Hotchkiss Suspension

Here are a few things to help make my car handle better.

http://www.hotchkis.net/p-581-sport-coil-springs.aspx

http://www.hotchkis.net/p-439-rear-suspension-pckg.aspx

http://www.hotchkis.net/p-421-machined-tie-rod-sleeves.aspx

http://www.hotchkis.net/p-419-sport-sway-bars-sedan.aspx

Now All I have to figure out is the shocks that hotchkiss has will carry the weight of my car or not along with using my stock A arms I'll have to beef them up so they don't crack or break.

 

ya know hoss bear in mind on the rear coil springs that are listed most are for coupes or four door seedans ,,one thing that is kool about the family truckster mobile was a wise use of stiffer spring rate,, seeins how a wagon is a little heavier than the coupe or seedan counter parts,,,,when i bought the rear springs for the maliboo they were not wagon specific,,,,however they work well and i got the drop i was looking for but it aint no highly nimble handling car,,,,,not bad mind you but not great as opposed to a stiffer spring rate for what you seem to be looking for,,,

 

617 bucks for rear control arms!!!!! SCREW THAT! I've been running stockers with poly bushings. Work fine so far. Not even boxed. Another thing is that poly in upper arms causes binding and poor handling characteristics. I did notice a huge change in the ride(worse) /handling ( better to some degree) I will eventually build a custom rear suspension using a 3 link or torque arm with a panhard or watts link.

 

now tell me something here mr truckster,,,,,if you box the rear control arms and put in new bushings versus spending 600.00 bucks for the (real) ones what change charicteristics will you notice in the handle of your car for example??now if it was me OTR i would box the stock arms an run em,,,,now i know it aint a wagon but my el camino has eibach springs fore and aft sway bars fore and aft (front is adjustable) quick ratio steering box and rancho shocks,,,and handles quite well but of course i,ve some room for improvement and i,m going to box the rear torqe arms and install new bushings (stock ones) and a few odds and ends but the point is i,m spending a ton of money when i dont have to to achieve a decent handling ride,,,

 

I think I will do that and just buy the sway bars.T plan on getting a mig welder so it will give me a chance on learning how to so something like that (boxing the rear control arms) I also seen on Muscle Car I think where Lou the shows host also reinforced the control arm Which is something else I can do.

So now all I need to figure out is the springs (cutting the springs or just ordering new ones from summit racing for the 94-96 Impala SS.)

 

duuuude right on ,,,why spend big bucks when you dont have to ????/like stormin normin said in one of his posts on thinking out side of the box,,, the hotchkiss stuff is good dont get me wrong but with some scroungin and sourcin and thinkin heck you can do a lot without spending big bucks,,,,and man my hats off to mr truckster on seein that boat run like he robbed a licker store and look dang good doing it,,,,,it gives me the warm and fuzzies like peein in a new pair of bliue jeans,,,,,,,,,,,,,and dont fergit the 9c1 package that was issued for the police car package on the impala/malibu/camaro,,,,,and the chassis on your big old boat was pretty near the same from about 76 to the early 90,s

 

Thats the new plan since I will get a welder in a couple of months. I'll see if I can get spares out of the Pull A Part and modify them

 

The rear end is more stable, much less side to side movement. My car stopped wandering and is much crisper when tossing it around. Much more predicatable and easy to toss around. If you want good handling and good ride, box the lower arms, put poly bushings in the lowers and leave the upper arms unboxed and put stock replacement bushings in. It'll make a big difference. I did full poly and left the arms alone, all my stock bushings were destroyed, and I wanted to see what all the warnings were about with using the poly bushings.

And boxing and poly replacements vs. aftermarket arms...Same results, one just costs a buttload more money. If you were running a 600hp car on slicks, yeah get the aftermarkets-or make your own with hiem joints....

 

I don't plan to have 600 HP but close to it. I want to get a 502 to drop in at a later date. I'm also going the Truck Rally Wheels I have because of the bolt pattern,which would mean changing quiet a lot to go to a smaller bolt pattern.

 

Well then, that changes a bit doesn't it! However the boxing the stock arms would probably work fine for you. I don't know how tough the mounting points are on the GM's but the newer fords have issues with breaking the frame mounts for the control arms off....

 

i reckon your right,,,i know it depends on the intended usage of the car in question,,,,ie; to make it handle better with out a major amounts of modification or going to the extreme with tons of horsepower and floggin it to within an inch of its life,,,,,,i know the faster and better is obviously more work and or money but within reason you can do a lot with some creative thinkin and sweat equity and it would be kinda neat to see some more of the big old boats going the route like your ford,,,,,heck if i did,nt have more stuff to do know i would honestly consider doing something like that to my big oldsmoboat,,,,but for now i,m leaving it alone

 

It's definatley an undertaking. I had planned for quite some time to get the car and modify it. I wasn't actually planning to get a wagon, it just happened to be the best deal and nicest looking big ford that fit my requirements. I am truly glad I did get the wagon though.

I'd think it'd be much easier to do a GM product just because of the aftermarket support.

 

well ya know bubba i think that car of yours is dang kool and seeing what you did to it and the aspect of thinking way outside the box is beyond words as far as inspiration goes and is obviously dare to be different , i know the g-body gm stuff is easy to do as far as handling is concerned and after seeing your ford almost makes it boring but doing a full size gm is very interesting or maybe a full size mopar,,,kinda like the titanic on crack

 

Thanks, I like it! Yeah, I had to think outside the box (box style vic, to the aero and whale), and outside the brand too. A few parts are GM aftermarket parts. The tail pipes and tires are all 94-96 Impy SS.

 

Ok, Suspension Wizards, I've got a query. You're going to want parameters, so I'll try.

I've been playing with the idea of building a Real Woodie Wagon with a mild upgrade to a 198 or 225 CID Slant-six/Torqueflite. If I could find a perpetual supply of Chrysler Torsion bars I'd start with a Pre-Seventies Frame, so let's assume a coil spring suspension all around. At this point, a 9 passenger wagon (AKA BIG CARGO Area), Trailer Hitch to haul say a 20 ft. rig. Roof Rack.

My guess is that the car will come in around 3,800 lbs with two fuel tanks (20 Gals each). I want a stable ride. road-feel, and I want the car to sit level when either the Trailer is hooked up or I've got the Inlaws in the back seats. (Trailer adds 400 lb. at the tongue (MAX). Inlaws could add a gaggle of geese (say 4 women at 130 lbs. and 3 small kids at 60 lbs or 600 lbs., plus luggage. (200 lbs.)

Or 15 sheets of 3/4" plywood (750 lbs)

Should I use airbags?