New coil overs causing problems...

[Double Venom]

Dwain,
Thank you, it's nice to be back!
Swaybars: on the front leave it off! The CR sway bar is much, much to heavy and stiff, unless you want to call "SPEEDWAY" (catalog sales) and order up one about half the size or even a hollow bar and weld in your own heim joints.(1.78 was achieved without a front sway bar, using the Carrerra coil overs with 351 lb. springs.)

On the rear what I did before boxing them in (sorry I forgot, been a long time since I was volunteering my 2-cents worth.) Take four flange nuts if possible bolt them in place on the rear conrol arms- just the nuts and bolts, Tig or Mig the nuts in place remove the bolts and now you are ready to mount the rear sway bar in place- no clips needed!

Tire pressure adjustments down to the half pound, tire heat, measured at 4 places across all tires immediately after a run, spring pressure changed at a quarter turn at a time, a very professional driver that knew what he was doing and even more, he knew what the car was doing. Changing rear spring height and pressure, running an X'd measure weight ratio running within lbs. of 49/51% with a 190lb driver IN the seat and..running a Viper V10 and T-56 Viper tranny. A Viper engine fully dressed is less weight than a 460 without, water pump, alternator carb, manifold, pressurre plate and clutch assembly, bellhousing, pulley's etc. A viper engine, totally assembeled and "ready" to run with all the above is less than 711lbs-which includes the weight of the crate it comes in! Rear end was 3.55.

DV
PS-Once we dialed in the car (A Double Venom of course), at the end of the first run we burned up #3 bearing, Chrysler knew at once we had pulled 1.3 G's plus. Seems they knew a Viper could not pull over 1.3 without a special oil pan or dry sump! (Geeez, Then they told us.)

[capteddie]

Originally Posted by Double Venom

Dwain,
Thank you, it's nice to be back!
Swaybars: on the front leave it off! The CR sway bar is much, much to heavy and stiff, unless you want to call "SPEEDWAY" (catalog sales) and order up one about half the size or even a hollow bar and weld in your own heim joints.(1.78 was achieved without a front sway bar, using the Carrerra coil overs with 351 lb. springs.)

On the rear what I did before boxing them in (sorry I forgot, been a long time since I was volunteering my 2-cents worth.) Take four flange nuts if possible bolt them in place on the rear conrol arms- just the nuts and bolts, Tig or Mig the nuts in place remove the bolts and now you are ready to mount the rear sway bar in place- no clips needed!

Tire pressure adjustments down to the half pound, tire heat, measured at 4 places across all tires immediately after a run, spring pressure changed at a quarter turn at a time, a very professional driver that knew what he was doing and even more, he knew what the car was doing. Changing rear spring height and pressure, running an X'd measure weight ratio running within lbs. of 49/51% with a 190lb driver IN the seat and..running a Viper V10 and T-56 Viper tranny. A Viper engine fully dressed is less weight than a 460 without, water pump, alternator carb, manifold, pressurre plate and clutch assembly, bellhousing, pulley's etc. A viper engine, totally assembeled and "ready" to run with all the above is less than 711lbs-which includes the weight of the crate it comes in! Rear end was 3.55.

DV
PS-Once we dialed in the car (A Double Venom of course), at the end of the first run we burned up #3 bearing, Chrysler knew at once we had pulled 1.3 G's plus. Seems they knew a Viper could not pull over 1.3 without a special oil pan or dry sump! (Geeez, Then they told us.)

Crap!!!

I've all ready boxed in my rear arms, had them powder coated and didn't even think about the sway bar mounting...

Ed

[tcrist]

Ed,
You can always install Rivnuts in the holes.

Terry

[Double Venom]

Crap!
Riv-nuts are an excellent idea!
Always learning!
DV

[capteddie]

Originally Posted by tcrist

Ed,
You can always install Rivnuts in the holes.

Terry

Thanks Terry!!!

Now what the hell is a rivnut?

Ed

[Double Venom]

Terry, think of it as a large pop rivet with internal threads in the barrel-minus the pin.
They come in different sizes, materials and configurations. For the rear arms I would suggest the same thread size as the sway bar bolts (3/8's ?) with a large flange and steel, not aluminum! Problem is it takes a special type tool like a rivet gun to install them and the steel is even harder to squeeze.
Basically you over drill the hole for the riv-nut to fit, force the rivet nut in place, screw in the threaded tip from the riv-nut gun and squeeze. This will cause the rivnut to compress in the hole, fitting very tight. Unscrew the tool and you're ready to now install the bolts!
I'm sure someone here can tell you where you can find them on the net.

