ElDude

A guy I know who knows a lot about mustangs told me I'd have to upgrade my rear suspension to tubular parts rather than stock or else I risk wrecking the suspension if I did any burnouts or hard launches. He claims this because my tires are Eagle F1's (255 front/285 rear) and would provide too much grip during a launch.

This seems a bit dubious to me, the only mods I have that affect power are a cat-back and x-pipe, I wouldn't think that Ford would release a car with a suspension that can't take very slight power mods and wider tires. So is this guy wrong or should I listen to him? Keep in mind my car is a DD, probably not going to see any track use.

Sorry if this seems like a newbie question, I just got into mustangs

moosestang

He is right for the most part. The stock bushings and arms to a lesser extent, will flex during a hard launch. I get very bad wheel hop with the stock arms and stock 17 inch tires, but I have a lot more power than stock.

I would replace the lower arms and see how it feels. Most people don't need to do anything else. I love my J&M lower control arms and I'd recommend them to anyone. You can get their standard ones, that incorporate a polyurethane ball and bushings for more articulation, for a little over $100 or you can get the extreme joint arms, which use a metal ball and poly bushings, for $176 from LMperformance.com

Texotic

He's wrong. Yes, you get wheel hop with the stock parts flexing, but you aren't going to "wreck" your suspension by doing burnouts or doing launches on the streets. Eagle F1's are nice, but there are definitely more sticky tires out there... it's not like you're running drag radials. Honestly, for you to bend something, you're going to need to do a perfect launch and hook like mad with the amount of power you're running. The problem is, with the stock lower control arms, you aren't going to be able to hook like that because you'll just get wheel hop. You've got nothing to worry about, IMO. I'd be more worried about replacing those Eagle F1's after the burnouts than bending a control arm. Lets just say that you, somehow, DO bend something... then you just have an excuse for an upgrade

Riptide

If you get severe wheel hop when doing a burnout on the stock suspension - can't that wreck ****? I've heard it's a bad thing. Maybe the violence associated with it on stock power levels isn't enough to damage anything. Maybe not. Who knows?

Texotic

Well, you could probably screw stuff up if you started getting wheel hop and stayed on the power, but most people let off as soon as they experience wheel hop. I can't imagine momentary wheel hop at stock power levels could screw much up.

Granted, if you do plan on doing burnouts and hard launches on a regular basis, it'd be pretty dumb, IMO, not to upgrade your control arms.

ElDude

I don't plan on launching hard and burning out often, however the few times I have I've noticed the wheel hop. But if it's only 100$ for lower control arms I might do that just for the peace of mind. Thanks for the help

Derf00

Wheel hop WILL damage stuff. Doesn't matter if you have 290 RWTQ or 1000 RWTQ, wheel hop is wheel hop.

I've done burn outs in my auto before with the stock BFG KDWS and never had wheel hop but if you get it, either fix it (by upgrading the LCA's as suggested) or avoid it (stop burning out)

157dB

Tweak the body structure thet the suspension is attached to, maybe.
Thats what sub-frame connectors and upgraded torque boxes are for.
See www.steeda.com for some nice frame beefing up components to handle
the extra load/shock from the aftermarket components.

moosestang

Things that could break include, axles, wheel studs, rims?, torque boxes, control arms, u-joints.

I'd be more worried about the torque boxes and axles than anything, but the likelihood of anything breaking is probably small.

Lower control arms are a good idea for even a stock car. They will help eliminate wheel hop and make the whole rear end feel more solid. I hate the stock control arms, the bushings are like bubble gum!

moosestang

$110 and free shipping.

http://www.lmperformance.com/18744/73.html

lmperformance is also a sponsor here and I bought my control arms from them.

You can install these yourself if you have an 18mm socket and torque wrench.