I am sure others will disagree, but myself and Ron Muir (Green Machine) checked into this last year when working on his car...and the only major difference between the 2 is "adjustability". You have a lot more "tweeks" with the 4 link. IMO, the 4 link is overkill on anything under 1,000 horsepower. If you are looking for every advantage and are willing to due a multiple amount of T&T, then the 4 link will be beneficial. But if you are not going to crawl under it after a pass or 2, tweek, record data on track conditions, temperature, etc. etc. and tweek and trial and error and blah blah blah then the ladder bar is a much simpler design and requires less tuning. I know of a lot of high horsepower cars running ladder bars...and I know a lot of high hosrepower cars running 4 link. But again.....like Terry said, its "opinion"
Thx guys...I think I'm gonna stay with the ladder bars.. I heard the same thing about adjusting the 4 link and it's tendency to be a pain. I know it doesn't look like it but the suspension under it now is pretty stout. Once those leafs come out it will give me 19" from the fenderwell lip to the frame rail. I can get some pretty good "meat" under their with the correct backspacing. The shock perches will need about 2" added to them in order to use coil overs. I'm still trying to decide on whether to use a panhard bar, diagonal link or wishbone axle system to take the lateral movement out thats gonna be there after the leafs come out...what do yall think?
With ladder bars, a diagonal link will work fine, and is the cheapest route. Ladder bars don't let the car roll rotate (side-to-side rotation on the axle housing) so the wishbone is basically a waste. Wishbones are excellent for street/strip 4 link cars as they'll let the car roll rotate...which gives a better ride and can improve the launch. Also, the wishbone MUST ALWAYS be lubricated so the slider will work...otherwise it'll squeak, bind, and eventually fail. Panhard bars are on a ton of cars, but I personally don't care for them if they have to be short, as in the case of most backhalf drag cars. When the panhard bar is short (as in most backhalf cars) it will pull the rear end to one side or the other as the rear end moves up or down....and yes you can feel it in the driver's seat. Almost feels like the car is loose. BTW, I vote for the 4-link...but your mind is already made up. They both cost the same, but the 4 link will generally give you more floor space inside the car and again more adjustability. The downside to a ladder bar is that it MUST be absolutely perfect upon installation, otherwise you'll have an ill-handling race car. You can be off a hair with a 4-link and you can compensate for it easily. On mine, I was dreading the test & tune part. It was simple. I plotted the holes and intersect points (instant centers and anti-squat) and got in touch with a guy about where to start with it. Got it where he thought would be real close and moved the IC in 2 directions, eventually went back to where it was to begin with. It will hook on gravel, red light on a pro tree and it basically drives itself. Very smooth running car. I can tune it to do monster wheelstands or to be very tame and launch flat & straight. Ladders hit the tires harder, which if you've got enough power & SLR, may make keeping the front end on the ground a bit of a challenge.....not that that's a bad thing, of course One other thing to consider....the front rod ends on ladder bars had better be the highest-quality ends you can find. Remember there are only 2 of them to transfer the power/torque to the chassis....and if one of them breaks (and they tend to do so) it will be a handful. They are stressed in 2 directions at once...upward and forward, which will bend the cheaper versions, and eventually they'll break. With the 4 link, 2 upper ones are being pulled, the 2 lower ones are being pushed. There's more area there to distribute the load since there's 4 of them (front side only) instead of just 2
mavman I was leaning toward the ladder bar because there already on there...I know its hard to tell by the pic but there are really beefy...at least 7/8" tubing. After I get it out and see exactly what I have I was gonna carry it to the welder and have him weld in the diagonal link or put a X shaped crossmember in there as well as check the integrity of the entire setup. I'm also gonna have an axle brace welded in. I may just endup chunking the setup and put a new framerail kit in...if I go that route i'll get the 4 link. I trust my welder on this as he runs a 4 second tube chassis Camaro as a hobby.
If I hadn't seen it for myself I wouldn't beleive it either...it's a late 80's body and he can dust just about any car around these parts. Not bad for a HOBBY car.
Riporter, once again, you seem to be making great progress on a Maverick. Sounds like you're doing all of your homework, and that you have it under control. Good Luck!! Preston
research.....ask questions......research....ask questions doing good Rick. mavman has made and given(as always) great advice.
somewhat hesitant to post a pic since my stuff broke, but here is a decent shot of the front mounts for the ladder bar....pretty beafy.
John would there be any disadvantage to welding in metal that wraps completely around the axle and attaches to the ladder bar with a good weld joint...just to add some strength.
No...thats what you should do! Thats what is being done to mine now.....now saying it would have helped.....a bad weld is a bad weld. it probably would have just taken longer to rear its ugly head....but maybe I might have seen some signs of fatige in time to save all the damage....who knows. But to asnswer your question......weld a brace all the way around your axle tubes.
