Tubular K member

[JD1964]

How much weight can I lose with tubular K member with all the related coil over goodies? I’d like to work on a little more weight transfer to the rear on acceleration.

I want to put the battery in the back too. Since I can’t lose the battery weight, I might as well put it in back over the rear tires.

I’m on a mission to reduce wheel spin.

My radiator and fan combo is quite heavy too. I have a lighter setup I’m gonna try.

 

[Boostedpimp]

Brand choice plays a part in the weight savings as some are heavier then others. I personally have or have used in the past qa1, upr, ands ome older brand that isn't around anymore. There are countless threads about this over on corral and some have people weighting out each setup but I would guess 40-70lbs savings could be had giving the parts used and the moons lunar alignment

 

[General karthief]

How much hp are you putting down and what tires are you using?
any rear suspension upgrades?
the reason I ask is I've seen wheels up action on stangs with stock k member and just tubular control arms up front. That is on slicks or drag radials so you know that is get'n hooked up.
i'm not against losing some weight in front but there's more to it than that right? Weight transfer and all that scientific stuff!

 

[a91what]

good control arms and moving the batteries will help a ton. different springs and strange shocks in the rear will help as well.

 

[RangerJoe]

Weight helps, suspension parts help, tires help, but none of it works if you don't have the suspension plotted correctly. I went through the parts buying and swapping but never got it to work until I plotted the suspension and made it work.

Joe

 

[2000xp8]

The battery over the passenger rear wheel definitely helps. Foxes like some weight in the back, especially if you run some kind of stickier tire.

The K member's effect will be negligible, especially if you don't opt to run drag springs.

Boosted is about right, figure around 50lbs, less if you run a high end k member.
Gains per dollar, it's a pretty much a terrible modification.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Brand choice plays a part in the weight savings as some are heavier then others. I personally have or have used in the past qa1, upr, ands ome older brand that isn't around anymore. There are countless threads about this over on corral and some have people weighting out each setup

but I would guess 40-70lbs savings could be had giving the parts used and the moons lunar alignment

I never heard of those guys...googled it and still couldn't find anything.
What I'd like to know is is a Lunar alignment better than a 4 wheel alignment, and how does that have anything to do with weight savings?
And,..in what city can you even get a moons lunar alignment?

 

[a91what]

I never heard of those guys...googled it and still couldn't find anything.
What I'd like to know is is a Lunar alignment better than a 4 wheel alignment, and how does that have anything to do with weight savings?
And,..in what city can you even get a moons lunar alignment?

Geez Mike it is obviously a Canadian thing since they are closer to the north pole

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Geez Mike it is obviously a Canadian thing since they are closer to the north pole

So then, you think because of that they place some kinda magnets on the car in front to keep the tires pointed straight ahead?....Or would that always make the car end up at Santa's workshop?

 

[a91what]

possibly but if you factor in the earths rotation, they may have to make one magnet larger than the other to compensate.

 

[JD1964]

I'm putting 400 hp and 400 tq to the wheels. Nitto 555 Extreme are the tires https://lmr.com/item/NTO-2754017G2/nitto-275-40-17-nt555-g2-tire

Weight taken off is always a good thing. Especially if it comes off the front of the car. Name another way I could loose that much weight off the front for comparable money. Aluminum heads? Well, my iron headed motor is dialed in just perfect as is so I'm not messing with that for the time being. Whats your opinion on 70/30 front struts?

The rear suspension currently has aftermarket control arms, not sure the brand but probably UPR or similar, stock springs, shocks and quad shocks. The car also has MM full length welded sub frame connectors with the seat brackets and reinforced tq boxes.

 

[Boostedpimp]

Please, Please get some real tires... those Nittos are horrible. You'll have to do burn outs that'll make John Force look like a school girl to get any traction.

 

[Gear grabber]

On the cheap strange steel s/a struts,shocks are hard to beat.
If you want to spend some money,something like a Viking crusader d/a are night and day better.
A 15 inch wheel with a lot of sidewall,will help when trying to put power down.

 

[JD1964]

I could really benefit from lighter wheels. My current 4 lug cobra replicas are heavy. Maybe I’ll go to a 5 lug for more wheel choices and get some drag radials.

But honestly, are these Nittos really that bad? They’re way better than the Hankooks I had on there before. They couldn’t hold 2nd even before the supercharger was put on. These Nittos can “almost” do it..., with the supercharger

 

[2000xp8]

They are just regular street tires no matter how you slice it.
Transferring weight onto to tires that are mediocre at best isn't going to help anything, only difference will be first the nose lifts, then the tires let go anyway.
And you really don't want the nose of the car feeling light with crummy tires out back.

If it's not a daily, get drag radials.
I'm not sure if you goto the race track, but lightening up parts on a street car really doesn't amount to much change. I wouldn't bother with the wheels either. You don't need the extra sidewall unless you are running them low on pressure.

Tires have come a long way.
Get some BFG, mickey Thompson or nitto drag radials, it will make a world of difference. Especially after a few minutes of driving when they get warm.
Then you can figure out where the next weakest link is and trust me, you will know what it is.

 

[JD1964]

Tell ya what...how ‘bout u lose 50 lbs of k member up front and add 50 lbs of subwoofer in the back? That’s a reasonable trade off with added traction benefit!

 

[90sickfox]

The nitro 555s aren't a bad tire at all. A bunch of people around here run them with some decent power. They like warm asphalt though....like all summer tires. Roasting a street tire for traction is not a good idea. It brings the oils to the surface.

Air pressure plays a big part in tire traction....but only after the weight bias and suspension is worked out.

50lbs added to the rear will help a little. You can't expect huge traction gains with your sc car.

 

[JD1964]

I actually have the Nitto Extreme ZR, not the G2. The ZR is a little stickier I think. It’s treadwear rating is 300 compared to the 360 of the G2

 

[RangerJoe]

I actually have the Nitto Extreme ZR, not the G2. The ZR is a little stickier I think. It’s treadwear rating is 300 compared to the 360 of the G2

I had a set of 555r's, which were a huge improvement for the street and a nice balance. They still can't hold their own at the strip though.

Joe

 

[Boostedpimp]

I've owned two sets of 555r's and will never run them again. I don't really consider them a drag radial just an expensive summer only tire. They tend to be smaller size for size then the other drag radials, harder compound for better stability and longivety but for a drag radial your not looking for those things. They take forever to warm up and once warmed up they do not perform like MT or Hoosiers. I've gone from both MT and Hoosier to Nitto and there was a big difference. I couldn't wait to wear out the Nittos to be done with them and move back to a MT or Hoosier.

If you want to stick with Nitto then I suggest at least jumping looking at there Nitto NT05R tire because they look pretty good. But I don't have any first hand experience or know anybody who has decent power using the NT05R tires