Tubular K member

IMO, anyone should think long and hard about running a drag suspension on the street. Worst setup I've ever tried.
Pretty much ruins everything about driving the car.
My work van handled better.

This also begs the question: What is the end goal of this street car?

Is it popping the wheels off the ground from a stoplight? (not hatin', I've always wanted to do this)

or

Is it launching fast out of the hole?

I'm suggesting that if the weight that you [don't] save by keeping the OEM k-member is properly transferred, that this may be a benefit for higher torque or lower geared cars. At any rate, taking that weight off of the nose as torque output increases will provide diminishing returns.

I would probably spend that money on the ass end of that thing even it's to invest in a better set of tires (or more of them since what you (OP) want will wear fast).
 
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Yeah, totally personal preference. Can't take turns hard in the black car. It's a little floaty up front. The rear is absolutely punishing over bumps, but I don't unlink the ARB, even though I should.
Just think how much more 'floaty' the front would feel with out the ARB.
No doubt the ARB is harsh,but it will not let the car twist all over the place.
Same thing with my d/a struts up front,12''-150lb springs with easy up rebound and firm compression
is very hook oriented,but handles better then typical tall /soft stock location drag springs.
 
What broke ? I have been running my Wild Rides ARB for about 15 months,no problems so far.
At first I was waiting for the mounts on the diff to shear off,but they have not.
 
The 'ears' that come off of the roll bar, itself, broke on the passenger side at the attachment point to the bar, and it wasn't just the welded seam, because the back half (semi-circle) of ear was still attached. So the front welds and the ear sheared off of that. Hopefully, that was clear enough.

I have their highest-end ARB that has two ears on each side. I still think they need to box the two pieces on each ear, and maybe reinforce them to the bar itself to prevent any horizontal flex.

When I got the new ARB, I had a shop weld in some plates, reset the tabbed attachment points on the housing itself, and then got their bolt-in version of the same bar. Now, if the new one breaks, that'll be ~$500, but I won't have to get a welder again. I can just drop the old one and install the new one.

It's not broken here, but a visual always helps:
Under minitub.jpeg
 
I think you all have convinced me that maybe the full K member swap is not really worth it on a primarily street driven car.

I already got the stuff to move the battery to the back. And when these Nitto 555's wear out I will get some good drag radials.

But for front suspension mod, how about some Lakewood 70/30 struts? They will contribute to better weight transfer wont they? Even a little maybe? I'll keep the factory sway bars for decent cornering.
 
Yeah, not enough gains in weight reduction to make much difference. I'm hoping 70/30 struts would let a bit more weight get to the back on hard acceleration
 
I imagine it would help (transfer weight) but that is a fixed (not adjustable) strut is it not ?
For the money the strange s/a work well.
A quality D/A strut,will cost more,but will really let you taylor suspension action.
A d/a (or at lest s/a) rear shock is just as important as struts in getting a car to hook.
 
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I slightly better weight transfer is all I'm after. Dont want too much and would rather not have to fiddle with adjusting based on my driving mood. I figure 70/30's would help in straight line pulls. And the fact Ill keep the fat factory sway bar up front will continue to retain decent cornering quality.
 
UPR K-member is probably another 20 lbs lighter than the MM one, but it is not for corner carving. Is it worth having? I'd say the best part about a tubular K-member is accessibility in the engine bay. It would be one of the later thing I did after drivetrain, fuel system, computer, and basic suspension (struts, shocks, control arms). When it's time to go coil-over, it's time to do the k-member, IMO. You can really get a lot out of the stock suspension before that point.

As far as front struts, dude, just go straight to adjustable. Even single adjustable is fine. Then you can have effectively 90/10s at the track and 50/50s or even tighter on the street. Or, let it ride like a caddy... er... Lincoln... yeah! Best of both worlds there.
 
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Ok, I'll look at adjustable struts for the front. What brand are the better ones? Do you think adjustable rear shocks would help as well?

