SEMA 2014: Chassisworks Unveils An Array Of New Products

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From muscle cars to purpose-built drag racing machines, Chevrolets and Fords to AMC’s, Chris Alston’s Chassisworks has the suspension and chassis components to make them work, and their already extensive catalog just grows year by year as new products are brought about by demand and advancements are made on previous designs. And 2015 will be no different, as Chris Alston Sr. and his staff rolled out several new items at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, including

IMG_1656The first of these new products is a subframe connector center support system for the popular Chevy II, which carried on the design that Chassisworks has utilized on their subframe connector kits for other makes and models. As such, it include mandrel-bent box framerails, with a removable center support, and a driveshaft loop. According to Alston Sr., this kit is part of a new complete gBar system that the company has been developing for popular muscle car applications in recent years.

We manufacture a lot of rack and pinions, and we’re pushing them all into their own brand. The unit we have here is made just for cars that might have a 345 front tire and weigh around 4,000 pounds. – Chris Alston Sr.

A new bolt-on front clip has also been unveiled for first-generation Camaro drag racing machines, featuring all 4130 tubing, that weighs in at just 140 pounds. Chassisworks has designed it as a direct bolt-on, with a tube running from the existing roll cage up to the firewall that butts up to the mounting plates. It also features a removable transmission mount that’s SFI-legal, has motor mounts for small and big block Chevy’s and LS engines, and is packaged with a rack that has 25% more travel (or roughly an inch more) than a typical rack to allow the user to turn the wheels further, which aids drag racers in maneuvering their cars in the pits.

According to Alston Sr., the suspension package on this particular clip has gone through extensive computer-aided design to give it the characteristics of a car that handles well — it lacks bump steer, for example — with six full inches of front end travel, that helps the car hook on a bad track. On a good track, the strut valving system, with about 800 pounds of resistance, makes it stiff enough to tighten it down and serve as a travel limiter.

Next year, Chassisworks will be launching an all-new brand for the company, known as Pro Rack, which will deliver high quality rack and pinion steering systems for all sort of race and road-going vehicles.

“We manufacture a lot of rack and pinions, and we’re pushing them all into their own brand. The unit we have here is made just for cars that might have a 345 front tire and weigh around 4,000 pounds. It has a really large shaft in it that’s gun-drilled to make it lighter, and these racks will go front or rear steer and right or left-hand drive, and have adjustable width and travel. It also uses a remote mount servo, so that you can mount it anywhere on the steering column.”

The output line can also be clocked on this new rack 360-degrees, making it easy to get it out of the way of the engine, suspension, oil pan, or other components. As well, it has five different tooth ratios (8, 9, 10, 11, or 12-teeth) so you can adjust the steering ratio.

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Finally, a new belt-drive version of the popular Component Gear Drive System for centrifugal superchargers has been launched, as the Chassisworks staff feels there are still import advantages to a belt drive versus a gear drive. “The harmonics are a little different on the superchargers, there are more ratios available and those ratios can be changed easier, and it’s a little more compact. It does, however, cost more, but there are strategic advantages,” says Alston Sr.

The CDS belt-drive unit has a unique feature in that it has a bearing on both sides of the pulley on the supercharger and at the crankshaft. With a large supercharger, this means the pulleys stay parallel and lined up and can be run with less tension, which won’t wear out the shaft and burn the bearings up in the blower. Like the gear drive, the belt-drive model also sports a number of optional accessory drives, with as many as six accessories operating at once.

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About the author

Andrew Wolf

Andrew has been involved in motorsports from a very young age. Over the years, he has photographed several major auto racing events, sports, news journalism, portraiture, and everything in between. After working with the Power Automedia staff for some time on a freelance basis, Andrew joined the team in 2010.
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