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Originally Posted by Lowell W
Does anyone feel like addressing the issue of only one control arm on the rear suspension with the Jag-based IRS here? To me, it seems like a cause for concern but apparently many people are OK with using the axle as the upper control arm.
I believe the original cars had upper and lower arms and a couple of the replicas have upper and lower arms but with the exception of the Kirkham cars, I think they're based on the Ford IRS. ERA's optional rear suspension may also have upper and lower arms; I can't recall.
Aren't you guys afraid of losing a U-joint and having the wheel flop up under the car? Or isn't this a real problem?
I don't mean to denigrate anyone's engineering or choice of cars here; I just thought this might be a place to ask for opinions on this issue.
Thanks,
Lowell
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As Pat Buckley mentioned above, Unique uses two rear trailing links/bars to stabilize the diff and half-shafts under loads. It forms a strong triangle with the differential and half shafts being the triangle's base. The apex of triangle is bolted to the rear-most chassis cross brace. The "pumpkin box" is reinforced with a steel plate over the original Jag design.
On both the ERA and the Unique IRS designs, it is rare to ever hear of a broken half-shaft or differential, and, of course, these cars tend to be exposed to many smokey, standing starts during their lifetimes.
I wish I could say the same for the Corvette C5/C6 design. There have already been number of half-shaft failures on the new C6/Z06.