HALP! Need ideas for a crazy racing suspension!

[Spas]

Argh, this is driving me insane! I know what a 4 link is (and mostly how it works), but I see them predominantly used for off roading. I've heard of a suspension style called Ladder bar (I think. It was ladder something). Any of you lovelies out there wanna give the ol' Spasticat a crash course on race suspensions, complete with pretty diagrams??

My 2 door little guy's frame is getting completely cut off from just in front of where the leaf springs mount. I will have a notched and narrowed rear half fabbed up by S&W to clear some wide @$$ stickies and shockwave bagged shocks. These shocks are monitored something like twice a second by an onboard digital processor. Total drop will be only 3" or so, none of that slammed-to-the-ground stuff. I'm losing the back seat to make room for the tubbed floor. This suspension has to be able to keep the rear axle firmly planted with 400+ ft/lbs of torque shooting through it, but still have flexibility to tackle hard corners at speed. SUGGESTIONS PLZ, THANK YEW!!!

 

[IZwack]

A ladder bar, applied to street use, is pretty much a composite radius arm. IMO, the major disadvantage of a radius arm when it comes to power is its anti-squat percentage relative to the vehicle's center of gravity height is often not where it should be (too low). Therefore, when you gun the skinny pedal and you get the torque to the pavement, the car will have a tendency to squat. On a road course, as a road car terminates a turn, it begins to accelerate and a ladder bar's geometry (having a low instant center) will actually try to tip the vehicle over towards the outside of the turn. On the other hand, a 3 or 4 link system can be set up (depending on chassis design) so that the anti-squat is close to 100% which means that the bars' torsional influence on the chassis is near zero and the vehicle is more balanced and controllable. Think of pushing a fridge, if you push it too low, it will just flop and kill the pusher. But push it near the center of gravity, and its all good.

 

[Spas]

Thanks for the explanation, Iz.. had to read it three times but I finally got it, lol. --> has large vocabulary, but only in terms of poetic writing So 4 link it should be? This is a kit that S&W makes for S-10's (they've never had an Explorer before, go figure ) It looks a lot like what I picture for my build.

However, I read this tidbit on Popular Hot Rodding that says "This (3 link) design allows for optimum roll steer and is adjustable by relocating the top link up or down in height. A three-link can increase anti-squat, which improves weight transfer and traction. It also eliminates the bind found in many four-link suspensions."

The downside to a 3 link is that the upper link will generally cause an intrusion into the bottom of the vehicle, necessitating tubs or body modifying. Which I'm planning on doing anyway