Steeda seems to make one now. But honestly...the way the solid axle articulates doesn't put a whole bunch of load on the shock towers. I wouldent really bother with it.
I've heard some people say the rear will need a shock tower brace before the front, FWIW. If you're going to coil-overs eventually I'd say it's a must. A good rear shock tower brace will also brace the top where the shock would mount; even more reason to get/make one if you plan on coil-overs. I will be welding one in when I do my subframes for two reasons.....the stiffer the chassis, the better no matter what your setup, and I will eventually be going to coil overs.
Yes and most people don't think of a stang as a good handling car. I would try to make mine one. It makes the car more enjoyable. I will say that I noticed zero difference in the handling after the blue tokicos but I did notice a less comfortable ride on harse roads. I am thinking thugh that they will keep the tires planted better on the road for more safety and better traction .. but I don't know if anyone has any data on whether it is actually safer than oem.
Mustangs can handle quite well when setup properly. One of MM's basic suspension packages was tested in 93 on an lx fox by road and track (or some other major car mag) and it ran the 3rd fastest slalom time they ever tested. Granted that number has dropped in the last 15 yrs. but thats still pretty impressive. A panhard bar makes a huge difference on the rear end. I have no problems pulling away from STI's at the road course I go to, in the dry. In the wet I can keep up with them on the corners but I have troubles putting power down on the straights so they tend to pass me there after a few laps. But thats subjective, I have more hp and theres also drivers and tire dofferences to consider. Now if I someone would let me drive their STi, then I could give you lap times to quantify.
But hey, I'm gonna do some research and maybe I may end up getting a rear sway bar too.
Oh, and 95 cobra guy, what battery box is that and how do u have it bolted on/down. Do you have to get underneat the car to unbolt stuff to open the box and get the battery out? I need a nice clean setup like yours.
I also noticed my car is spinning and FLEXING big time when I hit the gas hard. SO here's what I plan to do:
ADD:
#1 rear strut brace
#2 front strut twr brace
#3 Take off my worn out v rated bf good-slips, put on my summoto z rated 255's
#4 have my tq boxes welded.
I already have:
#1 eibach pro's
#2 tokicos blue
#3 lower control arms
#4 kenny brown subframes ( i didn't notice much) t-style, like a cross.
#5 heavy duty front sway bar.
edit: - o, am I going to bust my rear end after that? i am on street and like to take off, no QM or slicks.
Also is the Maximum Motorsports panhard bar any good? Specificall this one? Item# MM-MMPBA .. o shhesh, I just remembered there is also a tq arm option. Which one would u guys recommend getting tq arm OR panhard kit?? i remember mentioning this b4 but have since reformated my puter and didn't have my favortes where I had some of this saved.
you need a PHB to get a TRQ arm so get the PHB first or get the kit with both PHB and TA. I'll give a more detailed description on what they do later...or you can just look in the tech section on MM's website .
Yes you may want a heavy duty torque arm....The panhard bar you can do in your garage but you will need a few extra hands at certain times during the project. Air tools are recommended and you will have to buy some plumbobs and take some accurate measurements. The torque arm...if you don't have a lift and a good welder I wouldent recommend doing that at home. You can get the instructions for the installs on MM's website and there very detailed...read thru them and see if you want to do it yourself or have it done.
The PHB provides excellent control of the rear axle (thats its job). Due to the soft stock bushings in the upper arms the axle can move sideways under the car under hard cornering which causes an aukward feeling (seat of the pants) and tends to reduce your ability to control the car. Stiff busings in the upper arms will cause suspension bind so thats not a good alternative. PHB or a watts linkage is the best way to go.
A torque arm is used in conjunction with the PHB and allows the removal of the upper control arms alltogether. It controls pinion angle changes (the other job of the UCA's aside from lateral axle location) and is bind free unlike the stock desigh upper arms. A bind free rear suspension is great for consistent handling at the limits. The torque arm creates lots of rear grip (by resisting pinion angle changes) so the car will launch harder w/o spinning the tires and you will able to apply throttle sooner and harder coming out of corners. A product that produces a silmilar effect is the evm tri-link whis is similar in design to the upper link on the 05+ mustangs. BOth TA and 3rd-link pieces also have the effect of improving the anti dive geometry of the rear suspension among other little things.
Either way the UCA's are supposed to control lateral movement and pinion angle changes in the rear suspension and there not good at either and they create bind by nature of their movement. A PHB (or equivalent) and TA (or equivalent) will seperate the jobs of the UCA's and do them much better. Thats as simple as I can put it without getting very technical.