I know guys, including me that have put the nuts in without the tool simply by putting 3 or 4 greased washers on a bolt and screwing them in until it starts to compress the nut-but hard to do and if the rive nut starts to turn in your fitting, give up, drill it out and try again!
DV

[capteddie]

Originally Posted by Double Venom

Terry, think of it as a large pop rivet with internal threads in the barrel-minus the pin.
They come in different sizes, materials and configurations. For the rear arms I would suggest the same thread size as the sway bar bolts (3/8's ?) with a large flange and steel, not aluminum! Problem is it takes a special type tool like a rivet gun to install them and the steel is even harder to squeeze.
Basically you over drill the hole for the riv-nut to fit, force the rivet nut in place, screw in the threaded tip from the riv-nut gun and squeeze. This will cause the rivnut to compress in the hole, fitting very tight. Unscrew the tool and you're ready to now install the bolts!
I'm sure someone here can tell you where you can find them on the net.

I know guys, including me that have put the nuts in without the tool simply by putting 3 or 4 greased washers on a bolt and screwing them in until it starts to compress the nut-but hard to do and if the rive nut starts to turn in your fitting, give up, drill it out and try again!
DV

Ed, that was me not knowing what a rivnut is, not Terry.

Thanks for the info. I'm sure there has to be a place locally that might rent the tool or would put the rivnuts in for me. Luckily, the lower arms are not installed yet.

Thanks again!

Ed

[Double Venom]

O0ps! Sorry Ed, here is just one place you can get whatever riv-nut OR commonly also called a "jack nut". This is where I get all my hardware and numerous misc. stuff- Ask for Rick and tell him you are building a Cobra-he'll groan and then smile and take care of you.
Kimball Midwest: The total product source for maintenance and repair operations. Phone 1-800-233-1294, 4800 Roberts Rd. Cols 43228 (They ship world wide)
Nut-Zerts,Jack nuts: Kimball Midwest: Product Catalog
DV

[capteddie]

Originally Posted by Double Venom

O0ps! Sorry Ed, here is just one place you can get whatever riv-nut OR commonly also called a "jack nut". This is where I get all my hardware and numerous misc. stuff- Ask for Rick and tell him you are building a Cobra-he'll groan and then smile and take care of you.
Kimball Midwest: The total product source for maintenance and repair operations. Phone 1-800-233-1294, 4800 Roberts Rd. Cols 43228 (They ship world wide)
Nut-Zerts,Jack nuts: Kimball Midwest: Product Catalog
DV

Great!!! Thanks for the help.

Ed

[TC Cobra]

DV,

I'm a little confused (not an unusual condition ). My rear sway bar mounts between the "rails" of the control arm. The mounting bolts actually thread into the swaybar - no nuts used.

If I box them in, top and bottom, how will I re-mount the sway bar?

THX,
Dwain

[Double Venom]

I see, in this case just box the upper part of the lower links, if you want you can always box around ther sway bar after it is installed albeit a few small pices front and rear.
DV

[TC Cobra]

Makes sense, Thanks!

[MaSnaka]

Ok, reporting back. I made time this past weekend finishing up yesterday my list of projects recently discussed here on this thread.

Lower control arms, removed, cleaned, checked bushings and bolts ok. 9/16" bolts in just a slightly larger hole dia. in the sleeve of the bushing. Rubber had some minor cracks but overall still very tight. Replaced as is. Added a little grease on the bolt section that passes through the bushing sleeve. No grease on rubber.

Lower rear coilover mount failures. I thought long and hard about this before taking any action. My solution was a simple one although labor intensive. Using the existing mount I straightened the bent metal with a hammer, purchased a 3/16" x 3" x 24" steel plate from OSH. I fabbed one flat piece 5" x 3" for the outside and one 5" x 2 1/2" for the inside. The two plates sandwich the existing 1/8" plate that was bending thereby reinforcing it. I drilled and added a 1/2" bolt at the top going through all three plates and then bolted the coilover back through the original hole location again going through all three plates. Seems very secure although time will tell. Added about 5 pounds. I was trying to avoid taking my car to a welder but that is always an option if this too fails. **note-Before I could put the new plates on I had to remove a metal bushing welded to the existing plate at the original bolt hole location.

DV, I was unable to do any mods to the upper mount, (i.e. drilling the hole 1/2" higher up) because there was not enough room. There was only 3/4" to work with there. I was unable to use the Napa shock mount bushings 650-1100, too short and not compatible with the Pro Shock fitting. I can return those to the store.

Overall I am pleased with the repair and the reassurance that the lower control arm bushings are good.

Thanks for your help guys.

John

[cobraduke]

John,
I have the same basic set up for rear coilovers and so far haven't had a lower mount problem. If you could post some photos of the fix you did it would help if I need to follow your lead later.
Thanks,
Mike

[MaSnaka]

Cobraduke,
I finally added some pictures of my repair in my gallery. There are captions explaining each pic. I hope this helps. Keep in mind I have not logged too many miles on this yet so we will see how it lasts. If you have any questions please ask.

John

[cobraduke]

Thanks, John. They clearly show how you did the reinforcement. If those don't take the load, nothing will. Great solution.

Mike

[dvcobra]

Does anyone have photos or diagram of the boxed in rear lower control arms? I am not sure if I have to put 1/4" plate on all 4 sides or just top and bottom. My sway bar also goes inside the control arm.