Rebuilding Our Rear Suspension with QA1

In the last issue, we broke down all the parts it’s going to take to convert this old ’77 Squarebody Chevy into a corner carving, coilover having street truck. We chose QA1 for our Squarebody build for the simple reason that we wanted a painless, DIY installation with no wiring, running air hoses or dealing with leaky systems. Just a solid stance, a smooth ride and some really nice new parts for our truck!

The factory frame rail on this truck is cracked completely in half. So, we will remove all of the body panels and install them, along with this new QA1 suspension, onto a cleaned-up replacement frame that’s ready to go. We will also be installing a 6L LS engine using new engine mounts and a new wiring harness. The real question is whether to keep the topper on it while we rip up the corners! The paint is not that bad for a 40-plus-year-old truck, so we will simply buff it and let it ride. There is no reason we shouldn’t be ripping it around the track later this year!

Dialing in the stance will be easy with the adjustable coilover system—4 to 7 inches of adjustment below stock can easily be achieved. The major benefit of the torque arm design is that each component is designed to perform one function. This provides superior control over suspension movement, resulting in a smooth ride and great handling characteristics. QA1 engineered this unique bolt-in torque arm design which maximizes performance without the inherent binding issues of other four-link systems.

Over the next few issues, we will rip apart the suspension on this all stock Squarebody and show you just how simple it is to have a corner carving, tire spreading Squarebody. Let’s do it!