Yeah the UCA is probably going to be worth a try I suppose. Is there anything better than Steeda though?

If we check the bushings and they are cracked then I'm done with them. Once bitten.. Well you know the rest.

What's a better LCA than the blue ones that I'm using right now? I see UMI makes ones with double spherical rod ends. Should be the best you can get for eliminating wheel hop right?

 

I bought the Steeda 555-4109 UCA as it was recommended to me as the best available because it allows you to set it for a longer UCA length and this improves the geometry. At a list price of $289.95 it is not cheap but it is probably strong enough that you could hang the whole car from it. It is also probably the worst in the world to install as when you set the arm longer it hits the gas tank and you then have to bend the lip of the gas tank down out of the way. You also have to drop the gas tank to install the mount

There are lots of LCA choices. I originally chose the Steeda poly/poly due to concerns about NVH. I've since decided that the binding effect that you can get from poly/poly as the car rolls in the corners on a road course is more of a concern than NVH. I have thus ordered a set of poly/rod UMI LCAs from Sam. In addition as my newly ordered FAYS 2 Watt's link is also all rod ends the NVH is probably going to go up anyway.

Most people would not find my car acceptable as a daily driver as it is so stiff and has a pretty high NVH level. For me this is less important than the performance level on a road course.

 

There are lots of LCA's that are better than the Steeda chrome moly fixed length poly bushed blue ones. I think you need to get the UCA before changing LCAs.

I think you are overreacting and expecting too much and taking whay Brenspeed or any other vender says as gospel.

Here is my worry with you Rip, you put on a decent LCA but not the best at eliminating the wheel hop problem. You could put on the matching Steeda UCA from the stop the hop package but I know with 100% certainty that you will still get the rear to hop given the right circumstances and judging by your posts, you will find out a way to do it.

The steeda poly bushings are better than the stock rubber bushings but they still flex, so they will still rebound when loaded and cause wheel hop. So to fix it you need a solid link from the axle to the frame. Problem with that is that all noise and vibration is then transferred from the road to your seat. I honestly don't think all that NVH is worth eliminating the last 5% of wheel hop you have left.

I mean honestly Ford may have made leaps and bounds when it comes to the S197 chassis and suspension but a 3rd link solid axle high hp rwd car is not a perfect set up.

I would just enjoy the car, add the UCA and change your launch technique so that it doesn't hop.

 

So what would be the best LCA at eliminating wheel hop? Dual spherical ends?

I wonder just how noisy that gets. I plan on having a fairly loud car. Wish I could hear it before clicking on order. lol

This is just another reason that a automatic is great for drag racing. With an auto each launch is almost the same. So you either have this problem or you don't. With a manual and a newb like me there are so many variations between each launch. So sometimes I see wheel hop and other times no.

Manuals are great fun to drive at times but every once in a while I have... regrets.

 

I'm sure it's noisy, but vibration might be a bigger factory. You'll feel every imperfection in the road. A poly/rod combo would be better, but I have no experience on how those feel.

 

So... What attracted you to the J&M? Haven't heard of them before. As you can tell I don't spend a ton of time in this sub forum.

I'm tempted to get the best, stiffest control arms I can possibly stand. Since our roads are pretty much crap up here (ruts, bumps, train tracks, etc.) I'm wondering if the dual spherical might be a bit more than even I can handle.

 

If you look at my sig and read my posts I have a rod poly combo. Inreased NVH plain and simple. I hear the rear end more, when the driveline wiggles during shifting and lifting off the gas, I feel it more. I also have a G-trac A arm brace and that adds to the NVH from the front, there are no bushings or rubber washers/groments so no buffering.

A friend who helped install the suspension mods has the following; Steeda competition UCA and bracket, Steeda race dual rod adjustable LCA. Steeda poly PHB and brace, Steeda G-trac brace, Steeda Competition springs, Steeda strut mounts, D specs, 4.10s, Steeda Black 18x9.5 pentars with a 275/40/18 tire, home made brake duct cooling kit, Hawk HPS pads, MGW shifter, eH2O pump, Steeda UDPs, C&L CAI and tune, and Magnaflow AB.

I got a ride in it before I choose my suspension parts. With so many rod joints, you could feel everything, very noisy. There was a constant clunk sound everytime the axle was loaded. Obviously, the rest of the suspension pieces including the wheels and tires all add to the added feel/connectedness to the road, drawback was she sounded like a track car.

After he helped me install my couple of parts we went for a drive and he instantly regretted his poly only PHB and his full rod LCA and UCA, wishing he had gone poly/rod for all his parts. His car is a DD that sees 4-5 road course events a year so NVH is a real issue. Exhaust can cover it up but only so much.

 

Riptide

In case you haven't come across this before here is a pretty good article about LCAs and the UCA http://www.cherod.com/mustang/HowTo/LCA%20_adj.htm

 

I'm not at all into doing burnouts or even running the quarter mile; this was just a slightly too-hard start for the conditions that has happened exactly once. I wasn't expecting it, so I didn't notice if it started right away, if it took a little time to get started, or anything else that might have been useful.

If I ever autocross the GT, I might get it to do some dry-pavement wheel hop.


Norm

 

Thanks guys. I'm going to hold off on worrying about this any further for now then. I will see what Kolb02 has to say when he goes for a drive with me this weekend and maybe checks out the rear end of the car for me. Maybe we'll have a look at the bushings just in case. I still have some grease from the Steeda box so we can reapply that if the bushings look fine.

That said, I am really interested in these UMI rods that Sam has. Kinda wish there was a non-adjustable model though. I prefer to just stick with a single point (UCA) for adjustability.

http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...D=99&ModelID=5