Project: Suspension ****!

[281pony]

The thunk is probably the bar turning and hitting the mount, my car does it too.

ok. i am going to weld it just for safety either way. it kinda bugs me how i read of a handful of people snapping the mounting bolts before it even hit 47 ft/lb. i went by hand on mine, but they are tight. the bracket as i said, is bowing in. i could not fit a spacer in. i must have one of the thicker frame rails. their spacers for sure would not fit, the drivers side seems good with the rail width.

with it welded, it wont bug me atleast. i am going to try and figure out the thump for sure. i have a spot where i turn around where it does the thump everytime at the same spot. i'm tryin to narrow stuff down based on the cars movement.

 

[281pony]

The thunk is probably the bar turning and hitting the mount, my car does it too.

i have a couple questions for you guy.

on the torque arm install, is it a mistake to get the exhaust flanges moved/welded before doing anything with the ta? i dont have a welder, and i'm unsure of how im going to weld on the 4 mounting tabs.

then, how long did the TA install take you total? you said the panhard took you like 2-3 hours IIRC, thats what it took us. should be on par for the TA too, i have done alot of reading on it. never seen total install time mentioned though.

 

[Shaolin Crane]

ok. i am going to weld it just for safety either way. it kinda bugs me how i read of a handful of people snapping the mounting bolts before it even hit 47 ft/lb. i went by hand on mine, but they are tight. the bracket as i said, is bowing in. i could not fit a spacer in. i must have one of the thicker frame rails. their spacers for sure would not fit, the drivers side seems good with the rail width.

with it welded, it wont bug me atleast. i am going to try and figure out the thump for sure. i have a spot where i turn around where it does the thump everytime at the same spot. i'm tryin to narrow stuff down based on the cars movement.

My bracket bowed in a bit, i just used a pry bar to get the spacer in, then smacked it flat with a hammer. You wont need to weld it, its really un-necessary. Especially if you need to remove it.

 

[Shaolin Crane]

i have a couple questions for you guy.

on the torque arm install, is it a mistake to get the exhaust flanges moved/welded before doing anything with the ta? i dont have a welder, and i'm unsure of how im going to weld on the 4 mounting tabs.

then, how long did the TA install take you total? you said the panhard took you like 2-3 hours IIRC, thats what it took us. should be on par for the TA too, i have done alot of reading on it. never seen total install time mentioned though.

I think it took me about 4 hours. But i did the subframes at the same time. Lined everything up and then tacked everything into place then took it to a muffler shop to have everything finished.

 

[281pony]

yesterday i had my flanges relocated. the subframe reinforcements for my kb subs welded. then today i went through HELL and got my torque arm springs/bilsteins installed.

the install turned into pure hell. had to take a ton of crap apart, panhard bar stuff off, sway bar, control arms, then i ended up screwin around with some other stuff. body is so beat, hands are bloody and bruised lol. i thought it was like 11-12 now, and its 4 am. i start work in an hour.. guess ill hit some energy drinks.

ill post pics later. im payin a dude to install the torque arm on sunday. what im payin is well worth it after what i endured tonight for simple springs/shocks swap. im just a little concerned the primary welds on my subframes look like poop.

 

[Shaolin Crane]

dont drink energy drinks, take a vitamin pack.

 

[fiveohwblow]

drink eleventy billon rock stars

 

[281pony]

just got up. i made it 2 hours at work before i started to hallucinate.

drive home was horrible, falling asleep at the wheel. i made it ok though, just gotta tighten down the shocks. it will be nice to pay someone for the torque arm after last nights adventure

 

[281pony]

so we did the install today on the torque arm. it took a total of like 4.5 hours.

first and foremost, the clearance around the crossmember is a bitch. we had to dimple the mid-pipe in one spot even though my flanges were moved. the directions state to place the crossmember as close to the chassis of the car as possible for exhaust clearance.

we did this, then when it came time to adjust the pinion angle, it caused it to be positive 1.5 degree's instead of the standard negative 3 degree's. so we came to the front and pushed the snout of the torque arm down as far as possible. this left it at a negative 1 degree pinion angle. we left it here incase it moves slightly. mm suggests you match the pinion angles.

