Quick Tubular K-Member Question

[Lynx331]

Im considering putting a tubular K-Member on my car. From what im hearing tho.. its not a wise choice for a mostly street driven vehicle. Is this true? Im hearing that if u hit a decent pot hole the tubular will bend much easier than the stock K-Member.. is there any truth to this? Is there any advantage with going with a Tubular over the stocker? Thanks guys


:SNSign:

 

[Numbles]

The basic advantage to aftermarket k-members is weight savings. With the use of coilovers as well you can shave off a good amount of weight. Your options should first be categorized by what your doing with the car. Drag or Road Race. Street setups can fall under drag setup for the most part. And for good street and drag setup I would go with PA Racing or AJE.

For Road racing I would go with Griggs or MM. The griggs and MM setups allow different mounting positions for the control arms to correct suspension geometry for corning. And they are built a little better however dont shave off as much weight as the PA or AJE k-members. (PA and AJE also charge extra for Road Racing options. Thicker walled tubing ect.)

Dont get me wrong, there are other k-members out there that work great. Like upr. And the PA Racing ang AJE units by no means weak. Figure out what you want the car capable of doing and choose acordingly.

Now for potholes and such. I personally think keeping the stock k-member and control arms will provide the most amount of strength. So any of the k-members I mentioned above would be a step down in durability.

 

[2000xp8]

As numbles said, the k member is about wieght savings.

They are known to ride rough and most are far weaker than a stock k member.

If you notice the wieght of the better quality ones like the Kenny brown, it saves almost no wieght at all.

The AJE is good, because you can use stock style springs which are better than coil overs (which wear out in no time on a street car), but the AJE if i remember correctly has NO bushings in the arms, making for a horrific street ride.

You want to save wieght on the front of the car?
Put your battery in the trunk (doesn't actually save, but works awesome for traction) and buy a set of aluminum heads.
Nothing personal but if the mods in your sig are the only ones are your car, you are not at the k member level. The money can be better spent on other performance parts. Not sure of the Griggs price, but i'm sure it's way up there as is the MM kit. You want the good stuff, you are certainly going to have to pay for it.

 

[BlackSaleenS281]

What about adding a MM K Member brace for everyday street driving on a '86 vert?

 

[2000xp8]

What about adding a MM K Member brace for everyday street driving on a '86 vert?

I think that part is cheap right? I guess you can, but i wouldn't waste my money.

 

[Numbles]

I think the brace is worhless unless your a hardcore autocrosser or road racer.

 

[iapexl8r]

mm k member

most after-market kmembers have revised suspension geometry. I have a mm k member it lengthend the wheel base over 1" and has 2 options for mounting the lower control arms one for real low and one for low. it also corrects for steering problems by relocating the rack and pinion. they also come drilled for lowering the engine 1" or moving it back and lowering it 1 " both ways. the weight savings is just an added bonus. some dude named Major Mathis wrote a book (mustang performanceII)that has a lot of real good info on the fox body mustang suspensions woes and their fixes Chris

 

[Bad92GT]

i have dnd k member, lower arms, and coil over kit.. all for free basically.. came with a car we just bought.. im just gonna use the stock arms and all but with the tubular k member.. i added some weight with other things i've done

 

[jerryD]

if you use the stock arms, you will have to switch to coil o's, or get spring perches to use the factory spring. keep that in mind.