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Thread: Gen II suspension mount holes

  1. #1
    Administrator 65 Cobra Dude's Avatar
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    Gen II suspension mount holes

    The Gen II Hot rod has upper and lower holes for all the front and rear suspension and shock mount points. I am thinking one uses the lower holes for a street car with normal ride height and the upper holes to lower the frame. Am I missing anything?

    Thx,

    Henry

  2. #2
    Senior Member edwardb's Avatar
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    Hey Henry. If it's the same as the Gen 3 Coupe and the latest Roadsters, you are correct. Lower holes for street setup, upper holes for track only setup. The only exception is the silver dual action Koni's are installed in the upper holes in all cases because they're apparently a little longer. I'm betting your latest release Hot Rod has this same configuration.
    Build 1: Mk3 Roadster #5125. Sold 11/08/2014. Build 2: Mk4 Roadster #7750. Sold 04/10/2017. Build Thread
    Build 3: Mk4 Roadster 20th Anniversary #8674. Sold 09/07/2020. Build Thread and Video. Build 4: Gen 3 Type 65 Coupe #59. Gen 3 Coyote. Legal 03/04/2020. Build Thread and Video
    Build 5: 35 Hot Rod Truck #138. LS3 and 4L65E auto. Rcvd 01/05/2021. Legal 04/20/2023. Build Thread. Sold 11/9/2023.

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    Senior Member RBBJ 32 HOTROD's Avatar
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    in the book it says the upper holes are for the hot rod and the lower for the truck. for the front suspension.
    Last edited by RBBJ 32 HOTROD; 07-12-2019 at 10:52 AM.
    33 Hot Rod w/ deluxe 32 nose
    350 SBC and 700r4 automatic, 8.8 rear with 3.55 gears
    Order date:4/25/19, Deliver date 6/10/19
    First run 10/6/2019, Go cart 11/3/2019

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    Administrator 65 Cobra Dude's Avatar
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    Thanks for the responses. I did not have a manual when I was mounting the suspension. I do now and it is all fixed.

    Henry

  5. #5
    Director of R&D, FFR Jim Schenck's Avatar
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    I know this an older post but just to clarify for anyone reading it. The coupe and 818 have a street height set of holes and a low/race height set of holes an inch higher on the chassis. The truck and 33 have a standard height set of holes and a tall ride height set that are just under an inch lower. We added the holes on the 33/truck to help with extra clearance on the full fenders or if someone wants to add extra rake or run taller rear tires they can put just the back at the higher height.

    The key for all the cars is the higher holes equals lower ride height and lower holes equals higher ride height, which is not always intuitive with the chassis on jackstands.
    Jim Schenck
    Factory Five Racing

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  7. #6
    Senior Member RBBJ 32 HOTROD's Avatar
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    Thank you Jim for that clarification.
    33 Hot Rod w/ deluxe 32 nose
    350 SBC and 700r4 automatic, 8.8 rear with 3.55 gears
    Order date:4/25/19, Deliver date 6/10/19
    First run 10/6/2019, Go cart 11/3/2019

  8. #7
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    okay, new questions. The rear suspension, lower control arm mounts for the 3 point suspension. Manual shows and I remember the roadster also have only one bolt hole. Frame mounts now have 4 holes. Which one for the 33? Also front upper A arms now have 2 mount holes for the shock bolt. Manual says use upper holes on all other front connections but doesn't say anything (or shoe) second hole. Also looks like using upper hole will make arm bind against top of spring cap on the shock? Last question, front mount of steering column has both lower and upper holes - again no mention in manual. Any suggestions?

  9. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Schenck View Post
    I know this an older post but just to clarify for anyone reading it. The coupe and 818 have a street height set of holes and a low/race height set of holes an inch higher on the chassis. The truck and 33 have a standard height set of holes and a tall ride height set that are just under an inch lower. We added the holes on the 33/truck to help with extra clearance on the full fenders or if someone wants to add extra rake or run taller rear tires they can put just the back at the higher height.

    The key for all the cars is the higher holes equals lower ride height and lower holes equals higher ride height, which is not always intuitive with the chassis on jackstands.
    I just started building one of these and I have noticed a few issues with this so I am glad I found this thread.


    Now I understand with suspension droop, sometimes you may see a little binding, but what im seeing almost looks like something was manufactured incorrectly. If I attempt to run the lower arms in the lowered position, the rear mount has no clearance for the bolt that holds adjusting sleeve to the poly mount. The bolt hits the frame and the control arm is stuck almost level to the frame, it cannot droop at all. Regardless of what direction I put the bolt in from.


