Quad Shocks...need 'em?

stang1986GT

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Mar 30, 2005

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Charleston, WV area

Oct 18, 2005

#1

• Oct 18, 2005

• #1

Bone stock 86 GT. Drive it alot. When I was rebuilding my back brakes last weekend, I noticed the bushings on the quad shocks are shot. Should I just take the shocks off or leave them on and replace the bushings?

 

L

luckythirteen13

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Jul 19, 2005

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Anaheim, CA

Oct 18, 2005

#2

• Oct 18, 2005

• #2

leave them on till you have a good set of lower control arms. if the bushings are shot, replace them

 

stang1986GT

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Mar 30, 2005

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Charleston, WV area

Oct 18, 2005

#3

• Oct 18, 2005

• #3

luckythirteen13 said:

leave them on till you have a good set of lower control arms. if the bushings are shot, replace them

Click to expand...

Thanks. By the way, are the lower control arms hard to put on? Are they a bolt on? I've never really looked into them. Do they make a huge difference?

 

T

Tony90hatch

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Sep 7, 2005

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Oct 18, 2005

#4

• Oct 18, 2005

• #4

stang1986GT said:

Thanks. By the way, are the lower control arms hard to put on? Are they a bolt on? I've never really looked into them. Do they make a huge difference?

Click to expand...

yes they do make a difference. get some better uppers while your at it. They are not difficult to replace, but the rear coil springs are held in place by the lower control arms. Make sure you have a jack handy to put the coil back in place.

 

S

strokedandblown

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May 3, 2005

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USA

Oct 18, 2005

#5

• Oct 18, 2005

• #5

very easy to do in your garage, will take you and a buddy the better part of an afternoon.

 

super302

I'd do anything for free Bapples

May 29, 2004

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Davenport, IA

Oct 18, 2005

#6

• Oct 18, 2005

• #6

lowers are real easy to change, the uppers almost REQUIRE a frame lift

 

VG30DE

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Sep 16, 2002

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Dudley, MA

Oct 18, 2005

#7

• Oct 18, 2005

• #7

I use a bottle jack between the trunk and the axle tubes to wiggle the control arms and springs in there. It really works well.

And the best answer about quad shocks is MAYBE. Some cars need em, others dont. The thing you need to find out is.... after you take em out...when you burn out, do you get wheel hop. If you dont, leave em out. If you do, put em back in. Some cars do, some cars dont. I have Steeda control arms, urethane bushings, subframe connectors, drag launch spings, and I absolutely can not take the quads out or it wheel hops. Tons of people tell me it either works or doesnt....

 

Shakerhood

20+ Year Stangneter

Oct 28, 2004

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Oct 18, 2005

#8

• Oct 18, 2005

• #8

How did you notice your Quads are shot?

 

stang1986GT

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Mar 30, 2005

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Charleston, WV area

Oct 19, 2005

#9

• Oct 19, 2005

• #9

Tony90hatch said:

yes they do make a difference. get some better uppers while your at it. They are not difficult to replace, but the rear coil springs are held in place by the lower control arms. Make sure you have a jack handy to put the coil back in place.

Click to expand...

I was looking at 50 resto.com and I like the Steeda Weight Jacker for lower control arms. (http://secure.50resto.com/product1.cfm?SID=1&Product_ID=2835)
I assume you can still use exhaust pipes with these? Anyone suggest anything else better?

What about uppers? What do you guys like for upper arms?

 

stang1986GT

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Mar 30, 2005

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Charleston, WV area

Oct 19, 2005

#10

• Oct 19, 2005

• #10

Shakerhood said:

How did you notice your Quads are shot?

Click to expand...

I was rebuilding the rear brakes and noticed the bushings are shot. The quads are fine I believe, it's the bushings that are shot. I just didn't want to replace the bushings if the quads aren't necessary, but the car is bone stock and I take it to the track once in a while, so I'll feel more comfortable leaving them on.

 

Shakerhood

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Oct 19, 2005

#11

• Oct 19, 2005

• #11

stang1986GT said:

I was rebuilding the rear brakes and noticed the bushings are shot. The quads are fine I believe, it's the bushings that are shot. I just didn't want to replace the bushings if the quads aren't necessary, but the car is bone stock and I take it to the track once in a while, so I'll feel more comfortable leaving them on.

Click to expand...

You should by all means leave your Quads on if you can. The shaft should have resistance in both directions if they are good, if not you can still get Ford Motorcraft ones pretty cheap!

 

Aliate X

Member

May 9, 2005

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Rockland NY

Oct 19, 2005

#12

• Oct 19, 2005

• #12

Yeah I made the mistake of taking my quads off, and had major wheelhop, even after getting upper/lower MAC ca's. Light wheels compound the effects of wheelhop.

 

slo65

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May 26, 2003

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Southern California

Oct 19, 2005

#13

• Oct 19, 2005

• #13

eh, mine were shot but i couldnt tell till i took them off, when i took them off i had massive wheel hope, so got my subframes/lca's/new quad shocks on, car hooks really well, now i just have to learn to drive

 

L

luckythirteen13

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Jul 19, 2005

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Anaheim, CA

Oct 19, 2005

#14

• Oct 19, 2005

• #14

i have mine off. theyve been off for a while. recently after putting on a sc i notice that when i take off the tire tracks i leave are like a dotted line. i may have to put them back in......to bad i threw them away. be headed to pick a part soon

 

Shakerhood

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Oct 28, 2004

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Oct 19, 2005

#15

• Oct 19, 2005

• #15

Quads do more than just stop wheelhop, they limit axle rotation, deflection, and windup. As stated previous, all Mustangs are different and some guys get away without them, but unless you have to remove them I would not.

 

stang1986GT

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Mar 30, 2005

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Charleston, WV area

Oct 20, 2005

#16

• Oct 20, 2005

• #16

Thanks so much for your imput, folks. I need to get those bushings replaced because I think it's causing the shocks not to be very effective. Going to the track next weekend...better get that done!

 

J

jaackal

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May 12, 2003

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NJ

Oct 20, 2005

#17

• Oct 20, 2005

• #17

if the bushings are shot, u might as well just replace them because you have to take them out to put the new bushings in. I got a pair of quad shocks for 40 bucks so its not like their expensive

 

RyanSG

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Oct 24, 2002

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Allentown, Pa

Oct 20, 2005

#18

• Oct 20, 2005

• #18

i was wondering about putting a turnbuckle type of setup there for more room for wider tires etc. like say a 1/2 rod with 2 turn buckle ends on... It would remove the quad shock but i'm not sure if the solid mount would work? It would stop axle rotation though but it really wouldn't dampen it... anyone else tryed it?