Mastersbilt Chassis?

[let-r-eat]

I would love to see everyone building this way. I hate the buyitandraceit stuff. I would love to see a CLASSIC latemodel class with chassis older than 10 years or so. No raised frame rails allowed....LOL

[Krooser]

Where's the like button?

[Krooser]

When setting up the rear suspension do you set the bar lengths the same right to left then adjust as needed? I'm about ready to replace the heim joints on the rear and I need to know the correct way to start...

Thanks.

[TheJet-09]

A number of things to consider but much will depend on the mounts and their location. I know you have/are changing yours but each mount will have a specific arc it was built for, such as a 17.5" link on the top for a Smackdown. The chassis itself may have lead/trail built in depending on where the mounts are attached. See if the mounts you bought are for a specific length link. Measure from your motor plate back to where the mounts are to see if they are square. Keep your wheelbase rule in the back of your mind and remember that the shorter the link the steeper the arc, which is to say the greater the change in wheelbase and birdcage indexing through bump/rebound. Hope that makes some sense.

[Krooser]

TheJet-09... Thanks for the info. I'll measure back from the motor plate and see if there's any lead built in. I don't want to change anything just keep it as it was originally built. The four bar brackets i bought match what came with the chassis.

SCD... Money should never be a factor as to whether you can race or not. If all you can afford are beaters so be it. Let the guys race... you don't need a $10,000 bat to play baseball. You shouldn't need a high dollar car to race. And those beaters still bring their fans to the grandstand...

[TheJet-09]

While I never really answered your question directly, I suppose the correct answer is "it depends." I am only familiar with MasterSbilt stuff and they are the same left to right (at least on a Smackdown...15.5" bottoms and 17.5" tops). But the mounts have trail built in (at least mine does/did, about 3/4" back on the right side). From there you can always lengthen the right (free up handling) or shorten it (tighten handling), and just the opposite on the left side (shorten to free up and lengthen to tighten). I believe Rocket has a rear suspension that uses 3 or 4 different length links and the LR is actually back 1/4" as compared to the RR at ride height (but don't quote me on that as I don't have any experience with one). I'm enjoying the updates on your progress so far!!!

[Krooser]

Not much to report the last week or so as I've been fixin' the wifes Jeep engine... film at 11.

[a25rjr]

You're a smart man.....happy wife, happy life!

Now, get back to work....Krooserumley! LOL

[Krooser]

Well I wouldn't say HAPPY. First I bought the Jeep 2 1/2 years ago and it's been on my lift all that time... just never found the time!

Second... she didn't find out about the stock car project until she came home from a month in Florida. Talk about a hot blonde...

[Krooser]

Another question.

The lift bar if fabbed to bolt directly to the QC without any heim joints. it has some damage from hitting the J bar... must have had the J bar way up on the pinion mount for this to happen. Anyway I'm going to repair this with a fresh chunk of DOM with a slight bend in it to clear any possible interference that may occur in the future.

I see no need for the heim ends... going to keep it as it was originally built. Does anyone see any problem with this?

[95shaw]

Amount of hike and rear steer affect that.
Also heim joint lift arms help keep the lift arm springs more vertical. If your setup does not include hike you should be fine. With lot of hike could tangle with the driveshaft. Both ways have been run with hike, just have to keep this in mind.

[TheJet-09]

With heims you can also adjust your pinion angle without changing the angle of the lift bar (like parallel with the lower frame rails for example). Even with the heims you can still support it back to the rearend if you like, but I'm with 95shaw, I like to run my support link over to the right hand frame rail.

[RacerX10]

Better be careful with a tweaked / POS lift bar. If that thing comes from together, you are in a world of hurt all around.

[billetbirdcage]

Be sure to brace in front and behind that bend in the top bar because after repeated pulling on that tube it will try to straighten out the bend and eventually work harden the metal and crack there. If it breaks: broken driveshaft, trans, bell-housing, rear end, etc are all possibilities.

If you're running high HP/ open tires and tacky tracks, I'd replace the T/A at least every year just as a precaution. Obviously some are build better then others, but they do fail pretty often if they are old and have a lot of laps on them.

[Krooser]

Yeah i'm going to see if I can repair it. I have some DOM tubing and plan on triangulating the bracing to keep it intact. Our local rules have us on hard tires and the Saturday night venue I'll be at is a half mile that gets dry and slick unless mother nature does the watering. High hp? Now that's something I don't have to worry about...

As usual thank you for all of the help I'm getting from you guys... I really do appreciate it.

[zeroracing]

I broke one with a limited HP motor once, hard tire, slick track. Still drstroyed a bunch of parts. Make sure you way overdue it, or buy another one (I would not risk it).

[BigNilla]

I like this build keep the updates coming

[Krooser]

Thanks BN...

I pulled the RF hub off the spindle tonite... think the bearings were a little light on grease? Maybe they were just put in to allow the car to roll around the shop... don't know. The bearings look perfect but I have to clean up the rotors and rebuild the calipers.

[BigNilla]

I see progress

[Krooser]

SCD... that may make sense. When I did a brake job on my pick-up a few years ago my buddy was 'helping' me. I bought new rotors, installed the new bearing races then told my friend to grease the bearings and put the rotors on the truck.

Four months later I broke a RF spring and I pulled one rotor off before removing the spindle only to find ZERO grease on the bearings... it was amazing that there was not any bearing wear that I could see. Tow years later still no bearing problems so maybe just a light greasing is the answer.