[DML] Upgraded Front Suspension: Once & For All

["content22207" <brobertson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I just received a tersely worded eMail accusing me of not answering honest questions about my upgraded front suspension. That is of course utter nonsense -- I have answered every question posed. It's all there -- look it up (I am supposed to be putting the finishing touches on yet another carb conversion right now, so I don't have time to research every time and date, but I will do so after the sun sets). This is a recap:

Q: Why did you upgrade your front suspension?
A: Because the OEM design performs badly and is failure prone.

Q: Did you make the upgrade components yourself?
A: No, I purchased them from reputable DeLorean vendors.

Q: Did you install both upgraded lower control arms and outer support brackets?
A: Yes.

Q: Are you the first owner to install that combination?
A: No, Luke Sandel did the same thing last year. To the best of my knowledge he was the first.

Q: Is there anything unique about your installation then?
A: Yes -- I butted my outer support brackets against hardened steel washers rather than against the shock towers. I also overlaid the bracket bushings with fender washers. To the best of my knowledge I am the first owner to do this.

Q: Does your upgraded suspension allow for the sway bar to arc?
A: Yes. I turned my front mounting bushings around so the sway bar presses into an empty space. The sway bar itself also deflects (which BTW is why it is such an unsuitable device to hold the lower control arms still in the first place -- sway bars are sway bars, not thrust arms. To be brutally honest, using a sway bar to hold the lower control arms still is every bit as stupid as using drive axles to support a rear hub carrier).

Q: Do you have pictures of your installation?
A: Yes, they are public domain on my Facebook page. I recently added a picture of Luke Sandel's installation too.

Q: How does your upgraded front suspension perform?
A: Awesomely. It runs circles around an OEM installation.

Q: Do you have independent verification of your suspension's awesomeness?
A: Yes, six other owners drove my car at DMA FFT'11 and proclaimed the suspension better than OEM, including an owner with boxed lower control arms (as Martin Gutkowski correctly noted, boxing the LCA's accomplishes virtually nothing, other than exposing already weak parts to heat damage from welding). 

Q: Is your upgraded front suspension more durable than OEM?
A: Yes. OEM lower control arms are made of low grade 16 gauge sheet metal -- basically the same stuff fenders are made of. That is why they are so flexible and failure prone. My lower control arms are made of 1/8" thick high carbon steel (spring perch is 1/4" thick and the ball joint pad is 1/2" thick). My arms are also welded up, which means they have no bend stresses like OEM arms do. 

Q: What if someone sues you for upgrading your front suspension?
A: What if someone sues me for leaving the failure prone OEM suspension in place? What if someone sues me for letting my dog poop in their yard? What if someone sues me for defamation of character for telling them they are an idiot? If someone is going to sue me, they are going to sue me. There is nothing I can legally do to prevent it.

Q: What about that carburetor sitting on top of your engine?
A: Please keep your questions focused on my upgraded front suspension.

Q: Are you hijacking the DML?
A: No.

Q: Are you a backyard or shade tree mechanic?
A: No, I work in my front yard, and I have no shade since that humongous pine tree was cut down this spring after it dropped a limb on my DeLorean for the second time (I still piss on its stump from time to time just to let it know who won).

Q: Who is going to win Super Bowl XLVI?
A: Not the Panthers.

Etc.

Bill Robertson
#5939




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