IRS Conversion!

Well, it looks like things are finally coming together...and we might have a possible solution.

However, in order to justify the costs of further development, we'd like to, at the very least, gauge interest first.

So, with a show of hands... who'd be interested in an IRS conversion kit for your car... and how much would you be willing to pay? Please post.

Hope to hear some positive responses.

To the mods: this is non-profit right now, so please don't boot. If we do end up marketing the kit, we will become a supporting advertiser.

Daniel Keen

I dont know man, seems kind of expensive I guess for it be competitive it would have to remain around the cost of a 12 Bolt.

And it would have to hold up like a 12 bolt too. Maybe some more specifics would be helpful towards some feedback.

If it help up like a 12 bolt and worked better than the ford cobra IRS I would show GREAT interest.

If it was around the cost of a 12 bolt, and could hold the power, why not? Anything has to be better than the stock 10 bolt that can barely hold up to stock conditions.

BRAD

very interested here! it would have to cost around the price of a 12 bolt, wouldnt mind paying more just because it is a IRS. strength wise; it would just have to be stronger then the 10 bolt! IRS would be more for handling and road racing rather then drag racing so i wouldnt mind if it doesnt have the strength of a 12 bolt or 9 inch. possibly a rear like the c4 or the c5. good luck

I agree with the rest of the comments. Make it as strong as a 12 bolt and price maybe a bit more than the 12 bolt untils nad I would buy it. Now all you have to do is figure out how to make a profit at that kind of price. Good luck.

A C5 IRS can take sticky tires... Obviously you should expect to pay more for an IRS system that can take a beating like a 12 bolt and have the advantage of independant suspension. But if it is not as strong as a 12 bolt eaither a comparable price (to a 12 bolt) or lower would be in order.

yeah i wouldnt care if it isnt as strong as a 12 bolt, as long as it were stronger then the stocker. i think pricing it around a 12 bolt, asking for strength of a 12 bolt and advantages of a IRS is asking for waaaayy too much. for strength and drag racing nothing beats a solid rear axle. but IRS would greatly improve handling for road racing.

I like the idea of it being something equivalant to the C5's IRS.

Originally posted by 93formula
yeah i wouldnt care if it isnt as strong as a 12 bolt, as long as it were stronger then the stocker. i think pricing it around a 12 bolt, asking for strength of a 12 bolt and advantages of a IRS is asking for waaaayy too much. for strength and drag racing nothing beats a solid rear axle. but IRS would greatly improve handling for road racing.

perfectly stated, if you want an upgrade you're gonna "pay for it" ;)

The diff at this time is the Ford 8.8, giving a wide range of posi options and more strength than the stock 10-bolt.

My intention is to have a unit comparable to the C5 in terms of performance.

The IRS will be designed by a Cornell University graduate with a Masters in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. He has done several like projects - even pushrod actuated suspensions.

Thanks for the responses - right now we were just making sure we had some market. We're broke at the moment, so any development money is expensive to us :( Basically we wanted to make sure we could sell some before investing in some half-cars to work on this.

The Ford 9" would be nice and would be our next target, but we're not sure if we'll be able to get that to work at this time with a decent price.

Thanks,
Dan
(Sorry about the website... Time Warner has decided to not work anymore...)

so is this a go or no?

they're trying... He's just trying to see if there's interest...

hi stupid question but.. whats IRS? =)

independant rear suspension

... damn I figured it would catch that hmph sorry...:eek:

I think the 8.8 is a good foundation (at least cost wise) but I want more details about the design. And I'll be surprised if you can price it similar to a 12 bolt since there is so much more fabrication required.

I don't know how much intrest the drag guys will have but I know a lot of the road racing guys would love this as a option. I would be willing to donate my car for development if it helps at all.

E-mail me if intrested jkleve@cdrominc.com


Best Regards,
Josh

My car can be test vehicle number 2. Email me if you need a guinea pig.

Thanks, all, but being in Ithaca, NY the offers don't quite work...

That and my car will be the first guinea pig.

I'll definitely keep you updated, though!

Dan

Did anything ever happen with this?

My god man.... This thread is soooo old...... :tired:

Yeah but it is such a cool idea. :cool:

If its like C5 or Better, I will be all over it. Cost shouldn't go over 12 bolt.
I think if you can meet these requirement; You might be getting real busy $$$ :D
Please let us know

This thread is 2 years old man.

I would think that this would be a not topic.

