Who wants a Z&M Watts link?

[Petrograde]

Zack & Mac control arms may help while launching, but for cornering you need a beefier Watts link.

In another thread Mac asked who was interested in an upgraded Watts link.

Well,.... I am!!! :bounce:

Who else?

Tom

[CRUZTAKER]

Hey Tom...I do too, but the poll that counts is in the OTHER thread!

[Petrograde]

there's a poll there? I haven't seen it...

you forgot to vote YES Barry.... :lol:

[CRUZTAKER]

OK, maybe I'm losing my mind...likely :beer:


Hurry up and edit this post to have a poll!

[martyo]

I am sure that Zack & Mac are going to want to do the Watts link as soon as possible so that some of the members can dump all over them as soon as possible like when teh Control Arms were announced.....Hey, I have an idea, why don't we just start bashing Zack & Mac now????

[Petrograde]

OK, maybe I'm losing my mind...likely :beer:


Hurry up and edit this post to have a poll!

:lol: SCROLL UP! :lol:

[Petrograde]

lol Marty,... yeah,... you just can't please some people.

Well,... I have faith in Z&M.

Tom

[CRUZTAKER]

I voted...but man Tom....no public view option:shake:

Trust me, I always have something to whine about. :lol:

[Petrograde]

I voted...but man Tom....no public view option:shake:

Trust me, I always have something to whine about. :lol:

I would've,... but, I didn't see the option. :( Maybe I went through it too fast.

I just tried to edit for that,..... no dice... Hey Logan or LML... how 'bout some help?

Tom

[Zack]

Well our fabricator is in the process of moving to a larger facility, so we're gonna hold off putting this ball in motion for another month or so.
I bought a Marauder Wats-Link for him to inspect and he agrees there is room for improvement.
We'll get it done and besides, I thrive on the negativity of new and improved parts for our cars.
:uzi: Ignorance

[Petrograde]

I bought a Marauder Wats-Link for him to inspect and he agrees there is room for improvement.
We'll get it done and besides, I thrive on the negativity of new and improved parts for our cars.
:uzi: Ignorance

WOO HOO!! :bounce: Thanks bro!

as far as the negativity,... perhaps they'll change their tune once they start reading our performance reviews! :up:

Tom

[MERCMAN]

OK. I have to ask, what the schizz is a watts link, I just drive the damn car,, help me out here wrench-heads!! :lol:

[JohnE]

They're on my wish list. I'm in the process of building a new engine, then comes tranny & tc. Funds are allocated for a little while...

Good idea guys.


John

[Ross]

OK. I have to ask, what the schizz is a watts link, I just drive the damn car,, help me out here wrench-heads!! :lol:


What mercman said.

[Dave Compson]

Sure i would like one (a watts link) but i need to get a driveshaft, and other goodies first. Dosent mean i dont want them also though.

[Haggis]

Here is an e-mail that I received from Mac explaining the "Watts" link.


"A "Watts" link is the cross member that controls the air suspension. Next
time you're under the car, you'll see it running across the car (left to right)
connecting the differential to the air suspension. Those two arms are the
same quality as the OEM control arms. They do not control the rear end in the
same way, but the put up with a lot of up and down movement, and Mike is
considering a solid bar similar to the control arms. Again, this is not as critical,
Gordon, but it's still a weak spot, and round tube would look cool."

[Fourth Horseman]

I hate to say it, but I don't think my finances are going to allow for the trip to Indy in the summer, the stage 1 upgrade and all the nifty Z&M rear suspension upgrades. *sigh* If I can find a mod-friendly dealer I'll probably have to put stage 1 on the front burner and wait a bit on the Z&M stuff. Hope I don't miss out on them. I need to win the lottery.

[teamrope]

I hate to say it, but I don't think my finances are going to allow for the trip to Indy in the summer, the stage 1 upgrade and all the nifty Z&M rear suspension upgrades. *sigh* If I can find a mod-friendly dealer I'll probably have to put stage 1 on the front burner and wait a bit on the Z&M stuff. Hope I don't miss out on them. I need to win the lottery.
You're not bailing out on me are ya? (But then if gas hits $3 a gal. I might have to bail too.) Maybe we can rob a couple of vending macines on the way to help with finances
:lol: :uzi: :help: :stupid:

[SergntMac]

Here is an e-mail that I received from Mac explaining the "Watts" link. "A "Watts" link is the cross member that controls the air suspension. Next time you're under the car, you'll see it running across the car (left to right) connecting the differential to the air suspension. Those two arms are the same quality as the OEM control arms. They do not control the rear end in the same way, but the put up with a lot of up and down movement, and Mike is considering a solid bar similar to the control arms. Again, this is not as critical, Gordon, but it's still a weak spot, and round tube would look cool."
Had I known you were going to post this, I would have worded things differently. The Watts link locates the rear end housing in the center of the frame, as well as control the air suspension. It has left to right movement. as well as up and down travel. The link has four bushings of similar construction to the control arms, and one aspect Mike wants to improve on is it's range of adjustability.

