3 LINK REAR SETUP
I'm definitely going with round tubing. I've got Johnny joints left and right thread so adjustment will be easier.
I completely agree with mounting to the sheet metal, not a good idea at all. I've read about offsetting the top link to the axle or side of the pumpkin.
Art Morrison stuff mounts inside the cabin, it has to and I don't mind doing that. I'd prefer to go 3 link for articulation and adjustability over a 4 link and will use the old panhard bar method. Mainly street driven but for the future I'd like to have a good system already installed. Not sure if I'm using a back seat so...
What length lowers have you got in yours?
Offsetting behind the centerline can be done, but there is a limit there as well. No more than a few inches. Now, what you could do is design the 3rd link to go into the cabin, and instead of a rear bench, run a couple small, short bucket seats and allow the 3rd link to go between them. Make sure you shield that of course for safety should it break. And off setting it to one side of the pumpkin or the other is often done as well.
That kit in that barracuda thread just stinks, i'm not entirely sure if thats a full XV engineering kit or not but I have several reservations about that. And if it is the XVM kit, pretty sure they went out of business a few years ago.
What you want if you were to buy from Art Morrison is this stuff here
http://www.artmorrison.com/rearclip-3link.php
You could also look at Ron Sutton's website and see if he sells a clip for it as well. If not, he has a ton of components for very fair prices.
ProTouring Rear Suspension - Welcome to the Ron Sutton Race Technology Online Store.
Panhard works great, Id advise an adjustable mount on the frame side though at minimum as well as the bar itself have a length adjustment.
As for adjustment, a 3 link vs a 4 link parallel is going to have as much adjustment as is designed into the kit. The numbers of links really doesnt affect that much as where or how the adjustablility is designed in. Where the 3 link gets the advantage over a 4 link parallel is in the articulation, simply because of the 3rd/upper link being just a single pivot point, front to back, side to side. But its not a giant deal, worth a couple tenths on the stop watch for sure. Both types of kits will eventually bind at some angle within the chassis, the 4 link just does it at a slightly lower angle, so it happens sooner vs a 3 link. Now where the 4 link excels is on the straight away or off the corners, it loads the rear suspension better for straighter, hard launches and they generally can handle the shock of those launches better. So there is a slight advantage on straights, but its slight as well.
As for my lower lengths, I'll have to double check them tonight. I'm drawing a blank off the top of my head.
All this a side, for a mostly street driven machine, setting this up is not really going to be much benefit. 3 links are really for guys looking for tenths of seconds on a road course or even a dirt track. If you're not expecting to see much track time, i agree with Denny, stay leaf springs and quality shocks.
