I keep reading about this Watts Link...okay, who has it installed...what exactly does it improve? How much does it increase NVH in cars? How hard is it to adjust..is it like infinate...or is it pretty straight forward. Any help would be greatyly appreciated. It has my interest...and i want to improve handling...but not sure i want that bone crusher ride to go with that...is this a happy medium?

 

The websites that sell them will have an elaborate explanation. In a nutshell, it controls the side to side movement like a panhard bar, but does not change its geometry as the suspension moves up and down.

 

Google works so well:

http://fays2.net/fays2_watts_link_8_.html

 

My car came from Ford with the Watt's link rear suspension. It's an improvement over the older 4-bar system used on the Fox Fords, but the towing capacity has been somewhat reduced. with the factory shocks, the rear end wiggles badly on mesh surfaced bridges (the wire grate bridges). I have no idea why that happens, but it does. Aftermarket dampeners rectify that problem though.

I should mention that this car isn't a S197, but I thought I'd attach a FSM diagram showing how the OEM attached the Watt's to the Crown Vic.

 

Yup, Vic's have had them for years, I think the F150 does too.

 

Ford started using them in the 98 model year Panther platform cars (Crown Vic, Grand Marq, Town Car) so it's been in use for awhile. I can't say it is significantly better or worse than the S197 rear suspension.

 

I notice that the Watts Link Pictured about attaches to the rear differential very similar to the one Saleen makes.

 

The 98-up Crown Vics all have Watt's Link rear suspensions, and have 8.8" rear ends. However the geometry of the arms is most likely going to be different.

 

The Watts linkage fixes the rear axle roll center at the pivot point of the bell crank ... whether the car is lowered or not.

Its only purpose in life is to laterally restrain the rear axle. It does not do anything to improve launching the vehicle or cure axle hop or wind up.

Some of the ones out there are adjustable roll center height wise, others are not.

Vertical travel of the rear axle (bounce or rebound) is precise compared to a panhard bar.

Panhard bars are inexpensive, effective and simpler by comparison. They can cause some weight jacking , particularly if the bar is not horizontal to the ground (at loaded ride height, watts linkage bars should be horiz. to the ground as well to minimize wt. jacking too). In a hard corner, the chassis will roll and the either set up will not maintain its desired horizontal alignment.

The watts linkage is a higher dollar and more precise solution to what the panhard bar offers.

 

It did a poor job on the Crown Vic with the factory suspension. Once you slap on better shocks (HD Bilsteins or Edelbrock IAS) with thicker anti-roll bars, the rear end no longer wiggles like a runway model.

I still get massive wheelhop with the Crown Vic during hard launches.