[nikwho]

Hey guys,
I'm trying to get my '59 Apache to handle a bit better. Want to do a little autocross racing, etc. Firstly, Rob(Robnolimit), I read, copied and pasted much of your info early in thus thread and printed it, as a guide for my suspension planning, building,, tuning, etc. Ill tell you where I'm at right now, along with my goals. I've got my short bed '59 Apache. 383 sbc, TH-350, GM 10 bolt.

Years ago I bought your No Limit Engineering DVD to swap Camaro IFS into the '55-'59 trucks. Went soo smoothly with that DVD! I was extremely thorough, everything was squared and leveled perfectly, anti-dive angle set carefully, the sub-frame went in so smoothly. I went with 2.5" drop spindles, QA1 tubular upper control arms, polyurethane bushings and new ball joints in the factory ('79) Camaro LCA's. Went with Eibach's lowering springs and Bilstein shocks. All new factory replacement Moog steering components, center link, tie rods,etc. Factory Camaro front sway bar.

18" wheels, 245/275 width BFG G-Force street tires.

Have cheapo shocks and leaf springs in the rear. And a 4" Notch. After putting 340 miles on my truck driving down to a classic Chevy truck show in Glendale this weekend (Dino's Git Down), it is definitely time to address my crappy rear suspension! I pulled a few leafs out of the original '59 rear spring pack, flipped the axle on top of the springs, did a 4" C-notch and threw on a set of cheap shocks. I am preparing to remove my bed, bend up some c-channels as you described early in your thread, for the center section of the chassis, and then it's "time to make triangles", as you said. Ill follow your guidance there. I've been playing with a suspension geometry calculator in my laptop.

I built a 3-link for my '53 GMC that was on an S10 chassis, but I am unsure which direction to go with my'59. Im leaning towards a parallel 4 link, with a long panhard bar, but still intrigued by triangulation 4 links and 3 links. Which way would you reccomend going?

I'm curious how you would spend the next $3,000 or so on this trucks suspension, to improve its handling? I've already got a bit of DOM tubing, to build link bars, panhard bar, triangulation, etc. Also have all of my heims, bugs and polyurethane bushings to build my 4 link. So, I basically need to build or buy brackets for my 4 link, and look into sway bars, shocks, etc. I was going to go weigh my truck as it sits, to get front and rear end and total weight. Then I was going to buy the adjustable QA1 front Camaro coil over kit, and the rear universal coil over kit that matches my truck rear end weight. That would be roughly $1,000, leaving me with roughly $2,000 in the near future to spend on additional upgrades! Primarily looking at front and rear anti-sway bars, possibly some tubular front lower control arms. Perhaps rack and pinion steering? Looking for the best bang for your buck improvements.

I would like to also ask about desirable figures relating to 3/4 links, but that's getting too far ahead, at least for right now!

Oh, my truck also has 4 wheel disc brakes. Factory Camaro type single piston aftermarket calipers, standard pads, and all four rotors are new cross drilled and slotted. Has the "LS1" rear disc brake swap on the 10 bolt. The "LS1" brake swap is merely factory or factory replacement rear disc brake parts for LS1 era Camaro's. Has power brakes, with adjustable proportioning valve.

Any guidance that you could give, I would be eternally grateful for!

Nik