I'm sure you need some of such mods. Seymour's car is drag only, and he admitted (and I saw) that the steering geometry is really @#$%ed up.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

The steering arms actually need to be much longer than the stock ball joints. The biggest problem is that it is almost impossible to locate the rack back far enough to have it in a decent line with the steering arms. Also, there is not a reasonably priced rack that has the inner tie rod ends anywhere near the right place to avoid bump steer. Most racks are actually too wide for an A-body and place the tie rod too far out.

I have not seen any R&P conversions on a stock K that did not end up with some really weird tie rods and steering arms.

Doug is on the right track, you can do a lot of lightening on a stock K for what you will spend on a tubular setup.

One final note on the DARE setup. It is a copy of a tubular K that was originally built by a guy named Mike Radness. Mike's setup worked very well, and is still in his car today. The difference is that Mike built his own steering arms that were longer than the stock ball joints. DARE leaves that part out.

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

Altson will make a R&P rack to any width. One of the big stock car suppliers has upper and lower A-arms for under $100 apiece. In several differant lengths. They also have spindles, with several differant inclinations, also for under $100 apiece. One of the more interesting parts was a bracket with mounts for upper and lower trailing arms and coilovers. I believe it was made to go over a 3" axle tube.

The hot rod guys also have all of this stuff for 3 times the price. Mostly based on Mustang II componets. So there is really no reason to use junk engineering to replace the K-member.

The 2nd generation Toyota Supra front suspension might have some parts that could work. The cross member is bolt on, includes the upper and lower control arm mounts and the shock towers. The track width is about the same as a Duster. The wheel bolt pattern is 4 1/2" (a Mopar wheel fits on the hubs) but the register hole is slightly larger, if the wheel offset is acceptable a simple adaptor might be practical. The brake disks are adequate.

The Supra frame rails curve differently than an A-body, the rear mount might be removed and new mounts welded on - as long as the basic components retain the factory relationships. The pieces are lightweight, the Supra weighs about the same as a Duster. As long as the control arm and shock mounts are kept the same, you might be able to weld in new boxed sections to match up to an A-body. It is double wishbone, whereas the 1st gen Supra was McPherson strut. I believe the springs mount on the body structure, but all else is a single bolt on unit. The Supra upper control arms are forged aluminum alloy.

This might be something to think about. Corvette suspension pieces are gaining in popularity too.

you guy interested in a swap should check out the alterkation setup. bill reilly who makes these is a stand up guy and has put many, many hours of research into this thing. he will give you references no problem and i can say he will probabley tell you whats wrong with the dare, maganum force, aje setups also. this thing just flat out works. i dont know hou much lighter it is but that is a question im sure he can answer. heres the link http://bigblockdart.com/Merchant2/merch ... ode=alterk he can be reached through his website also if you go to the main page http://www.bigblockdart.com

--chad

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74 swinger slant 6, the slowest, most fun car i have ever owned.

I thought of using the 2nd gen Supra, it is light, it has the correct tract, but thec uni-body mounts are wrong. Put it on a work bench, flip it upside down, weld a temporary brace between the control arm towers. Then whack away anything non-essential that doesn't look like a Mopar. Then weld a new cross member tube and mounts which match the Mopar, everything ought to retain the correct geometry if the temporary brace is done right. A lot of work but maybe its doable.

I'd have to swap it in on a F-body because I'm basically satisfied with the other Mopars.