Suspension Talk

Which type of rear suspension do you guys prefer?Why?

I personally like the parallel 4 link but I have a stock suspension on my 10.5 car.

Ladder bar coil over set up, works for me, cheaper, only run 2 tracks..no need for all the tunabillity of a 4 link.

simplicity of the ladder bar for me ...especially after Bill gave me an education on my deal ...... the only bad thing about ladder bar is that it excludes me out of running so many classes

bruno wrote:simplicity of the ladder bar for me ...especially after Bill gave me an education on my deal ...... the only bad thing about ladder bar is that it excludes me out of running so many classes

You think the way they talk about "stock suspension" being so bad ass they would give you a weight break for running ladderbars.


I run a ladderbar coilover myself, I run at two decent tracks and it gets the job done.

I think ladder bars are good, but the 4-link takes so much shock out of the launch.I've got both ,the Mustang is ladder bar and the Tbird is 4-link. But the faster you go the more tunable you need your suspension needs to be.They're both good. I love the ease of adjustment on the 4-link

I like the fact that a 4 link can be a little more forgiving than the rest on many different track conditions. My stock suspension deal works great on good to great tracks but on bad tracks it is hit or miss. The last race of the year last year I smoked the tires the last qualifying pass and stood it on the bumper the first round without touching the tune at all. It was really the only trouble I had all year. Of course this year having an excess of horsepower with the turbo, we will not be trying to 60ft a 1.20 but most likely try to be in the 1.27-1.28 range and then just mph their butts on the big end.

The other car we sold was a ladder bar car and it worked great but we had to weigh more everywhere.

I have a 62 falcon that will be a notched stock frame rail 4 link car when it is all said and done. Hoping to have a 600+ ci BBF and a glide in it.

They "all" (all stock & all aftermarket) have their good & bad points, what's "best" just depends on the application/intended use. And even broken down into groups, there are good & bad within each style.

Take aftermarket ladder bars for example. The basic "generic" idea of ladder bar geometry/design pretty much works no matter who's design you use. But there's no denying some bar designs out there are just better than others from an adjustability standpoint. The "older" design housing brackets you see on some ladder bars where the lower hole C/L is out ahead of the top hole's C/L can create a ton of thread binding when adjusting the bar's pinion angle/preload adjusters a long way in/out. But housing brackets that have the top & bottom hole centerlines in line offer a larger range of adjustment before thread binding becomes too great. And combining the "in line" hole brackets with a bar design where both rear rod-ends are parallel to each other (like the RJ/Quarter Max design) further reduces adjustment binding.


And then there's the sea of aftermarket 4-link design/brands to choose from, some are great, some are OK, and some just phuckin suck. Then to make "4-links" more confusing there are "street rod" designs & "drag racing" designs. Your not going to get much I/C adjustability out of the generic street rod 4-link design where they have the I/C sitting about a gaaazillion feet out ahead of the car for a "smooth ride".


And leafsprings........a drag racer's nightmare on faster cars with decent power, but they are great/cheap/easy/simple for the street & trucks pulling a trailer. So damn violent on some drag cars with power no matter what/who's leafspring traction device is used. Those that have fought & fought to make them work good on drag cars deserve a medal, you have way more patients than I ever will.