suspension adaptation
suspension adaptation
(OP)
I am posting here for the first time. I am not an engineer but a machinist at a Nabisco bakery. I want to adapt the suspension of a '95 240sx Nissan to a '66 Ford Mustang. The reason that I chose the 240 (S14) is that it is a rear-steer like the Ford with rack and pinion steering, disc brakes and strut-type suspnesion that also uses a tension rod connected to the lower control arm, also like the Mustang. I'm thinking that I will have to fabricate a mount to relocate the top of the strut. Can the idea work if the scrub radius is different than the application in the 240sx?





RE: suspension adaptation
Regards
Goran
RE: suspension adaptation
Luck is a difficult thing to verify and therefore should be tested often. - Me
RE: suspension adaptation
RE: suspension adaptation
Luck is a difficult thing to verify and therefore should be tested often. - Me
RE: suspension adaptation
RE: suspension adaptation
RE: suspension adaptation
What on earth do you think you'll gain from installing a very similar suspension to the one that is already in there?
I'd ha' thunk that the rear suspension was far more deserving of effort.
Cheers
Greg Locock
SIG:Please see FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.
RE: suspension adaptation
As for the 240sx, its main benefit is that it is rear-steer, disc brake, rack and pinion steering and there is good aftermarket support fot the chassis.
RE: suspension adaptation
Cheers
Greg Locock
SIG:Please see FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.
RE: suspension adaptation
Goran
RE: suspension adaptation
RE: suspension adaptation
It is a tricky issue to mix suspensions from different cars
together. Even if one knows what to look for, it will take its time to find the right "donator" to pick from. Books will most of the time describe the geometry and its calculations, but not really what to use. This is because the "use" is only known by the reader of the book.
Okay, your demand is something like a good everyday car, which may not look too advanced at first glance, but it still incorporate a few important things to be aware of.
I think the best is to find some one to speak with in person, who knows his stuff.
Regards
Goran
RE: suspension adaptation
RE: suspension adaptation
However, I do notice that a surprisingly large number of cars with a Hotchkiss rear end do use SLAs of various sorts, perhaps because larger cars tended to keep Hotchkiss later, and the simple MacP is perhaps less suitable for large cars than small ones, although it can certainly be made to work.
Anyway, your problem is that without doing a downtown job on measuring the geometry up, etc, and the implications thereof, then you don't really know what you are going to end up with.
The FAQ section has some recommendations on books, the default choice is Milliken and Milliken.
Cheers
Greg Locock
SIG:Please see FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.
RE: suspension adaptation
Luck is a difficult thing to verify and therefore should be tested often. - Me
RE: suspension adaptation
RE: suspension adaptation
Luck is a difficult thing to verify and therefore should be tested often. - Me
RE: suspension adaptation
Food for thought?
RE: suspension adaptation
Sometime before 1972 Ford stopped using replaceable sector shaft bushings, and just ran the shafts direct in the cast iron housing, so junk boxes of that era, remain junk.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: suspension adaptation
Norm
RE: suspension adaptation
The 5 lugs pattern is the same with the newer Mustangs (2000ish), however if your referring to the 4 lug pattern, they are 4x113.4 on the S13 and S14 240sx. It is slightly different from the 1990ish foxbody Mustang bolt pattern if that is what you are basing it off of.
RE: suspension adaptation
RE: suspension adaptation
I'm curious if you are going to add a crossmember between the frame rails, like under the motor mounts? My sons were into Maverick V8's and that always seemed to be a weak area of the chassis. The shock towers can simply twist the frame rails if you stiffen the suspension. A crossmember would provide an easy place to mount the R&P.
I highly recommend subframe connectors if you haven't already done that.
RE: suspension adaptation