Upgraded and Improved Front Suspension

[content22207]

Stock DeLorean front suspensions suffer from many design weaknesses:
1) Lower control arms are made from low grade 16 gauge steel (basically the same type and thickness of steel typically reserved for fenders and door skins), making them very rust prone
2) Lower control arms are stamped and folded, creating stress weak points
3) Lower control arms are very narrow, even narrower at the point of pivot, making them very liable to fore/aft movement
4) Lower control arms are only held in alignment by the sway bar (which is not what sway bars are intended to do -- a bit like using a closet rod to hold up the wall of your house). DeLorean sway bars are very flexible in the fore/aft direction, especially given their shape (45 degree angles), which allows significant fore/aft lower control arm movement
5) Lower control arm themselves have very little resistance to torquing and warping. Bends at the bottom of each side only resist misshaping front to rear, not the arm twisting around itself. Boxing the arm in does alleviate this weakness somewhat. Note that the entire arm can not be boxed in without blocking ball joint and shock absorber access -- mostly only the area shock absorber and the pivot bolt can be boxed in (the narrowest part of the arm), plus a little sliver between the shock absorber and the ball joint.

Both of my cars have upgraded and improved front suspensions: Byrne Heninger's lower control arms *AND* Ed Uding's support brackets. To the best of my knowledge only one other owner is running this combo.

Byrne's lower control arms are welded together, not bent and folded. He uses high strength alloy steel, not low carbon steel. Most of the arm is 1/8" thick except for the ball joint pad and the spring perch, which are 1/4" thick.

Ed's support brackets are made from 1/4" thick alloy steel. While they do not transform the lower control arm completely into a lower wishbone, they come pretty damn close (helluva lot closer than the OEM design).

The combined effect is revolutionary. To date, eight other owners have test driven my car, every single one of whom evaluated its upgraded and improved front suspension better than stock. Some of those owners are on this forum and are invited to give their own objective opinion.

Irrespective of improved performance, my upgraded and improved front suspension is much more durable than stock. I do not ever anticipate any sort of failure whatsoever.

1,000 miles after installation:
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...08450166_n.jpg
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...68352523_n.jpg
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...03984250_n.jpg
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...33343848_n.jpg

2,000 miles after installation (dirtier, but otherwise unchanged):
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...89650161_n.jpg
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...19817693_n.jpg
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...67700757_n.jpg
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...35141433_n.jpg

Some naysayers in other forums have claimed that my upgraded and improved front suspension is going to rip the swaybar off the crumple extension -- palpable nonsense. The sway bar is incredibly bendy fore/aft (see original design weakness 4 above). If you have any doubt how bendy the sway bar is, take yours off your car and flex it. Nevertheless, I have turned my bushings around backwards so the swaybar presses into an empty space rather than into solid rubber:
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...35141433_n.jpg
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...47237322_n.jpg

Six months later the sway bar mounts have yet to rip themselves off the crumple extension:
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...26120052_n.jpg
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...39163264_n.jpg

Ed's brackets are usually butted against the shock towers themselves (pivot bolt tube weld beads nestle inside his bushings). This makes them rather squeaky. It also tears up the finish if you've repainted your towers. I butted my brackets instead against C40 hardened steel washers:
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...07230671_n.jpg
http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...25875578_n.jpg
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...60675223_n.jpg
Because the washers rotate while the bushings stay still, they are totally silent. The washers are made of hardened steel, so the pivot bolt tubes will not eat into them as they rotate.

If you look closely you will also notice that I overlaid the outer lip of Ed's bushings with stainless fender washers. Ed supplies inset washers that will prevent the bolt from pulling through the bushing, but not the bushing itself from pulling through the bracket (only the bushing lip prevents that). This is what the original design looks like without fender washers (Luke Sandel's car -- the only other owner I know of running both Byrne's arms and Ed's brackets):
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...74182591_n.jpg

I also substituted Grade 8 bolts for the Grade 5 bolts supplied with Ed's brackets (I needed longer bolts anyway to accommodate the hardened steel washers mentioned above).

Anyway, that's what $1,000 will buy you: a bullet proof front suspension that revolutionizes handling and performance.

Quote from an owner who test drove my car at DMA FFT'11: "It feels like a modern car now."

Bill Robertson
#5939

[Squall67584]

Great idea! Definitely an upgrade I would do. Thanks for sharing!

[QuadcityDMC]

I just had mine done at DMCMW with Byrne Heninger's lower control arms but did not get the supports because of possiable "future" damage to the frame. Spax shocks, DMCH springs.

I only have 400 miles on my suspension

[sean]

but did not get the supports because of possiable "future" damage to the frame.

Can you expand on this?

