Anyone on here ever tried this out? Basically remove left rear upper control arm and add a panhard bar.
I'd really like to do a 3 link and this seems to be the lowest dollar approach and is supposed to work fairly well.
At one time evolution motorsports made a bolt in 3 link for the fox chassis but they are long gone. It was centered and looked like it raised the axle mount similar to team z or baseline.
Thoughts appreciated.

 

Sure. Much more street friendly,will allow more roll rotation than a 4 link. I like the idea of the upper centered, but it can be hard to fit that way. Take a look at the Factory Five cars,they offer a 3 link.

 

Thanks Brian I did see the f5 setup it uses a parallel link offset to the right which by my understanding has some advantages over centering it. I'll take a closer look at the F5 it might be possible to use the axle end and the factory chassis location modified for a parallel link instead of angled.
Corner carvers has a thread on 3 and 4 link. Someone on there posted a formula to determine the optimum offset, looked to be fairly involved.

 

I heard of the poor mans 3 link before but never used it. I know it’s not as cost affective but torque arms (with no upper control arms) with a pan hard eliminates bind. Could always diy one based off a good design like maximum motorsports one. If your after a 3 link I’m just thinking out loud here maybe using a 2005 mustang rear which is centered 3 link already moving some brackets shortening tubes and axles, fabbing upper control arm mount etc

 

I looked at the torque link and the maximum motorsports one is supposed to fit the mark vii .. but what I also found was the spring rate needs to be increased. I'm trying to keep the air ride and I'm not sure if that would work out kind of stuck with the rate. I'd be interested to know if anyone tried the TL with stock spring rate how it worked out.
The s197 rear would definitely work I could remove the tubes from each rear and swap the stock tubes or try and use/modify what's on there. I like the centered link using that approach. I've been looking for a good price on an axle. Value with the s197 would be I'd get the LSD. I bought the narrowing kit off of eBay to do the 9" ends just need to get the 1 1/4" alignment bar.
Thanks for the input.

 

I had thought of mentioning the s197 rear but I thought the width would be a real problem. The foxes use a 57 wide axle and the s197 uses a 65.4 wide axle. If you wanted to shorten it, and found an 8.8 s197 in the yard you could grab the panhard bar, 3rd link and cut the bracket out of the floor pan while you were there. You would be into shortening the panhard as well, but that could be done with a set of threaded inserts to build an adjustable one.

The "junkyard short" (two short side axle shafts and cut the long side tube down) Explorer axle comes out at 56.5 which seems like it would be better all around, especially in a drag application where you are trying to fit a lot of tire.

You also get the LSD this way and they are a 31 spline 8.8... Even though this is "budget" you are still going to be into bearings and seals for $300, + the cost of the axle if you can even find the parts in a yard. Replacing the axle is going to drive your costs up significantly.

I think you would be better off ordering the components from someone like ruffstuff, buying the tubing locally and building it yourself with the axle you already have (assuming its a 5.0 axle to start with).

 

Agree the costs add up quick. The LSC does have an 8.8 but open diff. I'm going to try the pm3l and fabricate the panhard bar. Even going that route I'll still be in for LSD, axles, and ends. I think it's got a 3.27 gear in it.

 

My '65 Custom is a factory 3 link. If you think it will help I'm happy to snap some pictures of what is there.

I'm curious as to why you would want to do this? I've been assuming that when I narrow the rear and mini-tub the car I'll be building a 4 link.

 

4 links bind in the corners.they work well for drag racing. 3 links as well as torque arms have little to no bind and work well all around street, drag,auto cross.

 

What 91tt said, the factory 4 link binds. Zona I'd like to see those pictures. What car do you have?

 

Mine's a 1965 Ford Custom (basically Galaxie with the base trim package). I'll try to get under it this weekend and get you some pictures.

EDIT - I'll still check mine when I get home tonight - but I found this - https://66galaxieproject.com/rear-suspension/ which looks just like what I remember (well - much cleaner - mine is stock and almost 60 years old having been driven on dirt roads for many years). Assuming that my geometry is the same - his pictures will be much better than mine in that his body is off...

 

Zona thanks for the link I had no idea those cars had a parallel 3 link setup. The location of the upper link is exactly what I was thinking of doing if the pm3l works well.
If it works I'm going to make the upper link parallel. Brian suggested factory 5 I'll see if they would sell just the axle bracket.

 

If you have the room you can always build a torque arm setup if you gotta run a pan hard bar anyway.

 

91tt I did look at the torque arm setup but unfortunately it requires a higher spring rate and I'm keeping the air bag suspension and there's no adjustability there.
Zona I realized why your car has that parallel 3 link and SLA front suspension .. NASCAR. These cars were their platform for their race cars in that series. Even today that's one of the best combinations for track use.