Jaguar IRS for Avanti

[SScopelli]

Just my two cents. I have never put IRS in a non irs car. I have a tube frame chassis car (project) and it has a narrowed C4 IRS.


But, looking at 48skyliner's set up, I am wondering why there seems to be no love here for that set up in the stated project.

I am guessing the $300 price tag is about as good as you are going to find for something like this.

Any reason not to go that way?

This is a picture from one of his links he listed..



I say it looks great.

I think it is not getting love because of it being from a Japanese car, and the Jag has "been done before" so effort is seen as minimal.

I like the C4 for several reasons.
1) The brakes are on the outside, unlike the Nasty Jag being inside..
Can You imagine what you have to do to change a warped rotor, caliper or the brake pad? See below..

2) The C4, the coilovers are inside the frame.. While the Nisan appears simple, the Nissan has to have to coilovers outside the frame.
He has to build spring mounts above the frame to get them to work..
As for the Jag.. FOUR Coilovers $$$$$!


3) Scalability.. Yes, as noted, "some" modification to fit a 65" hub to hub C4 in a 58" Hub to Hub Stude frame..
But narrowing the width comes down to cutting the halfshafts which can be done by any driveshaft shop.
The Nisan and the Fords have the solid shafts and would require cutting and machining to shrink them down..

[sals54]

I remember looking at a Nissan 300 ZX. One of the earliest ones with the 5 on 4-1/2" bolt pattern. I think the years were '85 - '88. It looked to be the right size and a relatively easy system to fabricate. Certainly much lighter than the Jag. Are these the same width as the 240 SX?

[Xcalibur]

SScopelli, well, as they say, "your mileage may vary"... the same with which components one chooses when doing custom builds. Certainly, there is some price to pay in maintenance ease when one moves to rear-brakes that do NOT contribute to unsprung weight. But, frankly, I doubt any IRS is "perfect," what is.

All I can say is that sometimes it is worth the bother to do things one way or another. Frankly, I would go out of my way (just me, of course) to NOT have outbound brakes at this point. Having dealt with the Jags for two decades I have found them not to be the issue that you seem to wish to make them out to be... that's why I contributed this picture. Btw, I have also rebuilt these calipers--they slip right out where you are looking in, no problemo, yet I've worked on new cars that are certainly no simpler or less knuckle-crunching. (I bet the inner CV-joints on your top pic are a treat to change.)

As for the suspension, you are correct, it is NOT the simplest nor the cheapest... I've heard rumors that there were a few occasions when such were not the most important factors in parts design and selection. However, in this case what one does have with my setup is simple and quick adjustability. This, of course, is hardly an everyday issue but when doing the initial install and set-up it was a genuine God-send.

So, I agree and will commence telling everyone to avoid the needlessly complex, difficult, and expensive "nasty" Jag set-up like the plague; I'd as soon keep mine as unique as possible anyway, hehehehe!!! Thanks for your nickel's worth, though!

[grobb284]

"3) Scalability.. Yes, as noted, "some" modification to fit a 65" hub to hub C4 in a 58" Hub to Hub Stude frame..
But narrowing the width comes down to cutting the halfshafts which can be done by any driveshaft shaft."



Pretty sure the tie rods and lower camber bars need to be shortened also. The photo showing the modified C4 suspension utilizing what appears to be using tie rod like material for the forged aluminum camber bar is a little surprising.

We found the Viper differential assembly with Corvette suspension more compact and easier to install.

[karterfred88]

"3) Scalability.. Yes, as noted, "some" modification to fit a 65" hub to hub C4 in a 58" Hub to Hub Stude frame..
But narrowing the width comes down to cutting the halfshafts which can be done by any driveshaft shaft."



Pretty sure the tie rods and lower camber bars need to be shortened also. The photo showing the modified C4 suspension utilizing what appears to be using tie rod like material for the forged aluminum camber bar is a little surprising.

We found the Viper differential assembly with Corvette suspension more compact and easier to install.

Okay--now where are your photos!! You can't tease us about this and not show us.

[grobb284]

I have an album here on the Studebaker site, but unfortunately as of today the photos are not available due to the new server.

Here is a link to three rear suspension photos on another site:

http://ls1tech.com/g/picture/1783244

http://ls1tech.com/g/picture/1783242

http://ls1tech.com/g/picture/1783202


If you wish to see the album on the LS1 site, note that it is two pages, go here: http://ls1tech.com/g/album/1783192

[hutch]

I never knew the LS1Tech site existed. That Avanti with the stainless frame just about the coolest thing on the planet. Thank you -- I am working on several LS3/Dana44 projects and a ton of cool tips in these albums. Thank you for sharing

Hutch