My rear suspension has stock springs, stock shocks, stock quads. aftermarket control arms of which I'm not sure the brand since I get them at swap meet. Car also has reinforced tq boxes and MM full length subframes with the seat brackets.
 
Also, what about a coil over kit up front with adjustable struts? How would that compare to using adjustable struts with my current 1.5 drop SR Performance springs?
 
Lowering springs are the worst for weight transfer. To keep this budget friendly,
i would find a set of used stock v8 front springs,and a set of sticky tires and see how the car reacts.
 
You have a lot more going on then just taking weight out . While you make decent power it isn’t killer power but suspension not doing what it should will make a 200 hp car an ice skate .

I have pulled the wheels with stock front k member and arms shifting second .

Lowering springs are terrible for what you want to do . You need good shocks . Single adjustable strange front and rear shocks and struts will be a great starting place . Then adress the rear spring . Team z makes a great drop in drag spring thet is the equivalent to a v8 spring rate with one coil cut .

Next is the front . I went Coil over this time but I did run and do what i mentioned with sway bars and front eibwch lowering springs . This time around I had sharad at upr set me up with a coil over spring rate to not make the car a bucket riding drag car on the street but still work . We ended up with 12in 200lb springs . Again still leaving my front and rear sway bars because full street car


Ditch the quad shocks . They are not helping anything . Idk what arms you have but getting the pinion angle right plays a HUGE roll in making the car work .

Next which i have mentioned in here is those tires . I had them . They are mediocre at best . A Mickey et street s/s or a m&h racemaster radial will work light years better . The trade off is the Wear life is horrible . That’s what you get with a good tire though .

Not trying to come off like an ass again either but this is another thread where I noticed you asked for help an guys mentioned the same shocks I did and 2 posts down you weee mentioning Lakewood’s instead of taking the advice asked for . There is some great advice given around here when asked but it almost seems as sometimes you have your mind made up even before the answers are given . I’d like to see you suceed


I’m no expert . Take this with a grain of salt but that is my .02 .

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245656FA-2C49-42F6-965C-F4F80B54D171.jpeg
 
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John, I don't know how far you're gonna go. If you want the best set-up money-be-damned, get a k-member, coil-overs, d/a shocks and struts, an ARB, and adjustable CAs. Nice thing about coil overs is how easy it is to adjust ride height.

If you want the best bang for the $, or a simple solution that just plain works, then save your money, get a stock-like front spring (4 cyl, preferred), s/a shocks and struts, I also recommend Strange. On my car that went 1.83 on 225/55/16 all-seasons, it has a b-spring in the back (3/4" shorter IIRC), and stock fronts.

TooLow is, as usual, on the money. I would just clarify one point that I'm not disputing. The quads can and should go once you've addressed wheel hop. However, if your control arms aren't adjustable, and pinion angle is out enough to cause wheel hop, then the quads still have a job to do. But, he's still right. It's something to address at some point.
 
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@ TOOLOW91, absolutely hard feelings and I appreciate the contributions of you and everyone else in this forum. I can promise you my mind was not made up when I began this post. Not only that but because of members responses here, my mind has changed on things more than once. I'm still not sure exactly what I'm going to do. It will probably be a combination of advice received on here and my own quirky preferences.

I like the idea of adjustable ride height and now understand that the lowering springs I currently have in the front will not help my goals. Because of these things I'm considering a coil over adjustable strut in the front. I've read that there can be clearance issues if the front rims are wider and mine are so I have to get over that hurdle. Spacers to move my wheel out are a no go for me.

I'll be considering changes to the rear suspension too but focusing on the front now.

Tires are in the future but not until I'm ready to get wheels too. I'm dying for Weld S71 in 17x10 for the rear and 17x6 for the front. As you can see they are pricey!

Weld S71
 
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Oh yeah? Did you see some somewhere that inspired you?

Here are some random pics that have absolutely nothing to with my question:
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