Heeelp... I have replaced my upper and lower control arms and added drag shocks on the rear of my '88 GT. I have 26X10.5 MT ET Streets. I'm currently makin' 435 rwhp. It's all beautiful EXCEPT I can't hook up. Heeeelp....

 

Either look for some 4cyl fox body springs for the front and get an lakewood struts 90/10 or 70/30 or and adjustable stut. Or go with some drag springs for the front with the same stuts as mentioned before.

Then you can either remove the front sway bar or they make a sway bar for the fox bodys that is meant for the drag strip.

 

Thanks for the advice.. I had plans to replace the k-frame soon, but I guess I didn't consider how important the front end suspension in general had to do with hooking up. I see a lot written about coil overs... does this replace the front end springs? What is the advantage, if any, for coil overs?

 

no problem.
Both the rear and the front are both keys to hooking. The main key of the front is the weight transfer, so you want the nose to be able to lift a little. Then the weight will transfer to the rear and you will hook better. The rears is to plant it, prevent wheel hop, and to get that car moving. You already had the rear taken care of so no advice was needed.

For coil overs you will use a different spring. Im not sure if there is an dvantage of coil overs over regular springs. I think the advantage is in the k-member being lighter other than that I dont know. coil overs are a requirement for an aftermarket k member so I think thats the only reason people get coil overs. Theres probly other reasons, but thats all I see
Street/strip use a 150-175l lb. spring for the coil overs. Double check with some guys fith fox bodies that have the coil overs, they can tell you better what lb. spring worked best for them. Or someone with StangSuspension should be able to help you out.

 

Can you give more info? What psi are you running? Do you know what your pinion angle is? Are the control arms adjustible, and if so how are they set up? I think the answer to your problem is more than just not having the front end set up right, although I do agree that the front end is just as critical.

 

I'm running 15 psi. The upper control arms are adjustable. The pinion angle is a problem. I can easily measure the angle of the drive shaft but dont have a flat surface on the center section to measure it's angle. I'm guessing (and it IS a guess) that the pinion angle is about -2 degrees.

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Can you give more info? What psi are you running? Do you know what your pinion angle is? Are the control arms adjustible, and if so how are they set up? I think the answer to your problem is more than just not having the front end set up right, although I do agree that the front end is just as critical.
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Waht is the angle of your lower control arms? they should be lower at the axel than the front where they attach to the frame. Can you measure the pinion off the top of the rear? What does the car do when you launch it? Does it hook and then unload? or just spin right away?

 

The lower control arms seem ok... I measured the angle of the center section from the bottom and came up with -4. I lessened the angle to about -2, softened the drag shocks and reduced tire presure. It seems better.