NateB26

Ive been steadily collecting new parts to redo my suspension, so far I have new springs, shocks/struts, caster camber plates, front anti roll bar, front tubular a arms, new quad shocks. Plan on getting a tubular k member also but I was wondering what the advantage of buying rear tubular control arms is and if i will need the quad shocks as well if i go that route. thanks

dawson1112

Tubular control arms dont flex like the stock control arms do. This adds alot of stability during hard cornering with the upper control arms and the lower arms will eliminate alot of that tail wag effect during hard acceleration. They will also help stop excessisive pinion angle movement wich will help keep the drive line from binding up on hard acceleration. I would keep the quad shocks on as they keep wheel hop to a minimum.

reldla1996

You'll get mixed opinions on the quad shocks. My personal experience has been that with poly bushings on the rear control arms, you don't need the quad shocks. Reading your list, you should consider subframes, or better yet the Stifflers FIT subframe system or the Kenny Brown Extreme Matrix set up. These will improve your handling as much as anything else you're planning.

NateB26

yea i already have subframe connectors already, they were installed a long time ago. I think i would want to keep quad shocks anyways, im not planning on running really wide rear tires. are you able to use the quad shocks with most of the aftermarket rear tubular control arms or are you forced to eliminate them all together?

dawson1112

If your new control arms have polly bushings you dont need the quads as the wheel hop that we experiance is cause by the use of soft rubber bushings that ford uses to help eliminate suspension bind.
Here is part of a write up from http://www.miracerros.com/mustang/t_suspension.htm#Top

" The upper and lower rear control arms constitute the four links in this rear suspension. The upper arms locate the axle side-to-side and prevent pinion angle changes (axle wind-up). The lower arms locate the axle front-to-back and and transmit the wheels' thrust to the chassis. Note that the control arms are not parallel to each other.

When the car leans (rolls) in a turn, one side of the chassis moves upward relative to the rear axle, the other side moves downward, and these non-parallel control arms must twist and change length axially to allow the axle to articulate. This causes the control arm bushings to bind. If this bind becomes excessive, it can raise the rear wheel rate and produce sudden, undesireable changes in handling (e.g., snap oversteer).

Ford minimizes this suspension bind by using compliant rubber bushings in both the upper and lower control arms. These relatively "soft" bushings acommodate the necessary motion of the control arms during body roll. However, they also permit wheel hop on hard launches and horizontal axle deflection in aggressive turns. Axle dampers (quad shocks) were installed on V8 Mustangs to eliminate this wheel hop, but nothing was done by Ford to cure the horizontal axle deflection. That deflection is responsible for the "tail-wagging" sensation well known to anyone who has driven a late model Mustang aggressively"

"If improved straight-line (dragstrip) performance is your primary goal, the stock rubber upper & lower control arm bushings can be replaced with solid polyurethane bushings or spherical bearings. Hard bushings/bearings eliminate wheel hop, reduce axle deflection, and improve rear end grip. The downside of solid poly bushings is that they prevent the necessary movement of control arms during body roll, which in turn produces significant suspension bind in turns. Spherical bearings do a better (but still imperfect) job of handling control arm motion during turns. And they also tend to transmit a lot of road noise and vibration into the car.

If you use your car in open track or autocross competition, you'll probably want to leave the stock upper control arms alone and install only new lower control arms. The stock rubber bushings in the upper arms continue to allow the axle to articulate through its full range of motion in turns, while the new lower arms improve axle location. One popular lower arm design (illustrated below) uses segmented poly bushings on the chassis end and spherical bearings on the axle end. This combination has been found to improve rear axle location without any significant increase in suspension bind."

You can use the quads with just about any aftermarket control arms, however the use of polly bushings with some spherical bearings takes care of the wheel hop also.

Venomantidote95

It has been quite a while since i have done anything with a quad but i dont recall them being bolted or otherwise connected to the control arms? So that would be a yes any control arm will work if for some reason you keep the quads.

tinman

I think you would want to get real bearings in the axle end ot theupper rear control arms.
I also think that quad shocks were just a marketing idea by Ford, they will do nothing for you if you are drag racing......