While I'd always admired the various designs and innovations of the 6 link suspensions I'd seen displayed by others, I never thought I actually get to the stage of creating my own version. That all changed when I attempted a full rear suspension rebuild. While thoughts of doing a 6 link were somewhere in the back of my mind during the tear down process, they were to surface sooner than expected during the installation of the new Richmond 3.7 diff gears. To cut a long story short, upon dismantling the diff, the side yolks were found to have neither the C clip nor its locating groove. This is where the fun began! With new replacement yolks not considered as being viable due to time and cost restraints, it was deemed that now was the time to see what could be done to alleviate the situation I was suddenly faced with. Other than send to the US for new yolks, I opted to see if a bit of lateral thinking could salvage the dilemma with which I was now confronted. This meant coming up with the easiest and cheapest solution. The only way to keep the existing yolks was to go with a 6 link suspension which actually necessitates the yolks be modified to the condition my own yolks were already in. That being no C clip!. Following all preconcieved conceptions that the upper inner links needed to be perpendicular to the lower ones, I reasoned that, having previously purchased a Vette Brakes Smart Strut set up, I would be left with the perfect starting point for a 6 link upper mount.....the old strut rod bracket. Then if I was successful in being able to mount it to the top of the diff, with a little more thought and application, I would also be able to use the old rod ends to complete the package and so hopefully come up with a more simple approach to building my very own 6 link set up. And so the fun began!

	The Poor Man's 6 Link Suspension
*Click these pics below for a larger image* Here's an early mock up after the new upper rods were made up. They're made from chrome moly steel with the rod ends cut from the old original strut rods and threaded to fit with lock nuts holding them in place.	While I'd always admired the various designs and innovations of the 6 link suspensions I'd seen displayed by others, I never thought I actually get to the stage of creating my own version. That all changed when I attempted a full rear suspension rebuild. While thoughts of doing a 6 link were somewhere in the back of my mind during the tear down process, they were to surface sooner than expected during the installation of the new Richmond 3.7 diff gears. To cut a long story short, upon dismantling the diff, the side yolks were found to have neither the C clip nor its locating groove. This is where the fun began! With new replacement yolks not considered as being viable due to time and cost restraints, it was deemed that now was the time to see what could be done to alleviate the situation I was suddenly faced with. Other than send to the US for new yolks, I opted to see if a bit of lateral thinking could salvage the dilemma with which I was now confronted. This meant coming up with the easiest and cheapest solution. The only way to keep the existing yolks was to go with a 6 link suspension which actually necessitates the yolks be modified to the condition my own yolks were already in. That being no C clip!. Following all preconcieved conceptions that the upper inner links needed to be perpendicular to the lower ones, I reasoned that, having previously purchased a Vette Brakes Smart Strut set up, I would be left with the perfect starting point for a 6 link upper mount.....the old strut rod bracket. Then if I was successful in being able to mount it to the top of the diff, with a little more thought and application, I would also be able to use the old rod ends to complete the package and so hopefully come up with a more simple approach to building my very own 6 link set up. And so the fun began!	*Click these pics below for a larger image* Here you can see the extra alignment opportunities provided by using the old strut rod system. Notice how it's possible to fine tine the verticle alignment between the upper and lower mounting points.