A Watts Link like mine on the market for $600 - Nice stuff

Opentracker · Apr 18, 2005

From - Fays2 - Nice looking and adjustable.

My Watts in mock up - I have $300 in parts in it and a lot of time.

Something to check out rather than make your own. Not sure how they run the tail pipes or brake coolers?

John

bnickel · Apr 18, 2005

looks nice, but 6 bens is a lot o' cabbage

jerry S · Apr 19, 2005

what is the difference in function/application between that Watts pivot and this Maier Racing panhard bar? Don't they both control lateral roll?

ozstang65 · Apr 19, 2005

I've always considered one of these type of setups for my '65, but i'd use a system the same as my current Falcon has, with the pivot (propellor?) welded to the diff centre and brackets welded or bolted to the chassis rails.

Is there really any benefit for a Watts Link on a Leaf Spring rear end anyway? With modern poly bushes there's not much room for sideways flex, is there

From my understanding, panhard bars are a big compromise with noticable handling differences between turning one way or the other.

Opentracker · Apr 19, 2005

The panhard bar does hold the rear end under the car but works best in drag or oval racing. A Watts Link is for a road cours car. I plan on building one for my '65 Falcon project. Some folks have asked me to make one for them and I don't have the time, this kit looks good for the price.

I have poly bushings on one of our cars and the rear end still floats under the car in hard turns, as it did with the rubber bushings. The leaf is a long piece of spring steel, it's made to flex. The Watts Link or panhard bar take the side load off of the springs, so they can do there job without the rear end trying to twist them, and on our car the tire won't hit the fender anymore in the turns.

John

wannabegt66 · Apr 19, 2005

has anyone seen the new rear suspension by fat man ? if i remember correctly it consists of 2 half leaf springs (front half like control arm), a panhard rod, and a torque arm. this being said i would also like some opinions on the tcp catilever rear, i have been looking at trying to make one for a while

Hack · Apr 19, 2005

ozstang65 said:
I've always considered one of these type of setups for my '65, but i'd use a system the same as my current Falcon has, with the pivot (propellor?) welded to the diff centre and brackets welded or bolted to the chassis rails.

Is there really any benefit for a Watts Link on a Leaf Spring rear end anyway? With modern poly bushes there's not much room for sideways flex, is there

From my understanding, panhard bars are a big compromise with noticable handling differences between turning one way or the other.

If you drive on the street and use regular street tires and obey traffic laws... .. the rear leafs have plenty of resistance to sideways flex and they will work fine. Rear leafs are quite a bit superior to the quadra bind four link set up in fox Mustangs. You can feel a definite shift as the rear axle finds its steady state position in a Fox.

I think where the Watts and panhard come in are in serious racing applications. They have very good predictability. With racing tires and a performance suspension set up, the suspension gets much higher loads. At high speeds and cornering at the limit the driver can't afford any surprises.

GT2K · Apr 19, 2005

What's up with that exhaust setup?

nds03 · Apr 20, 2005

looks like you have a nice setup, but the shocks look like they came out of a junkyard. and what is up with that exhaust?

jerry S · Apr 20, 2005

GT2K said:
What's up with that exhaust setup?

there is this little snippet from Fay's website

Most over-the-axle dual exhaust systems will need to be modified to fit.

I am guessing that the exhaust doesn't feed through the frame.

Opentracker · Apr 20, 2005

GT2K said:
What's up with that exhaust setup?

The car is a pig, I know. I'm using it to mock up the Watts Linkage before the car gets re-done for the track. I made the tail pipes from 2 1/2" pipe. There wasn't enouph room to turn the pipe after the muffler, so I had the pipe dive into the top of the outlet of the muffler. The end of the muffler will get a cap welded on. The pipe will have a turn welded to it, inside the muffler, to help direct flow. These are 10" X 17" Flowmaster 30's. They are longer than a 3 chamber Flowmaster.

We have to run full tail pipes to make sound at Laguna Seca, where the cars have to be under 90db @ 50' from the track. I needed room for brake coolers and a sway bar too, so I built my own pipes. This is my first try at tail pipes. And my first try at a Watts linkage.

These look a lot alike. I think a stationary pivot is a better way to go and use the arms/tubes to adj. The Watts roll center should stay in line with the roll center of the leaf springs.

John

Pathfinder65 · Apr 21, 2005

Yours and the "other" look very slick and I want one! Problem is there are too many other priorities before one of those. I've done all the front end mods and my rear is now in need of a tweaking One of these days.
Dave

tweet66 · Apr 21, 2005

Hey Opentracker, what did you use for a bearing on the watts setup? I like it, looks simple and effective.

Oh yeah, one other ? how the H*!! did you get the shafts out of all the spring perches you built? I got a set out of a junk yard and ended up destroying the shafts and they still aren't out

Opentracker · Apr 22, 2005

tweet66 said:
Hey Opentracker, what did you use for a bearing on the watts setup? I like it, looks simple and effective.

Oh yeah, one other ? how the H*!! did you get the shafts out of all the spring perches you built? I got a set out of a junk yard and ended up destroying the shafts and they still aren't out

I used a sealed 3/4" bearing for the pivot.

Getting the shaft out of the spring perch, without messing it up is not easy. The shaft has to be smooth and clean, or the bearing won't slide on. I take the bushing out of the perch and make a slice in the outside case, put it in the vice and peal the metal off like a Banana. It's a lot of fun.

John

LMan · Apr 22, 2005

nice work, John...but please...take a steam cleaner to that differential

GT2K · Apr 24, 2005

You might be better served to avoid the rear exhaust and go with a side setup to negate that mess out back? Or atleast drop the Flowmasters for a quieter/smaller/more efficient muffler from an alternative manufacturer.

THX 138 · Apr 24, 2005

Opentracker said:
From - Fays2 - Nice looking and adjustable.

My Watts in mock up - I have $300 in parts in it and a lot of time.

Something to check out rather than make your own. Not sure how they run the tail pipes or brake coolers?

John

what's going on with that exaust?

reenmachine · Apr 24, 2005

wannabegt66 said:
has anyone seen the new rear suspension by fat man ? if i remember correctly it consists of 2 half leaf springs (front half like control arm), a panhard rod, and a torque arm. this being said i would also like some opinions on the tcp catilever rear, i have been looking at trying to make one for a while

I've seen the Fatman setup in person & it's OK. It's the front half of two single leaf springs acting as trailing arms and a Panhard bar. There are coilovers going from a beefed-up version of the original lower shock mount up to the original upper shock mounts (with a tiny bit of reinforcement). He says it rides great, which it probably does, but I'd make a lot of structural mods to it for more than just boulevard cruising.

latamud · May 13, 2005

Thought I'd add a little watt watt.

http://www.brockeng.com/mechanism/Watt.htm

The gears are turning John.

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