repairing torque boxes

[NKau]

Just got done dropping a pile of $$$ doing the 5 lug conversion, only to find when crawling under the car that my torque boxes have been "unpretty'd". The inner structure is fine, but the outer part that surrounds the torque boxes has a partial tear; 3/4" on the driver side, right on the corner of the box, and on the passenger side it is completely ripped; a perfect tear right up the corner of the box. It has even just started pulling away, there's about a 1/16" gap.
I'm already in the processing of ordering torque box reinforcements, but what else can I do to strengthen them? How many other people have had this happen?

 

[85GTlover]

Putting more welds around all the seems is one thing I read. Add extra to the factory welds. Torque arms wit spherical bushings would take the risks away. Good luck, that sucks to have happen.

 

[Schlodes]

If you havent, consider Rick91GTs kit [RNH Performance I think the name is] as his kit came with an extra brace that goes on the under side of the floor/body, where the control arm itself bolts up, along with the support brace inside the torque box itself.

His kit was a very nice kit, good quality stainless, and very good instructions. As for the upper boxes I got my stock ones welded...

 

[NKau]

Thanks guys. Just waiting for Rick to get back to me, and I should have those reinforcement plates in pretty quick. Is it neccessary to have a kit for the upper torque boxes, or is welding sufficient on a sub-300rwhp application? Also, would it be worthwhile swapping my current aftermarket control arms to ones with spherical ends, or should the reinforcement kit/additional welding take care of the problem for good?

 

[Rick 91GT]

Thanks guys. Just waiting for Rick to get back to me, and I should have those reinforcement plates in pretty quick. Is it neccessary to have a kit for the upper torque boxes, or is welding sufficient on a sub-300rwhp application? Also, would it be worthwhile swapping my current aftermarket control arms to ones with spherical ends, or should the reinforcement kit/additional welding take care of the problem for good?

Haven't recieved anything from you yet, shoot me an e-mail direct at [email protected]

The lift bars are hard on the boxes, I ripped mine w/ the SSM even after I had welded up all the seams. I never ripped them again when I added my kit and re-welded the seams so you should be fine, although a better arm would help

Thanks for the comments

 

[85GTlover]

I agree with Rick it would likely suffice after the welding but why not swap to better arms and take the stress off the boxes.