Getting a few upgrades to the old pile this winter and wondering if a I should upgrade to a wishbone. My car has a diagonal link track locator. The chassis shop suggested upgrading it. Any advantages or disadvantages to switching to a wishbone? 4 link car running 4.90's -5.0's never any issues to this point.

X link

Hmm, never seen that I guess. I may talk to them about that as well.

quote:

Originally posted by WHOMPWHOMP:
X link

quote:

Originally posted by WHOMPWHOMP:
X link

What's the hot ticket, X link or floating X link?

We have a floating X link on #MEAN GREEN Ray Miller produces.

I had a wishbone on my Vega that I bought in 1985
It was built with one long before I bought the car and was a 3 Link
I changed it to a 4 link
One stud mounted in the bottom of the Dana rear on the wishbone with a 3/4" heim joint
I did not like it....and it loosened up once and I felt the car moving around a little and caught it before big trouble

My Racetech dragster had a wishbone mounted on the bottom of the Ford 9"
I rebuilt the slide once but never liked that style
Some dragsters have the wishbone on top and to me that is way better because you see it and its right there in view often

I swapped my wishbone out for a rigid X-link
No noticable difference but maybe a tad more stable....could easily be just imagined

The sliding X-link is the best design.....Vanishing Point Race Cars built door cars with those and they used to sell an add on model

The X can slide a little on the 4 link bars and allow a little more independent movement of the lower bars

My X was chromed.....as was all my bars....Purty and functional

X-link on both my door car and dragster. Wouldn’t have it any other way.

I'll definitely talk to the shop about the x link. I guess now question is, is it a good upgrade from the diagonal or waste of time and money?

xlink is stronger for sure.have you had any bent heims. if not ??????

quote:

Originally posted by inferno camaro:
I'll definitely talk to the shop about the x link. I guess now question is, is it a good upgrade from the diagonal or waste of time and money?

Zero chance for a failure. If I were going 4.90 Super Pro bracket racing a door slammer, I'd have a floating X link, no question.

I'd vote X link also, not a fan of the floating deal though. After welding to the sleeves over the 4 link bars it's not so floating! Both work though. Pick your poison.

worn wishbone can be scary , x-link for sure ...

No sir, never an issue. It's getting a couple other things done and was just a suggestion from the chassis shop.

quote:

Originally posted by rusty:
xlink is stronger for sure.have you had any bent heims. if not ??????

Is this what you guys are discussing? Which is preferred?

If I was building a new car from scratch I would go with the X link. But since you already own the car I would not waste the time or money to change it from diagonal link. There will really be very little if any changes or improvements by making that change. The strength of side cornering loads is about the same with diagonal bar and wishbone but X-link is much stronger there. We run straight line.
The advantage of a Wishbone over a diagonal bar is minimal. As suspension extends with Diagonal bar it pulls rear end a little to one side as it goes through arc. A wishbone does not. It is not much and nothing to worry about. A wishbone tends to have a little more slop in it and is something else to come loose or break. X-link is more solid, the ones on many dragsters now is large tube, solid welded so there is no twist or flex.
If you did go to the X link then I would make sure you have a good solid Anti-Roll bar up top so the suspension does not get in a bind.

In the past we built our cars where the rear shocks worked separate allowing more body roll but now we are moving towards making the rear move as one with X-links and Anti roll bars.
I think the performance advantage if any is minimal but I do like the way newer cars leave with both wheels up almost same instead of left front wheel much higher.

There are other things to but the difference is minimal and I would not waste the money to change it. My opinion.

quote:

Originally posted by CURTIS REED:
Is this what you guys are discussing? Which is preferred?

Most dragster X-Links are rigid welded

The top picture is the Vanishing Point design, I believe that he sold......

I had zero problems with my rigid welded X from RaceTech and set the suspension exactly as I was told to by them....

A

The wishbone became necessary when radial tire racing became popular due to the rear separation needed. A typical big tire super gas/bracket car wouldn’t need it unless you are building a new car or a new rear end I would bother changing.

Thanks for all the info and opinions, all are appreciated.

Well it is after Thanksgiving now, but if you get the big portion of the wishbone, legend has it you'll have good luck............

I have used more of a K link instead of X with sliders and it works very well. Far better than a normal track locator imo.

quote:

Originally posted by inferno camaro:
Any advantages or disadvantages to switching to a wishbone? 4 link car running 4.90's -5.0's never any issues to this point.

why fix what ain't broken? No advantage on your car and only disadvantages as has been mentioned.