want to upgrade suspension in the cheapest way possible, and want to go independent suspension any ideas.

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68 225 Dart "life under the hood, is the life for me" -By Me

Do you know how to weld? Do you have a second vehicle so your Dart can be laid up for months? Are you prepared to spend several hundred dollars to do this as cheaply as possible?

Cheapest way to go IRS with a RWD car is to buy one. The '89-'97 T-Birds are cheap. They are also crappy cars, but they're cheap!

Straight axle cars really aren't that bad. A 3-link and coil over shocks can work really well. Even leaf springs and good shocks do fine.

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Joshua

please explain. i don't know if your being sarcastic or actually trying to help better my dart, sorry thats just how you sound.

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68 225 Dart "life under the hood, is the life for me" -By Me

What he's trying to tell you is that if you want IRS for your car you will have a lot of fab work to do, there is no bolt-in kit available.

Unless you're a serious road racer there is not really any need for it anyway.

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

I'm asking serious questions. To do this job as inexpensively as possible you will need to know how to weld. You will need alternative transportation. You very likely will spend a few hundred dollars before the car is drivable again.

A few cars have IRS systems that would likely fit reasonably well. If you can stand 4.10 gears the 2nd generation Mazda RX-7 rear suspension looks to be about the right track and most everything except the coil-over shock mounts are carried on the removable subframe. The 5-lug RX-7s are even 5 on 4.5" wheel bolt pattern. The MK III '86.5-'92 Toyota Supra also looks like a good fit and is also 5x4.5"

Even serious road racers usually go with straight axles, but not with leaf springs. Unless the course is really bumpy the straight axle cars go just as fast around the track as IRS cars.

So why do you really want IRS?

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Joshua

yea believe it or not i want to prepare for road racing, it is my only ride right now, i heard about control freak suspension kit that bolts right in, but it is a bit pricey. i was just wondering if i can go cheaper. and sorry its just that sometimes you get some smart responses from people that don't care no more. thanx so much.

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68 225 Dart "life under the hood, is the life for me" -By Me

I used to do a little road racing in a '66 Dart. Since I don't have $500+ a month to blow on that hobby I've had to make some serious cutbacks. The Dart has a new owner and I drive cheap-car enduros when I can. I got to drive in the 24 Hours of LeMons race at Reno-Fernley Raceway and the inaugural Chump Car race in Portland this year. Each race cost me over $600, but it's what I love to do.

Here is Toyota Supra IRS.

Me in the Dart.

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Joshua

Just looked at the Control Freak site. IRS will set you back around $5K or so. Yes, you can do it cheaper on your own, but by the time you buy all the tools and parts you'll be around $5K anyway.

If you're just starting out and roadracing your street car, there are a ton of places to spend the money way before you'll need an IRS anyway.

Search for old threads by Dart 270. He has been roadracing a '64 Dart for many years w/o IRS. He's pretty fast with it too.

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

you guys are awesome! ill start working on that.

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68 225 Dart "life under the hood, is the life for me" -By Me

and what about IFS? any info on that. and did you ever took pics of the process it took to get your IRS together.

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68 225 Dart "life under the hood, is the life for me" -By Me

Your Dart has one of the best indep front suspensions out there, at least competitive with most 80s and 90s cars, when in good shape. No need to do much there except rebuild and adjust.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

thanx dart270, will do. i found a pretty good price front suspension rebuilt kit plus front disk brake kit included.

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68 225 Dart "life under the hood, is the life for me" -By Me

Back in the day, we used IRS from wrecked Jaguars. They used 5x4½" bolt pattern wheels. Really sexy specs with inboard disk brakes and dual coil overs. I went looking for a photo and found a wiki cite for it. Don't know if it would fit in an A-body.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_IRS

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You can't fix stupid. - Ron White

your right it looks sexy, it made me blush lol. thanx!

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68 225 Dart "life under the hood, is the life for me" -By Me