ae86 4link modiefie or equal

[_wanna-be_]

hey guys wanna no who has done it ,wat works fine an wats overkill

has any one kept the standed arms and factory locations and found a way for it to work fine
or is equal 4link the best an only way to do it right
any info would be great cheers guys

[jakel]

I am keeping mine std just with adjustable arms, most people will argue that equal 4 link will make a large difference but from what information I have gathered that equal 4 link would be for you if you are chasing a 10th of a second around a track or your chassis rails will be mm from the ground low.

[Frak]

The problem with the un-equal set up is, the arms are moving through differrent arcs, thus they will be fighting one another, as the car become lower this becomes worse, check out the angle of the top arm on a moderately lowered 86, traction brackets help the bottom arm but don't help the top arm, even an adjustable top arm is no help when the arm is running at a stupid angle.

If you are running standard top arms I recommend you run rubber bushes so that it allows some distortion of the arm, or all it wants to do is fight the bottom arm, which is fine if you want to slide.

Also it has a marked affect on how the rear axle actually moves, on a low 86 with standard arms, the diff no longer moves more or less up and down(within constraints of standard sus arms) but up and back, even with lower traction brackets this is a problem due to the short top arm, it becomes a pivot point.

Many years ago I converted to equal length using TRD N2 brackets, the difference in the car was quite amazing, it actually felt like the rear end was doing something, I also noticed a huge difference in grip, before it would oversteer at the drop of a hat, with the equal length, in the same conditions it would just go around corners.

Before I went equal length I toyed with moving the position of the top arms with regards to the chassis, just putting new locating points on the chassis rails for the top arms, I even got my self some nice longer adj arms, made up brackets and nearly went through with it until the TRD set up came up new.

Unfortunately equal length serious mod to the car as you are cutting into the chassis and car wouldn't be legal on the road, well worth it I think so though. If you ever get to see some N2 TRD brackets(I'll try and find some old pics before fitting, old computer crashed so will hunt through backups) they follow the ridges of the 86 floor pan and have a piece of sheet that butts up against the chassis rail making it a no brainer on install, just mark where the hole goes, cut it and then trim back to the chassis rail, position the brackets(they can only go in one spot due to how they are made) and weld up, much easier than all the aftermarket ones I've seen.

There is a guy on this forum by the name of Jason, Jazae86(I think) he has been sprinting his 86 for quite a number of years, he is using un-equal length, he has been using rose jointed upper arms but has removed these and gone back to rubber, I'll get him to come on here and comment on the handling differences.

[assassin10000]

I've run 2 sets BattleVersion arms in about 7 years (2 different cars). On those, the second set initially came with heim/rose joints only as poly ends were not available and I noticed an immediate difference just in how the rear felt backing out of the driveway. I could feel/tell when the suspension would bind on a gentle curb at anything but with both rear wheels hitting it evenly. And I could feel the difference in handling when cornering or drifting. As soon as I could, I went back to get the urethane ends.

Andrew

[Frak]

Andrew, this was un-equal set up or equal length set-up?(from your comments I'd say un-equal).

[_wanna-be_]

Cheers guys great info yh more feed back would b awesome and frank how did u change the top arms with out cutting through the.floor???

[assassin10000]

Mine was unequal, I should have clarified (or quoted your last sentence). If he's staying unequal, definitely run at least one side of the uppers as polyurethane/rubber. If equal length then it's not a problem.

Andrew

[Frak]

Lucas, I ended up with equal length and having to cut the floor, there is no way around this, When I was going to use different upper arms, I had made up some plates to relocate the upper arms on a different part of the chassis rail, the arms were longer, in the end I used equal length as the relocating the upper arm position and using a different arm to dstandard 86 was still a compromise.

I found some old pics of the N2 brackets, this is what they look like
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/2/1/9/319770.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/221/n21l.jpg/)
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/2/1/9/319771.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/585/n22e.jpg/)

These also came with the brackets when I bought them, a set of genuine N2 TRD traction brackets :)

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/2/1/9/319772.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/856/n24j.jpg/)

[_wanna-be_]

ohk yh they look simular to wat i was gonna make i have already made traction brackets

im sorry guys i should of stated that im building the car for drift (track only car) the odd hill climb,gymkarna
as im unsure wat would be the best setup is for this now my biggest problem is pinion angle is on a slight angle (diff rotated ford facing the ground)and when under pressure the diff rolls back and smashing my floor (where ur tail sharft bolts onto ur diff) i have no problem fabbing things as im a boilie but an equal 4 link sounds like its gonna give me more traction. is that wat i wont?? and is a equal 4link the only way to stop my diff rolling as much as it dose and fix the pinion angle

[jakel]

If you're just looking to fix pinion angle adjustable arms could fix that for an easier fix, but if you want to do it properly just go equal 4 link if its a track only car you should have enough power and just set up the rear end to oversteer.

[_wanna-be_]

if i kept the pinion angle as is wat am i gonna reck (uni's,diff,ect) an how bad dose it effect the way the car drives

[jaz_ae86]

Caught up with Uncle Frak today.

Going rose jointed (sperical rod end) unequal is a really poor option when trying to 'tune' your suspension. I ran it for some time thinking it was better but I have dropped the top two arms to bushed units for a DRAMATIC increase in traction. I am swapping out the lower arms for rubber bushed. I have a collection of various urethanes to try the best option.

The problem with uneaqual rose joint is that the the diff cannot roll. The roll rate is HUGE, verticle spring rate is controlled by the springs, but because there is no lateral give in the rose joints, the diff cannot roll relative to the body without one of the arm magically becomming longer (on the outside) or shorter to compensate. Rubber bushes allow for this slight change in lengths required for the diff to roll relative to the body.

The best compromise would be Cusco Formula Jr. which is one end spherical, other end bushed.

If I was not building my car to Group3J specs (IPRA) I would go the equal length Frak has, but I have to work within the rules.

I unfortunatly cannot do anything with the shit angles the diff moves during movement, which 4 link solves.