Rear End Installation - Punching Your Dance Card - Tech

You can see why the BMR bracket needs to be cut, but thanks to research and documentation from both Strange and BMR, this is a simple modification with no negative side effects.

With the torque arm attached to the rear, Matt stepped in to bolt the BMR Lower Control Arms in place, attaching them to both the chassis and rear-end housing. Since we will be aligning the rear and setting up the chassis, the overall length wasn't that important, so Matt simply got it in the ballpark.

Controlling the rear's vertical movement will be a pair of Strange adjustable shocks, which will allow us to fine tune compression and rebound so that we can plant the tires as hard as the track will allow us. The shocks bolt in the stock upper location, using all new hardware.

Since The Purp is still sans engine and drivetrain, we decided to reinstall the stock V-6 springs to suspend the rear for now. Depending on how the car looks at race weight, we will probably switch these out for some lowering springs in the future, although the V-6 units work quite well.

The Strange adjustable shocks mount to the rear in a similar style to stock, although they slide over a fixed bolt, which is first attached to the rear end housing. If you were using stock shocks, they would just slide right into the bracket on the S60 housing.

The BMR adjustable Panhard bar slid in next. Notice that this unit features rod ends on both the rear end and chassis side, which makes adjusting it as simple as loosening both sides and rotating the main Panhard bar.

Another shot of the 4-piston Strange lightweight drag brakes, which weigh in at just 2.7-lbs per caliper and feature stainless steel pistons to assure optimal pad wear and a firm pedal feel. Matched with our front units, stopping The Purp is going to be no problem at all.

Almost complete, Troy Jr. bolted the rear of our BMR boxed subframe connectors to the stock LCA mount and then cleaned, prepped, and tack-welded the front of the subframe connector in place.

Finally, Troy Jr. attached the front of the BMR Xtreme torque arm to the supplied front bushing and crossmember before he began making measurements to properly place the crossmember within the chassis.

As you can see, the crossmember must be cut to fit our subframe connectors and then welded into place. This design allows the torque arm to deliver maximum effectiveness, without mounting it to a smaller crossmember or transmission tail housing, allowing us to run deep into the single digits without an issue.

Between our fortified and purpose-built Strange rear end and the bulletproof BMR suspension, The Purp is ready to apply power to the pavement. Of course, the rest of the chassis and drivetrain have a long way to go, so make sure you check back for more in an upcoming issue.