EvM Rear Suspension for Vintage Mustangs (Watts/3-Link) Feedback

EvolutionMotorsport · 11-23-2005, 02:55 PM

First, I emailed Amanda about this post before I posted. She approved it. Now to the post.

Well its time to update the older cars. For the past few months we have been
putting down some ideas on paper, and now we have the time to actually transfer our
thoughts into actual product.

Our plan is to develop a rear suspension for the vintage GM and Ford vehicles. The
suspension will be modular from the standpoint that you can buy a complete system,
or start small with one or two components, then work your way into a complete
system. Obviously, we will start with a Watts link for the older Mustangs (1965-
1973). The watts we can bang out pretty quickly (a few weeks), since we are 90%
there already. The Watts link for the older cars should be a simpler design from
our current Watts Link.

Beyond the Watts, we will be developing a complete 3 link system for the rear.
It will utilize coilovers, LCA's and the single third link.

So, that is our general plan. Before we set off on development, we figured we would
ping the community for some feedback. Here are some of our design thoughts:

We plan on developing the system to work with both 8 and 9 inch for rears. We also
batted around supplying an axle housing for a complete kit.

For our shocks, we will most likely develop the system around a coil-over system.

This will be a bolt-on system, but it could be welded as well.

Are we missing any major points?

In an effort to solicit interest in the system, we will be offering a pre-order for
the Watts Link System. Much like we did for our TriLink last year. The pre-order
will basically allow early "supporters" to pick up the product at a discount. So,
if you are interested in such a product drop us a PM or email and we will put you
on the list. Only email us if you are truly interested in the system, since we will
use the pre-order numbers to drive our first production run. The pre-order list
will not be anything binding, it just helps us with production schedules. Once we
are nearing actual production we will offer everyone on the list a discount.. At
that time you can decide to order or not.

OK, Let us know your thoughts on the system. Are we missing any important aspects?

Oh, one more thing. If all goes well the first production Watts links should be
available by years end.

Thanks...Mike

69mach1377 · 11-23-2005, 10:30 PM

How much moola we talkin?

Scott H. · 11-24-2005, 12:17 AM

Do you have any plans for those of us running 8.8" rear ends in our classic Mustangs?

351foxstang · 11-24-2005, 01:18 AM

wanna use my car as a guinea pig?

lClutchl · 11-24-2005, 02:36 AM

Was there any testing done on these suspension designs?

If so, what kind of testing was completed? Imperical testing with one vehicle? Computer simulations? Race proven?

I'm not too keen on installing an unproven system. More info would be nice.

EvolutionMotorsport · 11-24-2005, 03:14 AM

Quote:

How much moola we talkin?

We will run a preorder for the Watts link that should come in somewhere in the neighborhood of $550 - $575.

Quote:

Do you have any plans for those of us running 8.8" rear ends in our classic Mustangs?

The design should work fine with the 8.8 axles. The only difference with the 8.8 may be the axle tube diameters. The one other variable is clearance of the Watts crank to the diff cover. The worst case scenario would be the 9 inch. So, the 8.8 should be fine.

Quote:

wanna use my car as a guinea pig?

Aready have a guinea pig. Two in fact, a Camaro and Mustang.

Quote:

Was there any testing done on these suspension designs?

If so, what kind of testing was completed? Imperical testing with one vehicle? Computer simulations? Race proven?

I'm not too keen on installing an unproven system. More info would be nice.

The design for the vintage cars is based on our very succesful Watts link for the late Model cars. That design won a SEMA award in 2002. That has been in production for over three years. It is race proven and street proven on numerous cars. We run the Watts on our race car. All designs are also validated with computer simulation. We have 15 years of vehicle development with the big three.

In the next few days we will have some computer models of our design posted to our website.

Thanks...Mike

lClutchl · 11-24-2005, 03:27 AM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: EvolutionMotorsport

The design for the vintage cars is based on our very succesful Watts link for the late Model cars. That design won a SEMA award in 2002. That has been in production for over three years. It is race proven and street proven on numerous cars. We run the Watts on our race car. All designs are also validated with computer simulation. We have 15 years of vehicle development with the big three.

In the next few days we will have some computer models of our design posted to our website.

Thanks...Mike

Good answer... I can't wait to see the specs.

EvolutionMotorsport · 11-24-2005, 03:36 AM

Hopefully by tomorrow we can have some images posted. We will post images of the Watts, Three Link and Stabilizer bar.The main design is complete, we are now just tweaking some of the bracketry.

Thanks...Mike

EvolutionMotorsport · 11-27-2005, 11:55 AM

Just an update. We are sending out for prototypes the week od 11/30/2005. We have posted some images of our design at our site. Since we are prototyping there may still be some slight changes. Regardless this is 95% complete. As the days go by we will post new images, as things are updated. So, check back often.

When you look at the pictures, everything is bolt-in and modular, including the axle towers (they are not in any pictures yet). The axle towers are similar in design to our current Watts link. Items in blue are the watts link, items in green are the stabilizer bar. These items are sold separately. Please feel free to email us or post any questions.

http://www.evolutionmsport.com/evmCa...products_id=38

Thanks...Mike

dodgestang · 11-27-2005, 12:29 PM

I got a question for you Mike.

Will the 3 link setup allow full adjustablity for rear height so WHEN I bolt it in I can set the height to same place I was sitting with my 5 leaf mid eye rear end?

Also....any chance on getting a visualization with a chassis ghosted in? I think I can tell where it will meet up with my frame rails from the images, but not entire sure. I am trying to gauge if I will gain any additional clearance by removing the leaf spring setup and moving to the 3 link for tire backspacing or if I'm going to bolting additional bracing from your 3 link right back into the same exact place and only gain performance but not tire space.

Lastly, I see the bend in the upper brace that ties the frame rails together and supports the watts setup that 'might' help people who want to continue running full pipes do so, but the question is how much strength in the assembly would you lose if you plunged down at a sharper angle?