[351 Snake]

Ok Ive been under my car about 5 times now and i've been very reluctant to remove or weld anything.I have been searching for other solutions other than welding brackets on the chassis to lower the front mounting points of the upper control arms.I have read that alot of people have alot of success with the autoweld uppers and brackets.I went to the website and took a look at the photo.Afer looking at the photo I have come up with 2 questions.....1st the bracket raise's the rear end mounting points for the uppers alot from the way it looks....is there any interference problems with the trunk when hitting a bump in the road?The last thing that I want to do is put 2 huge dents in the trunk floor.2nd question......I don't understand exactly what raising the mounting points do,couldn't you just shorten the FFR uppers by about 1/2" and change the pinion angle the same way?.......I'm debating on wheather to buy the autoweld but need critical info first.

[ June 20, 2002, 12:33 AM: Message edited by: 351 Snake ]

 

[Macho Toy]

351, Autowelds are said to be great for straight line performance and general street cruising. However, if you plan on spirited autoxing and the such you'll still have some bind issues. I haven't heard of any trunk interference issues yet.

As for shortening the FFR arms, not sure how you plan on doing that but why bother. If it's pinion angle your worried about why not shim the tranny (ie: washers) first and see if it eliminates the hop. You can always spring for the A/W if your problem is not solved.

Take care,

 

[d isham]

I have the Autowelds and have absolutely no wheel hop. I think they work beautifully. Answers to your questions.
1) Absolutely no interference w/ trunk
2) I'm not sure I am the right person to answer this question but I don't believe you can achieve proper rear end position and pinion angle by shortening the upper control arms w/ current mounting locations. I believe you either have to lower mounting location at the frame or raise mounting location at rear end.

Doug

 

[RButton]

There is no problem with clearing the trunk with the autoweld uppers.

The problem as I see it was a lot of us used the Autoweld uppers with FFR lowers - great for straight line but the pits for turning on an auto-x course. We only took half of Autoweld's solution - the uppers. They make a kit of uppers and lowers. I added the lowers an no more binding.

 

[351 Snake]

How is the tranny supposed to be shimed.....between the tranny mount and the crossmember....raising the tranny?....or the other way to lower it?

 

[Roger]

I have a question to those with wheel hop. Did you rebuild the clutch pak before installing the rearend in the FFR chassis?

Roger

 

[BIGMIKE]

I raised the rear of my Tremec with shims due to the fact that I was scared to cut the case (at the time) and could not get clearance any other way. I have never had a problem with wheel hop. They spin in second and sometimes 3rd but it never hops.

Maybe I avoided a problem and didn't even know it. I had thought I would eventually take the tranny back out to cut the case, but due to the fact that it is a b*tch to get out and I don't want to create a wheel hop problem, I am going to leave it alone.

Mike

 

[oldguy668]

I raised my Tremec 1/2", Richard Oben says he raises all his 3/4". I raised mine primarily for driveshaft alignment, and to avoid cutting the mount for clearance.
Happy motoring

 

[Brian Moore]

Pinion angle will not fix it. Get a piece of paper and draw a somewhat to scale diagram of the rear suspension as viewed from the left side. As the car accelerates, the axle torque is clockwise. Now look how the torque is reacted by the upper arm. It is pulling the frame down and the axle up (squat). The wheels loose traction and the torque goes away. This causes the springs to push the frame up and the axle down. Repeat over and over again till your fillings fall out. This is wheel hop. Making the upper arm more level cures it. Autoweld fixed it by raising the back; Factoryfive fixed it by lowering the front. Autowelds are easier to install; Factoryfive frame brackets let you keep the Ford arms for less NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) and less suspension bind.

 

[351 Snake]

I Finally fixed my wheelhop problem.I fabricted 2 bolt on brackets for the upper control arm mounting points on the chassis to lower the chassis mount by 2".I know the autoweld would have been easier but I needed a challenge.The brackets I made are completly bolt in ,they use the original mounting holes for the upper control arms and 2 mounting holes on the 2x3 box frame rail that is on a 45 degree angle going to the main tube frame rails.This worked out great and I can remove them if I want to use the original mounting holes.Now I can lay 50' streches any where I go without shaking the fiberglass off the back of the car.

 

[Rob]

what do they look like can you post some pictures!

Thanx

Rgds

Rob

 

[Todd Baumann]

Yeah let's see some pictures.

 

[Mark Watson]

Ditto on the pics.....

 

[Jim Gunther]

Don't know if this should be a new thread or not.

Weren't there some changes made in the rear-end geometry of the Mark 2 chasis to eliminate wheel hop?

Anybody with a Mark 2 able to comment?