Maybe its time to rekindle this idea

If IRS was good for drag racing, then pro stocker's would use it..irs is not good for drag racing. decent for autox, but if you want to autox seriously you shouldnt be using an fbody anyway.

save your money and buy a 12 bolt

If IRS was good for drag racing, then pro stocker's would use it..irs is not good for drag racing. decent for autox, but if you want to autox seriously you shouldnt be using an fbody anyway.

save your money and buy a 12 bolt
What is your daily driver and AutoCross and RoadRacing and Drag Racing.
If you gonna say nobody do that
Well I do that :)

LOL 2 years old and i still remember this thread. again i would be interested in it if it ever came about.

LOL 2 years old and i still remember this thread. again i would be interested in it if it ever came about.

yea I was thinking the same thing. Remember yaking about it like it was yesterday.... ;)

So, in the past 2 years, nothing has come from all this?

IRS sucks hardcore for straightline. The only reason to switch would be for corners.

FYI, me and a buddy did this over a year ago in a little ass garage on jackstands. The idea has been kicked around about offering the swap, but there is some cutting involved that the average owner would be either A.)ill-equipped to do, or B.)too scared to do.

http://www.quarter-mile.net/IROC/images/IRS/IRS47.jpg

This was on a 3rd gen, but adapting it for a 4th gen wouldn't be hard. If I ever build a 4th gen street cruiser, this is what I'd put in it. :)

To be honest, I want to t put it on my 3rd Gen. Your set up looks sweet. How hard was it? Where is that rear from?

I think an IRS would not have to be any stronger than a typical stock rear-end. The point is that an IRS is for handling, not drag racing. What is necessary is for the car to be competitive with BMW on handling, not a fuely dragster pulling sub-9 sec quarters. To build an ultra-strong IRS would add so much weight that a drag car would be slower. Point missed.

If you increase the strength, you increase the weight. If you increase the weight, the car is slower. IRS is not for drag racing, it is for better handling...of which weight is also very important with our front-biased, heavy cars. A Ford 9" is significantly heavier than the stock 10-bolt or a 12 bolt, with thicker castings, larger bearings, gears, etc., and for good reason.

What should be accomplished is a fully compliant IRS that weighs less than or equal to the existing infrastructure and provides improved handling. If you want a dragster, put in a 9'' and go in a straight line. I want to be able to traverse a railroad track on an uphill curve without slowing to a crawl first.

im deffinatly more interested in handling then just straight line. im sure on the highway a IRS would do just fine in a straight line.

different options for different people who use f bodies for different purposes. im sure theres room in the market for a IRS, not everyone builds a drag car.

im deffinatly more interested in handling then just straight line. im sure on the highway a IRS would do just fine in a straight line.

different options for different people who use f bodies for different purposes. im sure theres room in the market for a IRS, not everyone builds a drag car.

most don't... :)

I saw that yellow car last year in Indy. WOW, that's one helluva job you guys did on that. Looked like it was handling nice on the road course. I've been toying with this for years. I might do it when I find a project car.

How hard was it? Where is that rear from?
Not too bad. It took a little work w/ a plasma cutter and some welding to get it in, plus we fab'd our own torque arm and made adjustable control arms for it. The rear was in the car in a weekend though. We got this one out of a '91 (?) C4 convertible. The droptops came w/ a Dana44 (hardtops had a Dana36). Got it for a good price ($500 I think) b/c one of the body mounts on the rear cover was busted. Nothing a TIG didn't fix.

What should be accomplished is a fully compliant IRS that weighs less than or equal to the existing infrastructure and provides improved handling. If you want a dragster, put in a 9'' and go in a straight line. I want to be able to traverse a railroad track on an uphill curve without slowing to a crawl first.
The C4 IRS setup is very strong from the factory. Add in that quite a bit of it is made from aluminum and it's pretty light. Also, it's not too noticeable in the picture, but the halfshafts on the Vette IRS are easily twice the size of the ones on the Ford/Lincoln IRS that come in the new Cobras, Mark VIII, etc. I've replaced my fair share of those toothpicks. :rolleyes:

I saw that yellow car last year in Indy. WOW, that's one helluva job you guys did on that. Looked like it was handling nice on the road course.
Thank you. He was going to take it to the event in Memphis this year, but the motor gave up this weekend. It blows smoke worse than when I blew up my TA a few years back (and it looked like it was on fire :lol: ). It'll have some more upgrades next year. New motor, bigger turbos, and some body modifications. He's already got a working prototype of a front-tilt hood that uses the factory latch on another car and we're trying to figure out a way to eliminate the strut towers w/o going to a tube chassis. :eek:

the ford irs in the thunderbirds cougars and mark VIII's use cv joints, probably to cut costs, seeing how an irs doesnt really need constant velocity joints, and those cars never push more than 250 hp

i have an 87 irocz that i have no intent drag racing, i would love an irs for street handling autox and anything else to pull some serious g's