as title.. ron chassis.........my chassis is arriving at the weekend so i'm on the hunt for some bits to make a start...cant decide if i should make the withbones or just buy a kit from the likes of rally design
and was wandering what the options are for suspension and axles etc.??

Having bought a "Book Chassis" you're limited to live axle as per "book" unless you do a few
mods to it.

Options are:

1-Live axle

2-DeDion which has changes to the lower rear rails and additional diff mounts.

3-IRS needing fairly major chassis mods, additional diff mounts and wishbones instead of trailing arms.

4-Watts linkage with similar mods to DeDion.


Pros and cons for all the above but nowt wrong with the good old tried and trusted
live axle.

so what are my options for a live axle...escort...capri...cortina ?? i'm still awaiting the arrival of my BOOK in the post...lol

[Edited on 23/10/08 by KAMBO]

ok, escort axle is narrowest and lightest of the live axles.

capri axle is wider and means you can fit wider wheels easier and use wider arches - its all dependent on what offset wheels you get, but by getting he wider axle you've got more options (or potentially cheaper options).

cortina .... think its a smidgen wider / heavier than capri but really not sure.

What do you intend doing with the car? driving the streets, sprinting, track days, racing?

What engine do you want? crossflow, zetec, something else, bike engined (spit)?

Those help define the best axle for you.

The English axle (most Mk1/2 Escorts) is the one to go for unless you are going to be running stupid amounts of power.

the car will just be for road use so escort or capri axle looks like a good bet...are there any modifications needed to either axle to fit ?

capri needs a slight mod, its a little wider at the nose (the bit the prop attaches too). I found that by moving the 19mm bits of steel that go from the floor to the middle bar on the rear bulkhead i got enough room. How far did i move them? Well exactly 19mm towards the outside of the car - which means your panels are all the same as before but just go on different faces of the steel.

This is how I did mine