"Reasonably" ultimate suspension/chassis...

[defiance]

I'm looking to 'complete the package' on my '72 with chassis upgrades.  Body shop'd elbows deep in their work, engine work is moving along (slowly, but I'll get there), transmission work is planned (still doing research on that one, but I think I know pretty much what I'll be doing), and the rear end will be swapped out for either a 9" ford, 8.8" explorer rear with discs, or a dana 60 (depending on what I can find).  So, now moving along to suspension...

As far as suspension goes, I'm primarily concerned with steering - it'll see a good bit of strip time, but I'll be driving this car every day, and my morning drive is down a wonderfully curvy/hilly road.  I know I'll never be as tight on the curves as an Elise, but I'd like to improve it as much as it's reasonable to.  The XV stage two kit does look *REALLY* nice, but I just can't plunk down $10k.  So here's what I've come up with that I can (with some major cringing and crying) manage to pull off-

-Alterktion kit with 12.19 drilled rotors, 500 spring rate, sway bar, and p/s
-XV chassis stiffiening full set (Engine compartment brace, sub-frame connectors, lower rad support - but I'm thinking I probably don't need the shock tower support since the shocks on the alterktion no lonter rely on the shock tower...?  correct me if I'm wrong, the whole package is barely any more than the three other components by themselves...)

That should probably get me turning pretty nicely.  Is there anything further I could do for reasonable cost to improve turning performance?

As for rear end performance, I'm still learning, so I'll just wait 'til I'm a bit more able to digest the information before I start on that topic

[Chryco Psycho]

I would really reccommend the Dana over the 9 " the perasitic drag is far less with the dana & they are easy to find in dodge & ford 3/4 ton trucks , the only advantage is the swappable center section in the ford if you are inclined to change gear ratios often
you will not need the shock tower brace with the Alter K tion front end 

[Mike DC]

I would also vote to skip the Ford rearend ideas.
I've got a bit of brand-loyalty clouding the issue for sure, but I've also got some mechanical reasoning. 

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The Ford 9" is universally known to be a strong rearend, but a Mopar 8.75" is essentially the same thing if you use as many aftermarket parts on it as people usually put in their 9" rears these days.  And the Ford 9" eats a couple more horsepower (internal friction) than the Mopar 8.75" rear ever will, simply because of the pinion-mesh pattern that it's built with. 

The Ford 8.8" rear?  I don't know much about this one. 

The Dana 60 wins ALL the strength awards.  But it's also 50 pounds heavier than either of the Banjo-style rears from Ford or Mopar.  And the tallest (numerically lowest) gearset you can put into a Dana 60 is only a 3.54 gear.  The Dana will sure do the job in terms of brute strength, but I wouldn't go there unless you really need it.

[defiance]

Where (as in, what sort of vehicles) could I find an 8.75 that'll be the same width as a 3rd gen charger (63" from hub to hub, if I'm right) - preferably with discs?  Sure, I can put a kit on it, but it's already going to be dramatically more expensive (I'm pretty sure I can find an 8.8 or 9 with discs for around $100!)...  Point is, it really comes down to what I can find locally - I'm not going to pay the 4-digit numbers it'll cost me to get a 'new' rear end when I can get one that's functionally new for orders of magnitude less

wow, this left topic quick!

[defiance]

hm... Actually, as I'm reading, it looks like my car *should* have an 8-3/4...  For some reason I thought it had an 8-1/4.  Ok, that's some good news...  But the bad news is I know it's 2.76, and I'm wanting high 3's in it if possible.  What's it take to swap gears in an 8.75?  Any recommended parts suppliers?
Guess I need to do more research

[Big Sugar]

Why don't you Ron give a shout over at MagnumForce. (http://www.magnumforce.com) He seems to be staying up to date with his suspension upgrades, And compared to XV  You could probably save a few bucks.


Ron

[dkn1997]

hm... Actually, as I'm reading, it looks like my car *should* have an 8-3/4...  For some reason I thought it had an 8-1/4.  Ok, that's some good news...  But the bad news is I know it's 2.76, and I'm wanting high 3's in it if possible.  What's it take to swap gears in an 8.75?  Any recommended parts suppliers?
Guess I need to do more research

If  you have a mopar 8 3/4, you can buy another center section used for about 5-600 on ebag, maybe cheaper.  pretty pick whatever rationyou want. should take you about an hour to swap it out.  this is a good option if you don'tknow how to set up gears like me.  just drop it in.