IRS, Pan Hard or Watts. Whats the best?

[itsnotanova]

I've been looking into what to do to the rear suspension of my malibu. The harder I look the more confussed I get. I want to have killer handling with a three inch drop and it has to be on a budget of less than $2000. I keep reading that the stock suspension sucks the lower you go. I have to go low, no buts about it! Because of that, I think that eliminates a watts system. I've also read that the pan hard will bind up too. This leaves me the IRS. This is very tempting to me, because I would get disc brakes along with killer handling and the ability to adjust my ride height. Right now I have an 8.5 axle with boxed rear arms and hotchkis springs. If I went the IRS route I could recoup some of my expences by selling the rear suspension but if I could go the other ways I could spend less on a less complicated system and still end up with what I'm looking for.

PS...I'm handy with a mig welder, but I'm not taking the body off the frame to get what I'm looking for.f

 

[megaladon6]

http://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=46556
sc&c always has some good stuff and this system should be pretty damn good. if nothing else i'd give marcus a call and see what he recommends. killer handling-i'm assuming you want race track level-- is going to take a lot of PROPERLY matched parts and is going to have to be everything.
as of yet, i haven't seen an IRS system for a g-body.

 

[itsnotanova]

There's a guy down the street from me who put a corvette IRS in his Ranchero and it looks to be a simple fab job. Weld a braket here, weld a braket there and presto! He said it wasn't overly difficult. Of course his shop does some highend custom stuff. I saw some post on protouring.com where Marcus said his watts system doesn't really work for lowered vehicles. I'll call him when time comes and see if he has any other ideas. I'm just curiuos what people here think or have experienced and yes I'm looking for near race car handling. If SCCA cars are a 10, then I'm looking for 7 or 8. Something that would go head to head with exotic sports cars.

 

[Silent viewer]

how about this C5 Corvette Z06 rear suspension on a 2+2. i am thinking this may be a future option for one of my g bodies... this is a pretty sick build up

http://www.classicresto.com/mambo/content/view/96/43/

 

[pose_442]

What about a 68-82 Corvette IRS rearend? Comes with rear discs, 3.70:1 gearing, and should be somewhat easy to come by.

 

[itsnotanova]

The C5 rear looks a lot more complicated than I want to get into. I can't wait to see the finished product on that 2+2. That thing is going to be BADASS!! The C4 rear looks like it might be easier to get and install, but I am open to the C3 or jag rear. With me it's all about the biggest bang for the buck. That's why I'm open to watts or pan-hard if they can be dialed in.

 

[andrewmp6]

from what i know and seen from handling a irs is only good for a smooth ride nothing more.The best handling set up i seen is a 3 link with a watts link.A panhard bar is only good for drag racing nothing else it lacks the movement you get with a watts link.The g body has a triangulated 4 bar which is ok for handling if you lose the stock control arms that flex.If you can get the upper control arms with a Spherical rod ends and put a watts link on which http://www.scandc.com/ carries and talk to them they know how to make anything handle great.

 

[megaladon6]

a properly set up IRS will easily out handle a solid axle. which is why most, if not all, extreme high performance cars (porsche, corvette, ferrari, aston martin, etc) use one. just like up front, you want the wheels to react to the forces they are under, not the forces on the other wheel.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

I would not use the Corvette or Jag suspensions because they are an inferior design. They use the half shaft as the upper arm instead of having a dedicated link. I believe it's a variation of the 40+ year old semi-trailing arm design.

 

[jonnyslick]

I'm sure the IRS would be the "best" option. But when you put cost and fabrication into play the Watts link rear is an amazing thing for cheap.