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Legendary Builder Rick Dobbertin Makes Suspension Kit

01 -Type I Kit With Yoke

Remember Rick Dobbertin? You should. He is unquestionably one of the best known hotrodders in our great hobby. As one of the forefathers of the Pro Street movement, Rick’s most famous builds have a reputation for going straight. His blown, twin-turbo, nitrous-equipped, Pro Street Chevy II was just plain over-the-top. That car and its follow ups, the J2000 and Surface Orbiter, are also proof that Rick has always thought BIG. While adapting independent rear suspension to a recent project, a mid-engine Chevy S-10 pickup, Rick decided to engineer the suspension design into a kit with the DIY builder in mind. Any competent hot rod fabricator can adapt the cradle system using basic 2″ x 4″ frame tubing.  Of course, the IRS design incorporates RideTech adjustable CoilOvers, so we had to dig in for a deeper look.

 

Here's the kit's inspiration: Rick is building a mid-engined pick up truck to go hunt Ferraris.
Here’s the kit’s inspiration: Rick is building a mid-engine pick up truck to go hunt Ferraris.

 

The supplied cradle adapters make the C5 / C6 Corvette IRS conversion simple to install because the entire system is self-contained and modular. There are no spring or shock mounts to install, no brackets to weld to the frame, no panhard rod or watts-linkage required. The cradle centers the rear axle. The system maintains the factory C5 or C6 rear wheel alignment protocol and specs. On the outside of the adapters are six vertical braces with all of the mounting points, precisely positioned for the upper control arms and the shocks.

Full length Channels accept the factory suspension pickup points.
The adapters (dark gray) are the key to the design as they locate the factory suspension pickup points and lower OE cradle relative to the frame rail mounting points.

 

On the inside of the adapters is a full-length channel where the entire system is mounted  to the 2” x 4” rectangular frame rails, with the mounting points for the stock Corvette aluminum transverse cradle on the bottom. Measuring from the rotor to rotor wheel mounting surfaces, (or WMS) the kits are available in 13 widths – from the standard Corvette, which is 66.75” – all the way down to 54.75” – in one-inch increments. All 13 widths utilize the identical adapter kits and are narrowed by removing material from the center of the lower cradle, therefore keeping all of the suspension geometry intact.

From this view, you can see the rearward control arm mounting points as well as the RideTech Coil-overs.
From this view, you can see the rearward control arm mounting points as well as the RideTech adjustable CoilOvers. It’s a slick way to adapt C5/C6 suspension to your hot rod.

 

Here are the special adapter cradles that accept the upper control arms, lower cradles, upper coil-over mounts and of course frame rails.
Here are the special adapter cradles that accept the upper control arms, lower cradles, upper CoilOver mounts, and frame rails.

 

You will still need to put on your thinking cap to build frame rails and locate the rear suspension relative to your front suspension. Any competent hot rod fabricator can tackle this job.
You will still need to put on your thinking cap to build frame rails and locate the rear suspension relative to your front suspension. Any competent hot rod fabricator can tackle this job. Here, the complete modular assembly is about to be to be raised up and bolted to the frame.

For more information or to purchase this product, visit Dobbertin Performance Innovations:

www.DobbertinPerformance.com

6 thoughts on “Legendary Builder Rick Dobbertin Makes Suspension Kit”

  1. Mike Whatley says:

    This doesn’t change the hub to hub width of the corvette does it? I have a 56 Ford F-100 and could go with the the s-10 frame but would like to tay with the 56 frame. Wondering if I can use this and have any offset with the rear wheels.

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