    Similar issue with the upper control arm, if I run them in the upper position the control arm contacts the frame at the rear mount and there is little to no movement in the arm.


    I have a similar situation at the shock mounts. With the shocks set at zero preload, the hat is contacting the control arm below the mounting point. In order to avoid contact, I actually had to loosen the adjuster enough to allow the shock to slightly compress and it still just touches the shock hat.

    Ive built a lot of cars, this doesn’t seem right that there is no range of motion without contact. Ive never seen a suspension bind like this before. Any feedback would be appreciated.

  10. #9
    Director of R&D, FFR Jim Schenck's Avatar
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    The new chassis have rear lower control arm mounts for the truck as well as the 33, they are not the same diameter bolt so that is one easy way to tell the difference. The truck uses 5/8 bolts and the mounts are further toward the front of the chassis vs the smaller more rearward 33 mounts. Steering column is the same thing, we added the lower set of holes for the truck to allow the wheel to be more upright and most 33s will stay in the upper holes unless you prefer the more upright wheel.

    On the lower control arms you have to turn the lower bushing sleeve around 180 degrees, that will put the hole further forward (it does not alter geometry since the pivot center line is unchanged) and then run the bolt with the head side down to get the max clearance.

    On the shocks send me a picture if you have one to jim(at)factoryfive(dot)com and I will take a look at it.
    Jim Schenck
    Factory Five Racing

  11. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Schenck View Post
    The new chassis have rear lower control arm mounts for the truck as well as the 33, they are not the same diameter bolt so that is one easy way to tell the difference. The truck uses 5/8 bolts and the mounts are further toward the front of the chassis vs the smaller more rearward 33 mounts. Steering column is the same thing, we added the lower set of holes for the truck to allow the wheel to be more upright and most 33s will stay in the upper holes unless you prefer the more upright wheel.

    On the lower control arms you have to turn the lower bushing sleeve around 180 degrees, that will put the hole further forward (it does not alter geometry since the pivot center line is unchanged) and then run the bolt with the head side down to get the max clearance.

    On the shocks send me a picture if you have one to jim(at)factoryfive(dot)com and I will take a look at it.
    Ill get an email over to you today with some photos, part of what I typed was misunderstood. The issue is completely in the front suspension, having clearance issues with the rear mounts of the upper and lower arms.

  12. #11
    Director of R&D, FFR Jim Schenck's Avatar
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    Tony,

    I should have addressed it more clearly but the rear suspension part was directed to the post before yours.
    Jim Schenck
    Factory Five Racing

  13. #12
    Senior Member RBBJ 32 HOTROD's Avatar
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    I ended up using the forward holes for my lower control arms on my 33 hotrod to get the right pinion angle so the driveshaft didn't rub on the floor.
    33 Hot Rod w/ deluxe 32 nose
    350 SBC and 700r4 automatic, 8.8 rear with 3.55 gears
    Order date:4/25/19, Deliver date 6/10/19
    First run 10/6/2019, Go cart 11/3/2019

  14. #13
    Senior Member sethmark's Avatar
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    The 33 bolts are smaller than the truck. Did you ream the sleeve?
    33 Hot Rod #1133. LS/TKO600
    Delivered 6-17-19. Started work 7-3-19. First start 9-6-19. First drive 9-24-19
    Titled 2-28-20

    MkI.IV 2643k

  15. #14
    rank amateur Shades's Avatar
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    I was going to start a new thread as I couldn't find this elsewhere, but perhaps it fits in this thread. My question has to do with the length of the bolt to attach the lower shock to the rear axle bracket. When attaching the bracket, it says to insert the long bolt (110m) through the rear, but never says to secure it. Then when it's time to attach the shock, it appears that this is the hole to use. The manual says to use the 3.25" bolt for this.

    #1 is the 110mm bolt intended to just be discarded? It would work as well, but before I toss it into the extra parts bin, wanted to be sure.
    Here's what it looks like with the 3.25" bolt (obviously the shock would go between the spacers)
    The 110mm bolt is on the floor at the bottom of the picture.
    20210124_141756rear lower shock bolt.jpg

    #2 separate question: as I wrap up the rear suspension, there are two 1" hex head bolts, washers and nylon lock nuts, which were listed in the traction-lok bracket fastener pack. Extra parts make me uneasy. Any idea what these are for?

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