheJet-09]

Interesting video. I'm sure it's a result of the angle of the camera but it looks like a lot of angle on the lift arm brace (maybe it's just my eyes). Did you notice the car lift off the RR spring around the 1:14 mark? The after effect of hitting a hole/rut maybe? Good stuff!

[ask0329]

Ahh good video. mine is close to that. Maybe a bit more angle. But it is set up so that I can move it all over to the left closer to the driveshaft if need be. So many options on this car. Thanks for the info. FlatTire, PM sent.

[FlatTire]

I'll look thru some pics tonight to see exactly how my 5th coil was mounted on my old car.

[ALF401]

Just a question I have always had and maybe someone out there can tell me why. But why isn't the rod attached to the end of the lift bar instead of about 16" back from the end?

[keeks]

I believe that has something to do with how much the very end of the arm moves.

[TheJet-09]

I would agree. Much less movement up and down in the middle than at the end, which equates to less side to side movement.

[Bcollins82]

It's attached farther forward because the rearend moves left in the chassis as the car hikes and rolls. If you mount it in the middle of the bar and the rearend moves left 3" the front of the bar would pivot on the brace going to the frame and move to the right 3"....

[grt74]

to the left or the right,it does have an effect on handling,