I am pleased to offer the fieroguru Lateral Link Relocation Kit for $350 shipped to US. Canada Shipping Surcharge will apply.
This kit will not fit 15" or 16" wheels. It fits 17" and larger wheels w/o issue.
This kit relocates the lateral link (and trailing link) connection points at the upright 1 1/2" lower.
On a stock 88 Fiero GT, the Center Of Gravity is 19.5" and the roll center is 2.9" above the ground. The distance between the CG and RC is 16.6". As the rear of the car rolls 6 degrees, the wheel will roll 4.7 degrees from vertical (not good - only 1.3 degrees of negative camber in 6 degees of roll).
When an 88 Fiero is lowered 1 1/2" front/rear , the center of gravity is lowered 1 1/2", but the rear roll center is lowered 4.2". This increases the distance between the CG and RC 16% and will increase body roll. As the rear of the car rolls 6 degrees, the rear wheel will roll 5.7 degrees from vertical. So lowering an 88 fiero will cause it to roll more in the curves and lose what little camber gain it did have in roll... both of which are very bad.
Add my Lateral Link Relocation kit to an 88 that is lowered 1 1/2" and the CG will remain 1 1/2" lower than stock, the RC will be 1/2" lower than stock, the distance between the CG and RC will be 7% less, and the camber curve in roll will return to the stock level. The Fiero will roll less and have the stock camber gain... which is now better than stock and much, much better than just lowering the car.
Are they fully welded, the pic above shows some area's that look like welding them would provide some additional support. Im not sure if the pic was taken after before you were finished with them, thats all.
Are they fully welded, the pic above shows some area's that look like welding them would provide some additional support. Im not sure if the pic was taken after before you were finished with them, thats all.
Thanks
Rob
The two side pieces are fully welded on the outside, then partially welded on the inside (fully from the bottom up to the attachment area of the trailing link boss). The backing plate is fully welded on one side, but partially welded on the other. The main driver of the locations of weld (or actually the locations where the weld was omitted) is to provide clearance to slide the trailing link boss into its pocket. Fully welding the backing plate would not allow this plate to flex slightly for installation.
I will take more pictures of the individual welding stages as I build the next few sets.
If I understand this correctly, the lateral links would spread a cumulative 1/4" when attached to the relocating link. That seems within tolerance of the original design given rubber bushings. The trailing link then, when attached, would locate the bottom of the strut out 1/4"? If so, I imagine that that could contribute somewhat to negative camber gain, which could be a good thing. In any event, do you think that is there enough adjustment that the camber could be set to stock by adjusting the strut, either with the adjustment available at the slotted strut or with an adjustable cam bolt? My questions may seem nit-picky now that I've asked. I don't intend that, it's just that you seem to so thoroughly consider your modifications that I thought I would ask. I'm interested in your mod because I presently have the Held 1 1/2" drop spindles on my '88 GT. Thanks.
If I understand this correctly, the lateral links would spread a cumulative 1/4" when attached to the relocating link. That seems within tolerance of the original design given rubber bushings. The trailing link then, when attached, would locate the bottom of the strut out 1/4"? If so, I imagine that that could contribute somewhat to negative camber gain, which could be a good thing. In any event, do you think that is there enough adjustment that the camber could be set to stock by adjusting the strut, either with the adjustment available at the slotted strut or with an adjustable cam bolt? My questions may seem nit-picky now that I've asked. I don't intend that, it's just that you seem to so thoroughly consider your modifications that I thought I would ask. I'm interested in your mod because I presently have the Held 1 1/2" drop spindles on my '88 GT. Thanks.
Ken
Yes, the thickness of the bracket spreads the lateral links out slightly if you use the stock lateral links. If you use a rod end setup, then you can shorten the inboard spacers to keep the lateral links perfectly parallel. The spreading the links will have a minor impact on rear toe as the suspension is cycled, the wheel and the lateral links follow the arc created by the trailing link. As the wheel is pulled forward or pushed back, the toe changes due the length difference in the lateral links.
The mount location for the trailing link is pushed inboard 3/8" (thickness of the extension plate). Since the trailing link is about 20", this minor shift inboard will push the wheel postion back 0.002" from where it would be otherwise. This change does not have any significant impact on the rear suspension geometry.
The strut mounting remains in the stock position at the chassis as well as the upright, so this upgrade has very little impact in the range of adjustement to set the static camber. You should not have any issues dialing in the static camber setting of your choice with this upgrade.
I am happy to announce that I received the first set! Everything went smoothly, the parts look awesome and they installed easy as per the instructions. Well thought out product and i cannot wait to see how these perform!
very well packaged!
Nothing was going to damage these babies! I scratched them more installing them then the post office could do I think.
I have the luxury of working with the knuckles out of the car. I am doing an 88 cradle swap so nothing is together yet!
Im very impressed with Fiero Gurus work and look forward to continuing to improve my car with more upgrades like this.
yep got my set on Wednesday and will be getting them powder coated this week. Should be on the car soon. I have to upgrade my struts, swap out a axle bearing and get an alignment, so i'll have a bunch of stuff done at the same time. I just need some time, and good wx to get this done.
Any chance of offering the S10 hub conversion for 88 front and rears?
Thanks for the compliment!
I doubt the S10 hub conversion will be offered for sale. It requires custom machining to all 4 of the 88 specific uprights, machining to all 4 bearings, and with the bearing/upright bolt pattern different between the fronts and rears would require 6 bearings (4 for the car and 1 each for a spare on both ends). Then you still have to adapt the brakes calipers to the new wheel flange depth both front/rear.
The HELD 1 1/2" dropped front upright (that uses the fiero rear wheel bearing) is a really good start. It allows you to lower the front suspension without degrading the handling performance. Since it also uses the rear wheel bearing, so you could modify the wheel bearings the same for front/rear and only need 1 spare for the entire car.
Crawled under the car before washing it and took a couple pictures. This is the passenger side, drivers side looks the same, on a Fiero lowered 2.5" or so. The suspension angles are a ton better than they were before, trust me. I have to adjust my coil overs up a couple turns in the rear to level the car after replacing my cut springs up from with lowering springs and lowering ball joints so the angle will be even better. I'm very happy with the kit.
It will be after July 4th before I will have any of these to sell. I am in the middle of a move and have already moved all my shop equipment (and welder) to the new garage, but still need to wire up a 220 circuit. I had most of the parts for 5 more sets laser cut before the move, I just need to get the new garage setup so I can make the last few parts and weld them up.
I will send you a PM when I have a set ready to ship (probably after July 4th), it will have my paypal email so you can send the $ at that time.
I am finally settled into the new garage and ready to start making some more lateral link relocation kits. A while back I had the more intricate parts for 5 sets laser cut. I just need to machine the relocation bars for the trailing link and the sleeves for the bolts (material for these parts ships in the morning). Also ordered all the needed bolts for these 5 kits as well (they also ship in the morning).
By next Friday I will have 5 sets ready to ship, so if you want one speak up. I will not accept any $$$ until the parts are complete, but since I have to weld these up individually, I will be contacting the next person in line as they are ready (might be as early as Monday for the first set). Price is the same - $350 shipped to US and Canada
ICouldaBeenAV8 and Raydar, you are at the front of the list if you are still interested in purchasing.
[This message has been edited by fieroguru (edited 07-25-2012).]