[Marauder57]

OK. I have to ask, what the schizz is a watts link, I just drive the damn car,, help me out here wrench-heads!! :lol:

Could use an education on the Wats link as well...... :(

[Petrograde]

Could use an education on the Wats link as well...... :(

Click here (http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?p=113413#post11 3413)

It's very basic info, but I hope it helps!

Tom

[FordNut]

Could use an education on the Wats link as well...... :(
I'll try to explain it for ya, but with a little suspension background.

In old leaf spring rear end days, side to side motion of rear ends was not a big issue, especially for non-high performance driving so the two rear wheels moved rather independently except for the axle tying them together. This allowed a lot of body sway in corners.

For performance autocross or road racing, adding a sway bar kept the body from rolling excessively by tying the two rear wheels together with respect to distance from frame. This has to give a little so it doesn't twist the frame every time you hit a bump or dip with one rear wheel and not the other. This same principle applies to the sway bars on coil spring equipped cars.

Although the leaf springs are pretty stiff with regard to side-to-side motion, there is still a little play. This causes some changes in suspension geometry in hard corners which is hard to quantify or predict. So the panhard bar was added. This is a rigid bar which connects one side of the rear end to the opposite side of the frame. It prevents the rear end from shifting side-to-side, but it has some risk of binding or even causing some side motion in extreme suspension travel situations. The Watts link is another way to control this side motion without having the negative effects. It essentially has two panhard bars which connect the two sides of the frame together with a center link. The center link can move up and down without shifting the mounting point to either side. The center link is connected to the rear end housing.

Coil sprung cars have not needed to control this sideways motion because of the way the upper and lower control arms have been mounted. For many years, the lower control arms were in line with the frame but the upper arms were mounted at about a 45 degree angle. This functioned as both a panhard or Watts link and a control arm. The new suspension design aligns both upper and lower control arms with the frame. The rear end would move side-to-side very freely if not for a panhard bar or watts link. The Watts link has much better control and no negative effects so it is the best choice.

The fact that it is also used for a mounting point for the air suspension height sensor is irrelevant. That could be mounted anywhere on the rear end, preferrably toward the center, and it would work just fine. This is just a convenient place to mount it.

Why were the control arm angles changed? Possibly to better control axle twisting on hard acceleration. Notice how the two parallel bars look similar to ladder bars? Maybe for better handling. The Watts link is more effective at keeping the rear end centered and allowing free motion without twisting than the old control arm mounting scheme.

Anybody else feel free to add information or corrections...

[Haggis]

Had I known you were going to post this, I would have worded things differently. The Watts link locates the rear end housing in the center of the frame, as well as control the air suspension. It has left to right movement. as well as up and down travel. The link has four bushings of similar construction to the control arms, and one aspect Mike wants to improve on is it's range of adjustability.

Did not mean to step on your toes there Mac. I was just trying to be helpful to some people who asked a question. I thought your e-mail was a good way to begin, since it explained it to me in simple easy to understand way. If I caused any more grey hairs or some to say auf-wiedersein that was not my intention. I own you a scotch or two or three the next time we meet.


"As you slide down the banister of life, may the splinters never point the wrong way."

[SergntMac]

Not a problem my friend.

[Fourth Horseman]

You're not bailing out on me are ya? (But then if gas hits $3 a gal. I might have to bail too.) Maybe we can rob a couple of vending macines on the way to help with finances
:lol: :uzi: :help: :stupid:

Nope, I'm going to MVII for sure. I think I'm going to have to bail on the Z&M control arms, at least for a bit. I want my stage 1 more and I absolutely want to go to MVII.

[teamrope]

Nope, I'm going to MVII for sure. I think I'm going to have to bail on the Z&M control arms, at least for a bit. I want my stage 1 more and I absolutely want to go to MVII.
Cool! We still got the convoy going then. :D