aside from those 2 hiccups, it all went pretty smoothly. went over my subframe connector welds which were AWFUL. on the drivers side subframe connector, the rear only had a small tack weld on one side of it. you could see light through 95% of the frame region. it's all reinforced now and the cross braces are now tightened to the floorboards.

onto the good stuff.. the ride is very good now. i have 375-410 lb progressive rear springs with bilstein hd shocks. i can feel the difference in the car as it handles bumps now. the car feels like it has another 50 hp cause it transfers weight so hard now. did some minor playing tonight. car is very tight in the corners. it does dive pretty hard on my front springs still (14 130 lb/in lol).

i can whip it back and forth and the rear follows great. it cost me alot more $$ then i planned, but i know i've got one hell of an all around car now. just gotta get my front bilsteins/springs done and it will be even better.

 

[stangboy]

I've been wondering how versatile that setup is. I can't wait to hear how you car launches from a standstill. I want my car to handle because it will be mostly street driven but I'm more concerned with straight-line traction.

 

[281pony]

i've got some mileage on this stuff now. ride quality is vastly improved as i figured. i put the bilsteins and mm springs in the day before the torque arm was actually on. the car was SUPER rough in the back. you could feel an ant under the rear tires, real harsh.

that's all gone and good now. the handling is pretty good. i have found a couple weaknesses though. my tires arent the best when i really try to push it (sumitomo hrz 18"). which is not a big deal, cause im really pushing hard. the front end still dives too hard with my coilover springs, 14 130's.

that's bein taken care of. i robbed a bank and ordered MM front coilover kit and got matching HD bilsteins. the traction you asked about..

well lets put it this way, my tires arent up to a dead stopped launch quite. they do however, fully hold the power from a 2k roll in first to WOT transition. also a 3500ish rpm to WOT transition. no tire spin except on the shifts i get a tiny chirp in 2nd/3rd.

the car now sucks to drive in the rain to the unsuspecting. it transfers weight so good with the torque arm, the tires break and it kicks out FAST. it rained here the other day and i took the corner at a grandma's pace behind another car. before i knew it, the bastard was sideways. of course its pretty manageable and very easy to play when you want to kick it out.

bottom line; the handling is vastly improved with the panhard/tq arm. the straight line traction is awesome. the installs weren't too bad IMO. i've got about 7-8 hours between the two installs of solid work. the cost was alot, i also did some stuff others wont need to/wont want to..

i ended up replacing front coilover setup completely, all new struts and shocks, needed subframe braces, purchased the HD torque arm over standard, then rear springs.

 

[281pony]

heres a vid. ill take it out and play some more this weekend with the camera. i drive it hard everytime out, just dont have the camera usually

YouTube - MVI 2552

 

[Shaolin Crane]

Hmmm, car shouldnt want to slide out, sounds like its time for some softer sway bars to counteract the stiffer springs/dampeners.

 

[281pony]

Hmmm, car shouldnt want to slide out, sounds like its time for some softer sway bars to counteract the stiffer springs/dampeners.

its diving in the front alot. im gonna make my final decision once my front stuff arrives. i ended up going with a 200 lb front spring after reading lots of reviews.

the chart recommended 175-250 lb fronts with my rears. so i kinda went neutral, since i want it to ride as good as possible.

 

[Shaolin Crane]

its diving in the front alot. im gonna make my final decision once my front stuff arrives. i ended up going with a 200 lb front spring after reading lots of reviews.

the chart recommended 175-250 lb fronts with my rears. so i kinda went neutral, since i want it to ride as good as possible.

You still have the drag springs up front? If so that would account for the pushing in turns, Might want to pick yourself some 4cyl swaybars and see if you cant tune the understeer/oversteer with them.

 

[281pony]

yeah. ive still got my qa1 stuff up front. had to buy a new MM kit for the bilstein stuff. ended up being one of those things that cost another $500

i think it will be good with the new front setup. my wallet is DONE man. anything beyond gas has gotta wait for awhile now.

 

[lancec2c30]

So whatcha planning on doing with the qa1 stuff?

 

[281pony]

So whatcha planning on doing with the qa1 stuff?

its for sale sir. you interested?