Rear Suspension
The rear suspension got complicated. A
great amount of time was spent building and designing new
components, let me explain why.
The main differential mount was in very poor
shape. Not only does this mount help hold the diff in
place, it also anchors the top of the rear springs. To put
the icing on the cake, the four studs that hold the diff were in
bad shape as well as the mount itself. It was cracked.
Not good.
The new mount was designed around the Nissan
R200 differential. This is the one used on Nissan 280ZX's
and is favoured by the Z-car community because it is quite
simply bulletproof. To make things even nicer, this
particular one has a 3.90:1 ratio, making it very nice for
'getting out of the hole'.
From the new carrier, hang two Aldan Eagle
coilover shocks. These are multi adjustable for rebound
and hang on special adjustable perches. These bolt to the
new differential carrier assembly. Coilovers are desirable because:
-
Ride height can be dialed in
by loosening or tightening the retaining nut.
-
Rebound can be adjusted by
the turn of a knob.
-
Compression can be adjusted
by replacing the spring. Many spring rates are
available.
-
The shocks can be easily
repaired. In other words they don't wear out.
-
Last but not least, they are
by far superior to the stock lever arm shocks.
To make things nice, a rear sway bar was
installed. This one is of a unique design, used primarily
in Hot Rods. The bar mounts through the frame on special
bushings. The bar is designed with splines on each end of
the bar and special arms in turn clamp on the splines.
These arms are attached to the former lever shock mounts on the
control arms. Nice setup and it is fully adjustable.
It took some time to dial in the rear
suspension. At first, the car would squat severely.
The advantage of the coilovers became evident when new springs
of a different rate were installed. Several different
combinations were tried and finally, the valves in the shocks
were replaced. The end result is a very nice ride, with
minimal squatting with very little roll.
Last but not least, the rear
control arms are attached to the frame with a set of Richard
Good control arm brackets. They are a worthwhile addition
and enable a very accurate adjustment of rear camber. The
TR6 runs about a 1.5 degree negative camber setting, giving it a
nice 'bite' off the line.
|
