fabbin up a rear k member for the b bodies

smb03 · Oct 4, 2014

project stunt double general lee...im buildin this charger not for show but for some thrashin, driftin and not afraid to add new dents. plus good advertising for our restoration shop. too many cars at the shop, garage is full aswell, so brought this one home to build after hours in the rv parking. once i get the challenger done i will bring it to the shop. i decided to use this rusted, bent and beat charger to paint up like a fadded out general lee that was left to die. but first gotta add my new suspension setup on it. after spot welding the brackets to the chassis the rear k member will bolt in strenthening the whole rear clip and will have subframe connectors. now the b body is under and over slung like our racecars. the charger will have all urethane bushings (heim joints beat up the chassis too much for street use) and of course coilovers, watts link, 2 link trailing arms and a torque arm connecting to the front of the rear frame rail wich is plated and will add about 15% more forward bite. i wanted this so if i produced them for others anyone would be able to install it with minimal welding. been building race cars for awhile and all those 4 link kits ive seen for b bodies....not fond of. anyway just thought ide share what im building. soon as all the jigs are done im building front tubular k frames, suspension exc...rear suspension and more.
not trying to advertise....just sharing. no where finished yet

moparmarks · Oct 5, 2014

Very interesting. Keep us up the date. I never have been a fan of the 4-link set up for the street or corning. Its a straight line setup as far as I'm concerned.

HT413 · Oct 5, 2014

Rear k frame, huh? Interesting stuff, I can see how that would form up the whole rear clip. Got any more photos? Looks cool.

smb03 · Oct 5, 2014

yea ill post more pics as i go, takes 3x as long due to making a jig for every bar or piece so i dont have to free hand duplicates. i have 3 chargers ide like to have like this, a roadrunner and a super bee.

smb03 · Oct 5, 2014

heres the mockup torque arm brackets for the 3rd member. theres another one that bolts in the spot of the pinion snubber to stregnthen the upper bracket. they bolt over the 3rd member. theres just enough threads on the stock studs for the whole nuts to grip to

smb03 · Oct 5, 2014

heres todays progress, i need to get the shock tower hoop to the cnc mandrel bender so it will make all the bends perfect and the same on every one with just the push of a button once we get it programmed. i have to get a tighter radius die for the drive shaft loop so i can finish the top rail on the torque arm bracket. also here is the stunt double, i think all im going to fix is the floor so i dont fall thru it...

smb03 · Oct 6, 2014

Propwash · Oct 8, 2014

That's pretty cool man! Love seeing this off the hook stuff. Keep it up!

jeepers007 · Oct 9, 2014

Any thoughts about going to an irs?

smb03 · Oct 9, 2014

yea, i have thought about using the rear from a corvette, all aluminum. but...maybe later. irs doesnt use the tq from the rear axle to lift the body pushing wore weight on the axle.

sleepar · Oct 9, 2014

The rear suspension from a coil springs setup off a mid 60's 1/2 ton Chevy truck would be the direction I would go takes a lot of beating and the geometry can be set up better or adjusted to compensate for bent and twisted body over a leaf spring set up... or a late 60 caddy or Buick ... helps plant the rear from hard jumps useong Euclid bug truck shocks also helps better to break a coil than a main leaf...

smb03 · Oct 9, 2014

yea truck arm suspension is good, nascar still uses that setup today. i like it, very limited on adjustments though. but when u have ur rear suspension trying to lift the center of the body with all that weight pushing on the axle, who needs adjustments lol

smb03 · Nov 25, 2014

havent had much time to work on this car, but now workin on panhard and shock mounts

mopar 3 B · Nov 25, 2014

Why not gusset the rear axle and attach torque arms to gusset. The diff on the 8-3/4 is the weekest point in the housing and you just stressed it more.

chargin' · Nov 25, 2014

Cool project,looking forward to seeing your progress!

smb03 · Nov 25, 2014

the 8 3/4 is weak on the bearing carriers, a friend has blown 2 out on a 1500hp drag car. this is made to be a bolt on deal once you spot weld the frame brackets, im buiding 2 versions...this semi bolt on and then a light weight weld on with tq arm weld brackets as you mensioned wich is going on a few of my chargers. anyone can spot weld, that was the point is so anyone can install it.

smb03 · Nov 26, 2014

started on the front since im waiting for a few cad drawings to get cut, used my b body jig to make the front uppers for it, adjustable length and 3 degrees more caster

benno440 · Nov 26, 2014

why would anyone run an 8 3/4 with 1500hp.
can you share some pics of what the rear end looks like as a total unit?

in a few years I will be building a full chassis for my charger, remove old frame rails and grafting the body to it. possibly use either IRS or a 4 link of some sort and a custom front end that is perm. fixed with bolt on rack and control arms

smb03 · Dec 1, 2014

stock uppers set at 0 degrees camber was -2 caster, bolted my uppers on with cam bolts marked in the same location as stock ones netted me +2.5 degrees with alot of adjustability left. when i flipped them upside down (also swapped bj around) i was able to get +5 degrees at the same marked cam bolt location. +5 degrees is great for even better performance handling. fixed bad bj angles and made it where the bushings dont ride on the body, tightened up i was still able to move them with 1 finger. still waiting on cad drawing to finish rear k frame though.

Sonny Black · Dec 1, 2014

Sonny is impressed...thanks for the post's , looking forward to check out end result (no pun intended)

:icon_sunny:

fabbin up a rear k member for the b bodies

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