DOES THE HDK SUSPENSION K-MEMBER HANDLE BETTER THAN A T-BAR SUSPENSION?

J-c-c said

J-c-c said:
I didn't read anybody mention this K member solution, and I have toyed with it, because it has some really tough hurdles, but it ought to doable especially with a non TB IFS, is an OEM style carbon fiber mopar K member. It would check a lot of boxes.


Key words above "tough hurdles, but it ought to be doable..."

I believe "still squirming around" maybe be slightly backwards, in that the OEM K is what keeps the "frame horns" from squirming, and what the existing aftermarket crowd fails to understand with their offerings.

Click to expand...

The k is dangling off of the firewall attached through the horns. Even if the K is stiff, the horns will still move about. The K will stiffen the horns some, but only right around where the attach bolts are. The k won't have any impact on how much the firewall flexes and won't contribute much to torsional stiffness which is what most cornering forces would impart. It would take some triangulating members from the A pillars down to the k to improve the moment of inertia enough to matter, and even then the torsion would just be pushed into the roof which isn't exactly stiff.
Point being, the k frame could be unobtanium with an infinite modulus and the mounting flanges on the front horns and front horns themselves would just wiggle about because there's not enough vertical cross section to add much to the moment and the torque at the mounting flanges of the horns will also wiggle about since they're not even as thick as the stock K steel. All a super stiff K would do is cause cracks to appear faster on the horns and at the inner fenders and firewall.