So the wagon has a 4" BYB lift which means:

4" engine crossmember drop

3" trans crossmember/strut rod drop

 

having the strut rods' tops mounted an inch higher means that the control arms are pulled up and back... which means that the control arm bushings are out of alignment in the same direction.

Getting the whole front end put together was one of the hardest parts of this entire project... and as my wagon has an XT6 5-lug swap, I want those bushings to stay in good shape.

 

I've decided that threading the forward ends of the strut rods and putting rod ends/heim joints on them is the solution to this problem. It will allow me to correct the length problem and angle problem at the same time.

 

As there's about an inch between the top of the control arm (the stock strut rod mounting point) and the bottom of the CVJ boot, I am not keen on mounting the rod end in the stock location.

 

I've cooked up this rough plan which mounts a stud for the rod end to a plate welded to the backside of the control arm. As I've not worked with rod ends before, I'd appreciate anyone's constructive criticism...

 

 

I've got some 1/4" x 3" steel stock that I would probably use for the plate unless anyone suggests otherwise. I'd probably make some little vertical braces perpendicular to the plate and to the control arm too...

yeah, you maybe cooked the drawing up....

i can't hear you (i think you may have suggested the rod end in the first place.. thanks B!)

I've decided to go with this approach and actually use two of the plates, one atop and one abottom (?) of the control arm, to sandwich the rod end.. much better than a stud I think. I'll post pics when this happens.. this month!

aaaand the latest is that after having received two highly-qualified opinions* I will not be grafting a heim onto the front of the strut/leading/reaction rods because I don't want to introduce a second pivot point to the whatever rods.

With respect to the work that Solo put into his rods, with heims at the rear/tops, it's really inconvenient for me to deal with fabricating something right now, so I am going to just bend the rods upward a few degrees to account for the difference in angle.

 

I'm not certain about the temper of the metal, so opinions about the best way to preserve the temper would be appreciated..

Of course I'll heat the rods right where they start to taper, and I'll have them both in a vise next to each other, with a drilled piece of flat stock bolted to their rear/top ends so that I can keep the bends uniform..

Afterward, will I want to:

Dunk them in water to cool/temper the heated area

Let them cool at their own rate

Heat the entire rod up to uniform temperature and then either dunk it or air-cool it?

Thanks!

 

 

 

*thanks to subusolo2nut and WJM

Andy, you can get heim joints that are like the tie rod ends, where it has a stud already in the ball instead of trying to put a stud onto a plate which is then welded to the control arm. I used them when I raced electric powered race cars in highschool for steering setups.

thanks but I decided that it ultimately won't help because the angle of the strut rod on the control arm will still present a problem and it's too much work to modify the strut rod plates.

I'm just going to get some rear coil springs from a GL10 and install them in place of the strut rods; that should eliminate all of the angularity problems as well as add a progressive dampening effect so that the harder I step on the brakes, the more "push" I get from the spring... pics soon!

 

also, I won't be needing the heims I ordered.. but it's too late to cancel them.

Anybody need some? They're like 3/4" females with zerks, $100 shipped..

I'm just going to get some rear coil springs from a GL10 and install them in place of the strut rods; that should eliminate all of the angularity problems as well as add a progressive dampening effect so that the harder I step on the brakes, the more "push" I get from the spring... pics soon!

 

 

What on earth do you mean? A spring as a Strut rod? I gotta see some pics.

just kidding. I'm going to do some cut & paste as I have extra strut rods.