Drag suspension q

[TOOLOW91]

A friend of mine has notch with a on 3 kit . the car is very swirly and wants to scoot out even with mt et streets on it. now we no this is a turbo car but it just feels very soft mushy and unstable at high speed in boost. It has no sway bar up front due to the kit .

Car is set up with eibach drag springs. Lake wood 90/10s no quads due to the saleen wheels and i think lake wood rear lcas. they are red.

what would be an ideal setup to make this thing feel some what stable on the street? would a coil over setup up front with strange adjustable's be good cause you can stiffen them up on the street. would the stiffness also make up for the lack in sway bar up front. ? it also has flsc as well. So what do you guys think ?

 

[90stang5speed]

Im no expert and this is my first build so, this is my oppinion. My car is setup for the drag strip. I will drive it on the street too. Corner carving is never going to happen in a car set up like mine. I would check out Baseline Suspension's web site. they have awesome info on "how to launch a drag car" They make a very good upper control arm kit that I have & they will help you plot your suspension geometry. I have coilovers up front with adjustable struts from Koni. The adjustable struts do help on the street. I dont have a sway bar in the front either. I have 3 way adjustable rear shocks set on 50/50. that stiffens up the rear a lot. I have factory springs in the rear that have been cut & granatelli LCA with adjustable ride hight spring perches. For the coil overs. I would go with a 12" 150 lb spring with a full weight car. My car is so light in the front I went with a 12" 95 lb spring. tubular control arms up front will also drop another 28 lbs. any other questions about my set up feel free to PM me but Im sure others will chime in soon. also, check the rear torque boxes & make sure they aren't cracked or the bushings worn out in the controll arms as that would let it get sloppy too.

 

[90mustangGT]

I think of a couple things. For one thing, he doesn't have much done, just springs, struts, LCA's, and no swaybar. That's not a big setup. What I would look at is to see if the torque boxes are still solid as well as the condition of the UCA arms. The the rear is at all loose, the car will be all over the place. I would also check into the alignment. I do a lot of wheel alignments at work and I can tell you that bad alignment can make a car hunt and wander all over the place.

 

[TOOLOW91]

I think of a couple things. For one thing, he doesn't have much done, just springs, struts, LCA's, and no swaybar. That's not a big setup. What I would look at is to see if the torque boxes are still solid as well as the condition of the UCA arms. The the rear is at all loose, the car will be all over the place. I would also check into the alignment. I do a lot of wheel alignments at work and I can tell you that bad alignment can make a car hunt and wander all over the place.

I did forget to mention the car does have battle boxes welded in sorry about that, it does need an alignment still which i already told him was deffinitly a factor. as far as ucas the rear is out of a 95 and was fully built but that doesnt mean it wasnt installed with stock ones again.. i will deffinitly pass this along. anything else that should be looked into? and like i said we no its not gonna be a corner carver but it needs to be stable so would adjustable's and coil overs help up front along with uca's c/c plates and a good alignment

 

[TOOLOW91]

Im no expert and this is my first build so, this is my oppinion. My car is setup for the drag strip. I will drive it on the street too. Corner carving is never going to happen in a car set up like mine. I would check out Baseline Suspension's web site. they have awesome info on "how to launch a drag car" They make a very good upper control arm kit that I have & they will help you plot your suspension geometry. I have coilovers up front with adjustable struts from Koni. The adjustable struts do help on the street. I dont have a sway bar in the front either. I have 3 way adjustable rear shocks set on 50/50. that stiffens up the rear a lot. I have factory springs in the rear that have been cut & granatelli LCA with adjustable ride hight spring perches. For the coil overs. I would go with a 12" 150 lb spring with a full weight car. My car is so light in the front I went with a 12" 95 lb spring. tubular control arms up front will also drop another 28 lbs. any other questions about my set up feel free to PM me but Im sure others will chime in soon. also, check the rear torque boxes & make sure they aren't cracked or the bushings worn out in the controll arms as that would let it get sloppy too.

thanks man ill deffinitly pass the info along

 

[Sharad]

good shocks & struts, subframe connectors, good quality upper and lower control arms are critical, and I don't think you mentioned what wheels & tires the car is sitting on.

 

[90lxcoupe]

Re-inforce the torque boxes and replace all the rubber with sperical bushings in the rear end. Get adjsutables for the rear, and use cut GT springs in the rear. I think most of the "swirly"ness you describe is from the either the rear tq boxes moving of weak bushings deflecting

 

[Rick 91GT]

How many pounds of air were in the ET STREETS?

