jahudso2

I want to stiffen up the drivetrain a bit to reduce the number of missed 2-3 shifts on my car. I see that the torque limiters are easier to install, but the motor mounts are actually cheaper. I would prefer to do the easier install of the torque limiters, but installing the motor mounts cant be that hard. Any first hand advice with either one?

whtcanbrwnd04u

I have heard alot of success stories with the kmember / tq limiters fixing the same issue you speak of. You don't see many people adding motor mounts for that reason. Its usually for more clearance. I vote for the k member / tq limiters.

thedrod

It has been said that the K member brace with the limiters does not work with all brands of long tube headers. So if that is a concern do your homework before hand. Rubrignitz put the motor mounts on his car because the brace would not clear his JBA LT headers.

However, you said 2-3 shifts....do you have any aftermarket shifter? The K-Member brace/motor mounts is more suited to the 1-2 shift problem.

jahudso2

I don't mind the stock shifter besides missing shifts. If I can spend $160 on torque limiters or $150 on motor mounts, I would rather do that than spend $300 on a MGW shifter. Plus it looks like the torque limiter install is much less involved than the shifter install.

Rskapof

The shifter install was quick and easy. I even took a bunch of extra time to make sure that I put all the dynamat to good use.

Car is more quiet, shifts are great, made driving more fun with the shifter.

Yonco

I put on a set of Tq limiters and it was for 2 reasons. After the shorties, motor mounts were recommended so there wasn't a chance there would be interference. So i put on braces to hold everything steady and firm up the 1-2 shifts. I found it harder to launch after the tq brace install. Im not sure if it is me but it stiffens it up so much that the drive train doesn't absorb anything and its a tad harder to launch. -Jon

jahudso2

What do you mean harder to launch? Like more tire spin?

deekum1627

k- member with tq limiters work great and they fit great with my mac headers as well as most others there is only one header that dont fit it say on there web site i think

Kotobuki

Before I get to far into this I want to provide a bit of a disclaimer. I'm not an engineer or any sort, but from my experience of watching how engines behave under load (and other random experience with random materials in other areas), this should all be pretty sound.

I think I'm going to buck the trend here, and say go with the motor mounts. That's the portion of the chassis and drivetrain that is DESIGNED to handle the load of the engine torquing over. The other portion of the drivetrain designed to handle those forces is where your transmission bolts to the crossmember. (So far as I know there isn't an aftermarket mount for that.) These points create an axis that the engine is able to roll around, and allows the engine mounts to dampen that motion, and bear the force of that load.

By mounting the torque limiters, that roll axis is (almost assuredly) changed, and the motor mounts are no longer bearing the brunt of that force as they will then provide less resistance than the torque limiters around this new axis. The mounting flange of the bell-housing is not designed to support or properly distribute this type of load. That doesn't mean that it isn't necessarily capable of doing so, just that it wasn't designed for it. (Plenty of people do, after all, have lots of positive experience with these.)

If after you put the motor mounts in there is still what you consider excessive drivetrain roll, then I would suggest the torque limiters as at that point, they will be more of supplemental device, rather than the primary as both items will have more similar stiffnesses, with the engine mounts providing very little in the way of 'give' in the first place.

mygt500

I have them as well and they work
So your suggesting both the TQ limiters and motor mounts.....which a few have done
Unless the TQ limiters are the race type where you dont have poly bushings/rubber bushings at one end then I think it will cause problems with the axis you speak of as your right you are changing the way (limiting) the amt of roll the engine has but the bushings still have "give" and resistance that helps the motor move less using the trans housing. So basically your doing what the part name states just at a different axis so I would say that the stock engine hydra mounts and the TQ limiters would work together to give "less play not "no play at all" when the motor is flexing and almost everyone has reported great improvements in 2nd to 3rd gear shifts. So if one wanted to experiment one might get one or the other and if that solves the issues your done if not then

back to the drawing board and time for the next mod. ......
Just an FYI and a respone to a poster above saying the shifter will solve the problem

I bought the TQ limiters and it solved my problem after the S/C was put on.....when I up the boost and if the problem occurs again I would get the motor mounts etc.....getting a new shifter doesn't matter for the OP as his problem will be solved with one or the other and not by getting a new shifter.....new shifters are for shorter throws which can have the same problem the OP has.....how do I know this you might ask?

Because I have the MGW shifter and it was great until I went from 280+ RWTQ to 440+ RWTQ. This is the magic number for my situation that required some bracing of the trans/motor to assist with shifting based on the way the shifters for thses cars and the mounting points were designed originally by Ford.

This is just from my exp and the many threads from different forums that debated the TQ limiters and the motor mounts or both. Oh and the trans mounting point that broke with the TQ limiters on was with a motor that had insane TQ and HP and possibly improper install or a bad cast of the trans housing....either way this was the only reported one I could find on many different forums.


So after all the above I would just get the cheaper one and hope it works well for you at this HP/TQ level and adj from there