Please educate me

[garysol1]

My new to me 74 hatchback has had the original rear replaced with a Monza v8 unit. The car has the upper and lower control arms as well as a torque arm. Everything I have Googled shows the upper and lower control arms OR the torque arm but not both. Is what I have correct or good or bad ...... ? It seems to work and go down the road ok but I am just curious as to what I have before I go monkeying around back there.

[spencerforhire]

4 link + torque arm = bind. The rear suspension would be traveling in two different arcs. Sounds like someone took a Monza rear end and welded on the upper control arm mounts. How is the torque arm connected to the transmission?

[chevyart]

gary spence is totally correct on that. what someone did is like putting ladder bars on a leaf spring car(without sliders) the parts work against each other. dont know anything about torque arms, so maybe you should ask the next question. remove the Torque link (or) remove the 2 upper control arms. the 2 upper control arms may be ok, but the mounts they bolt into always need strengthening or they rip out.some of pressure is relieved from them if you use the anti hop brackets that raise the rear side of the upper control arms.im betting everyone will say to stay with the torque arm. i know they work well in the later camaros. make sure you find out if the torque arm is installed correctly in the right place. art

[ROB]

Do not remove the upper arms and go with the torque arm unless a pan hard rod was also installed. Failure to do so will leave the rear very unstable.

[garysol1]

I just got home from work and it is a bit to dark to get good pictures but I did take a pic of how the torque arm is mounted to the 700r4 as Spence asked. The 4 control arms and mounts are all stock and unmodified. Man... This car is so nice and clean but a few things make me shake my head in disgust and ask why as i learn more about these cars....

[garysol1]

Do not remove the upper arms and go with the torque arm unless a pan hard rod was also installed. Failure to do so will leave the rear very unstable.

There is no panhard rod so I guess the easy answer for now at least is to simply remove the torque arm. Truth be told the car feels pretty good as is but I figured there has to be some binding going on. The car has NO wheel hop at all but is pretty rough over bumps. That may be why I guess.

[cjbiagi]

It's hard to tell but the torque arm may be mounted in a way that it will slide front to back? If so, that would relief the binding. If it's solid then you are going to have some binding as mentioned. A panhard bar and torque arm replace the 2 upper arms. The panhard bar is responsible for holding the rear side to side under the car (this is what the 2 upper arms do as well in a 4 link setup) The torque arm controls axle windup which allows the two lower control arm to do their job of transferring power to the chassis.

[garysol1]

It's hard to tell but the torque arm may be mounted in a way that it will slide front to back? If so, that would relief the binding. If it's solid then you are going to have some binding as mentioned. A panhard bar and torque arm replace the 2 upper arms. The panhard bar is responsible for holding the rear side to side under the car (this is what the 2 upper arms do as well in a 4 link setup) The torque arm controls axle windup which allows the two lower control arm to do their job of transferring power to the chassis.

Tomorrow I will try and get under the car and unbolt the torque arm from the rear and see if I am able to slide it front to back. Somehow I doubt I will be that lucky though....lol

[spencerforhire]

That does look like a sliding torque arm mount; it does allow for fore and aft movement, but ultimately the upper control arms travel in a tighter arc than the torque arm and will bind. The splayed upper control arms are locating the rear end side to side, so as others have suggested, do NOT remove them unless you install a panhard bar. Im sure the torque arm is acting as a ladder bar to prevent wheel hop and stiffen up the rear suspension.

[garysol1]

Okay..... So as much as I do not want to I suppose what I need to do is remove the rear coil springs from the car and move the rear end through its arc and see where and how much it binds.

[RamIt]

Sounds like a good idea to check for bind.
Don't "fix" it if its not broke.

[garysol1]

Sounds like a good idea to check for bind.
Don't "fix" it if its not broke.

Hey, who knows. Maybe this is one of those screw ups that actually becomes a great accidental mod.

[TimMcCabe]

I had a friend who ran the 4 link along with the torque arm in his '73 notchback for years. It was running a 305 with a large shot of NOS and went like a bat outa hell in the 1/4. He had a sliding joint at the trans and never had any binding issues. The 4 link tends to have a lot of wheel hop (did I mention the 4 link has a lot of wheel hop ). The torque arm keeps the wheels planted.
I say if it works leave it as it is..

Cheers,
Tim