Galant suspension set-up

[mic_77]

Ok what I need to know is there anything that can be done to the galant to make them handle somewhat, is it worth putting in a watts link or anything like that for the rear end. I allready have caltracs and upgraded leafs for the rear not sure on specs also what is needed in the front end at the moment everything I have is stock I dont mind putting in coilovers and the like. I would like it to be reasonable on the street but would also like to do a few track days and just generally enjoy the car.


cheers Mic

[A112H]

Check my build thread, it is getting pretty long but in there somewhere is the info on my coil over set up, lol
http://sigma-galant.com/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=622

[astronturbo77]

change the galant cross member out and fit a la lancer one (minium mods required), this gets rid of the galant A shaped lower control arms and allows for better castor adjustment without dodgey shims.

Extend the track, bigger front sway bar would be a huge improvement, but of camber, differnet spring rates to suit the car, possibly coilovers if you are willing to make them, better shocks, and roll center adjusters.

[BIG26L]

I would suggest adding a panhard rod instead of a watts link in the rear. A watts link will bind up when used with leaf springs.

Front end has been covered else where......... but I would suggest swapping the controls arms L to R and vice versa for a bit of extra castor ( you'll neeed to trim the guards).
Approx spring rates around 250lbs if its a saturn powered and around 325lbs of its astron or evo turbo powered. Commodore koni/bilsteins in GH sigma struts and a set of adjustable commodore strut tops and your in the ball park for a decent handling galant.

[Rally_2.6LC]

swapping control arms L to R??? havent heard this done before.
Any good doing it on the LC rally car AC?


Cheers Matt

[davetrees]

Any good doing it on the LC rally car ?

No ... it's a Galant thing (ie. with A-arms).

They aren't equilateral triangles, so swapping them L-> R gives more castor. Of course you also have to relocate the swaybar mounts as well.

[davetrees]

I would suggest adding a panhard rod

A friend of mine I used to navigate for had done this in his LA rally car ... made a big difference to the handling. He later added a set of track rods to the rear axle as well - goodbye axle tramp

[BIG26L]

I used to run in my old IPRA LA and a pair of upper links running rearwards......... Correct, big difference

I'm just having the same done to my LC tarmac rally car that i'm building atm......

Matt, You own a Galant and Lancer! I'm guessing you haven't much of a look at both front ends??????

Oh, and before I forget...... you may need to unbolt the Caltracs for circuit work as well. They don't like going around corners very well.

[kenvv]

are the rear leafs and struts the same between the GC and GD sedans? my rear sits too low for comfortable daily driving (slamming bump stops every little dip)
i expect that the suspension is just worn or something and has sagged as there isnt any lowering blocks and the springs arent flipped.

so looking to replace either struts or leafs or both if needed but im unsure wether to use second hand leafs + lowering blocks or order some reset lowered+stiffer leafs

[astronturbo77]

standard la lancer leaf springs contain just one leaf from memory? been a while since ive seen a standard leaf pack. the front struts between GC-GD are the same.

Im going to setup a adjustable panhard rod in the rear of my lancer.. ive heard good things as long as the bar is completley horizontal at ride height..

I can see the castor difference by swapping the galant A arms left to right, but id rather adapt a la crossmember, i asked if they fitted a while back, there is a thread on here about it, think Mbrallying had done it?

[Rally_2.6LC]

I'm just having the same done to my LC tarmac rally car that i'm building atm......

Approx how much this cost? rekon I could get it engineered for the road if I too did this.............or would just a panard rod suffice?

Matt, You own a Galant and Lancer! I'm guessing you haven't much of a look at both front ends??????

blonde moment
(could have covered myself by saying it was a typo and meant to say GC....but thought i would admit stupidity instead haha)


Cheers Matt

[davenq]

I thought CalTracs were mainly for drags?,stopping diff rotation?...haven't heard of them for track use???

[davetrees]

i expect that the suspension is just worn or something and has sagged as there isnt any lowering blocks and the springs arent flipped.

so looking to replace either struts or leafs or both if needed but im unsure wether to use second hand leafs + lowering blocks or order some reset lowered+stiffer leafs

Just take them to a spring place & get them re-set ... why would you want lowering blocks anyway ?

(but then again I think lowered cars generally look silly .... and it does basically nothing to improve handling ..... but that's probably just me !)

[davetrees]

I thought CalTracs were mainly for drags?

Excuse my ignorance, but WTF is a Caltrac ?

[davetrees]

ive heard good things as long as the bar is completlley horizontal at ride height

That doesn't sound right to me ..... surely you want the panhard rod horizontal at maximum suspension compression, otherwise you are just reducing your suspension travel ?

[mic_77]

http://projectautos.com/images/69-camar ... racs-2.jpg

Yes they are for drag racing and they are easy to remove so they will not be an issue.

I like what I am hearing I will definately give the L-R R-L A arms a go more castor can't hurt. Also are the commodore strut tops a direct bolt in.


cheers Mic

[astronturbo77]

if it was horizontal at max suspension travel then at ride height it would be trying to twist the leaf packs sideways.. the panhard rod should theroiticaly be as long as possible so it has a small arc of rotation when going up and down if that makes sense

[davetrees]

Understand where you are coming from .... just most I have seen are still slightly angled at normal height. Deoends a lot on where each end of the bar is mounted, of course.

It shouldn't twist the spring pack (it would normally be mounted to body & axle housing) but does tend to try & push the axle housing sideways.

[astronturbo77]

sorry thats what i ment, pushes it sideways to a extent

[BIG26L]

Strut tops are the same as sigma, which is the same as early commodore.

Caltrac's are modern day tramp rods. They stop the S motion of the leaf spring between the front spring mount and diff spring mount when under load.

Panhard rod will put a small side load on the spring pack, as it moves in an arc over the range of the suspension travel. But nowhere as much as if there was no panhard rod at all.

Matt, I will let you know costs when its done..........But on your budget, I spend your money else where.

[karl_2ltgc]

I have a panhard rod in the back of my galant, its from a R31 sklyine. I welded a bolt onto the drivers side leaf plate for one mount, the other I made a mount out of RHS to go on the chassis rail on passenger side. Improvement in handling is rediculous, can get on the power HEAPS earlier out of a corner, slides 10x more predictably and the car feels heaps tighter than before with more grip all the time. Also launches straighter.

The bar aint straight, buts its long, and due to the bigger scorp diff and 3" exhaust space is very limited and is the best it can be(more or less). Also it was damn cheap and quite easy. Mount was made from scrap RHS i had on the shed floor, panhard rod cost me $40 at wreckers and then it was just a couple of nuts and bolts. I reckon probably took me day(never done one before) and half the day was laying under the car thinking of were/how I would do it.

Dont stress about bars not being straight blah blah blah... just having some lateral location of the diff outweighs all of that, especially if your talking big(ish) power/tyres.

[75wagon]

Just to throw something else in there, what about the rear set up on this?