RE: Toby TAB alternative

["Darryl Tinnerstet" <darryl@xxxx>]

Shannon said "I recently learned of a bracket support for the TABs that Dave Bauerle in Radnor, OH has made for his own cars & clients of his in the past." 

A word of caution here - think about the geometry of the rear suspension. The trailing arm twists as it moves up and down, due to the upper and lower links being different length. This is what keeps the "contact patch" of the tire in the same spot as it moves up and down, and is the main reason for the rubber bushing the TAB goes through. Any bracket that firmly captures the outer end of the bolt is going to force the arm itself to twist, not something you want to do. If the bracket is only intended to capture the arm if the bolt fails that would be different, but I doubt that's the case. 1963-1983 Corvettes put the rubber bushing in the end of the arm and supported the bolt at both ends, but our setup is unfortunately inferior to that. And this is precisely why Toby chose to engineer a super bolt that would not bend or break. 

I seriously considered marketing a bracket like this myself, without knowing Dave even had one, but passed due to the problem noted above. I haven't actually seen Dave's bracket, but similar ones were available years ago, and there's a good reason they weren't widely used. If you need further proof, check out the new stainless steel frames. I believe they use a modified trailing arm that puts the bushing in the arm, ala Corvette.


Darryl Tinnerstet
Specialty Automotive
McCleary, WA
www.delorean-parts.com



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