[Delorean Industries]

Stock DeLorean front suspensions suffer from many design weaknesses:
1) Lower control arms are made from low grade 16 gauge steel (basically the same type and thickness of steel typically reserved for fenders and door skins), making them very rust prone
2) Lower control arms are stamped and folded, creating stress weak points
3) Lower control arms are very narrow, even narrower at the point of pivot, making them very liable to fore/aft movement
4) Lower control arms are only held in alignment by the sway bar (which is not what sway bars are intended to do -- a bit like using a closet rod to hold up the wall of your house). DeLorean sway bars are very flexible in the fore/aft direction, especially given their shape (45 degree angles), which allows significant fore/aft lower control arm movement
5) Lower control arm themselves have very little resistance to torquing and warping. Bends at the bottom of each side only resist misshaping front to rear, not the arm twisting around itself. Boxing the arm in does alleviate this weakness somewhat. Note that the entire arm can not be boxed in without blocking ball joint and shock absorber access -- mostly only the area shock absorber and the pivot bolt can be boxed in (the narrowest part of the arm), plus a little sliver between the shock absorber and the ball joint.

Both of my cars have upgraded and improved front suspensions: Byrne Heninger's lower control arms *AND* Ed Uding's support brackets. To the best of my knowledge only one other owner is running this combo.

Byrne's lower control arms are welded together, not bent and folded. He uses high strength alloy steel, not low carbon steel. Most of the arm is 1/8" thick except for the ball joint pad and the spring perch, which are 1/4" thick.

Ed's support brackets are made from 1/4" thick alloy steel. While they do not transform the lower control arm completely into a lower wishbone, they come pretty damn close (helluva lot closer than the OEM design).

The combined effect is revolutionary. To date, eight other owners have test driven my car, every single one of whom evaluated its upgraded and improved front suspension better than stock. Some of those owners are on this forum and are invited to give their own objective opinion.

Irrespective of improved performance, my upgraded and improved front suspension is much more durable than stock. I do not ever anticipate any sort of failure whatsoever.

1,000 miles after installation:
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...08450166_n.jpg
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...68352523_n.jpg
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...03984250_n.jpg
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...33343848_n.jpg

2,000 miles after installation (dirtier, but otherwise unchanged):
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...89650161_n.jpg
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...19817693_n.jpg
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...67700757_n.jpg
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...35141433_n.jpg

Some naysayers in other forums have claimed that my upgraded and improved front suspension is going to rip the swaybar off the crumple extension -- palpable nonsense. The sway bar is incredibly bendy fore/aft (see original design weakness 4 above). If you have any doubt how bendy the sway bar is, take yours off your car and flex it. Nevertheless, I have turned my bushings around backwards so the swaybar presses into an empty space rather than into solid rubber:
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...35141433_n.jpg
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...47237322_n.jpg

Six months later the sway bar mounts have yet to rip themselves off the crumple extension:
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...26120052_n.jpg
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...39163264_n.jpg

Ed's brackets are usually butted against the shock towers themselves (pivot bolt tube weld beads nestle inside his bushings). This makes them rather squeaky. It also tears up the finish if you've repainted your towers. I butted my brackets instead against C40 hardened steel washers:
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...07230671_n.jpg
http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...25875578_n.jpg
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...60675223_n.jpg
Because the washers rotate while the bushings stay still, they are totally silent. The washers are made of hardened steel, so the pivot bolt tubes will not eat into them as they rotate.

If you look closely you will also notice that I overlaid the outer lip of Ed's bushings with stainless fender washers. Ed supplies inset washers that will prevent the bolt from pulling through the bushing, but not the bushing itself from pulling through the bracket (only the bushing lip prevents that). This is what the original design looks like without fender washers (Luke Sandel's car -- the only other owner I know of running both Byrne's arms and Ed's brackets):
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...74182591_n.jpg

I also substituted Grade 8 bolts for the Grade 5 bolts supplied with Ed's brackets (I needed longer bolts anyway to accommodate the hardened steel washers mentioned above).

Anyway, that's what $1,000 will buy you: a bullet proof front suspension that revolutionizes handling and performance.

Quote from an owner who test drove my car at DMA FFT'11: "It feels like a modern car now."

Bill Robertson
#5939

That's no crumple zone.... That's a battering ram.

[opethmike]

That's no crumple zone.... That's a battering ram.

[rundmc]

Just make sure you have Heninger verify the measurements on the LCAs he is about to send against an OEM set before he ships them.

Mine were too short at the ball joint end, and I didn't find out until they were on the car and my wheels were skewed. Fortunately it was evident before tires ever touched the ground, but even still it was very frustrating. Currently operating my OEM arms, but want a suitable upgrade at some point.

[Kenny_Z]

That's no crumple zone.... That's a battering ram.

I don't see how reinforcing the suspension in these photos is changing that section from crumple to battering. The crumple zone is the sheetmetal. To me this is basically the same as putting boxed control arms and a bigger sway bar on a modern Camaro.

Besides, lowering springs are just as much a safety concern. You've just dropped the car's bumper below 1981's DOT regulations.

[Jeff K]

Bill, can you please profile links to obtain the two items you mention.

Thanks!

[jangell]

I can do that for him:

DMC Europe for the brackets:
http://www.delorean.eu/catalog/produ...163616c953eca3

DeLorean Upgrade Parts for the lower control arm: http://deloreannewparts.com/store/page12.html

I'm thinking of doing this myself, since I need to do a front frame extension replacement this fall, and I'll already have everything off the front of the car.

-- Joe