 

[90lxcoupe]

How many pounds of air were in the ET STREETS?

Didnt even think of that, but now that you say it, my 26x10.5 et streets were more unstable than driving around on my 28x10.5 stiff wall ET drags with tubes. Didnt like the way the ET streets felt at all

 

[90mustangGT]

How many pounds of air were in the ET STREETS?

and what size rim are those 10.5 tires mounted on?

 

[2000xp8]

I'd start by putting the sway bar back in.
No matter how you slice it, drag springs and drag shocks are only good for two things, launching and going straight.
Unfortunately the street has alot of variables including turns and low traction situations.
Correcting a car on a soft suspension with no sway bar isn't fun. I know, i tried it.

I'd run stiffer springs, with regular shocks and put the sway bar back on.

To have a good street car you don't need a drag suspension.

 

[90lxcoupe]

Eibach drag springs are actually stiffer than a stock pair of springs and a set of strange adjustables will be stiff enough to run on the street. As far as the swaybar comment, if you dont drive like an ass, and display self control you will not run into problems. Been running no swaybar on the street for over 5 years and ive never had a problem.

You can have a stable street car thats set up for going straight. Stiffer springs and shocks will not make the car more predictable if the sloppy factory bushings are kept

 

[Sharad]

You can have a stable street car thats set up for going straight. Stiffer springs and shocks will not make the car more predictable if the sloppy factory bushings are kept

Quoted for truth!

 

[TOOLOW91]

good shocks & struts, subframe connectors, good quality upper and lower control arms are critical, and I don't think you mentioned what wheels & tires the car is sitting on.

ok let me answer some things and clear some things up the car has full length connectors on it, Battle box's, lower control arms it also has uppers we found out last night i think he running the tires at about 32 lbs on the street and there on 18x9 saleen wheels .. hes gonna order ajustable struts and c/c plates and get a good alignment and possibly change the rear control arms to arms with spherical bushings.


edit - im sure he wont mind but this is the car ..

 

[90lxcoupe]

Good looking car

 

[Sharad]

ok let me answer some things and clear some things up the car has full length connectors on it, Battle box's, lower control arms it also has uppers we found out last night i think he running the tires at about 32 lbs on the street and there on 18x9 saleen wheels .. hes gonna order ajustable struts and c/c plates and get a good alignment and possibly change the rear control arms to arms with spherical bushings.


edit - im sure he wont mind but this is the car ..

Good looking car.

Yeah, good control arms with spherical bearings will help, although the 18s are not helping keep the car planted. You know, even if the car has aftermarket control arms, if they have polyurethane bushings, they could be worn out or torn and causing that floating feeling. (been there, done that) You can tell by removing them and checking the bushings, but if you're going to upgrade to double adjustable arms with spherical bearings, it doesn't matter what condition the current arms are in.

 

[2000xp8]

I run 18 inch wheels and don't really have any major traction issues.
As long as your run good tires, you are fine.
Hell, guys even get cars to hook well on 20 inch drag radials these days.

What exactly does your friend plan on doing with the car? Mostly track or street?

 

[TOOLOW91]

I run 18 inch wheels and don't really have any major traction issues.
As long as your run good tires, you are fine.
Hell, guys even get cars to hook well on 20 inch drag radials these days.

What exactly does your friend plan on doing with the car? Mostly track or street?

its a street toy that sees occasional trips to the track, hence the saleens and not slicks and skinnys. it's just how the car felt so mushy he did not like

 

[TOOLOW91]

Good looking car.

Yeah, good control arms with spherical bearings will help, although the 18s are not helping keep the car planted. You know, even if the car has aftermarket control arms, if they have polyurethane bushings, they could be worn out or torn and causing that floating feeling. (been there, done that) You can tell by removing them and checking the bushings, but if you're going to upgrade to double adjustable arms with spherical bearings, it doesn't matter what condition the current arms are in.

i thought about this too and told him this before i even posted i am a diesel mechanic so worn suspension wont help anything weather it be a mustang or a bus ... thanks man !

 

[2000xp8]

Spherical bearings are horrible on the street, they ride like crap and they wear out quick.
There are better solutions for a street car.

I run steeda lightweight lowers and motorsport uppers and i've never felt unsafe.
You can also get some MM lowers or there are a couple of other good companies too.