suspension for drag racing

[whiplash920]

had a rough day at the track with my stock 2010 gt500 - i knew id spin a lot at my launches, but the wheel hop i encountered was pretty bad - i backed off when it happened resulting in poor et's - mid 13s. my best time was 12.75, but that was with TC on - i still spun quite a bit - which surprised me a little. wheel hop was reduced with TC on, but still happened a little.

my plan is to go with the roush anti wheel hop kit, roush adjustable panhard bar, and frpp lowering springs (this is more for the stance i want, but have researched and found it also helps reduce squatting at launches which will help et's a little).

any criticism with this set-up? do i need to add in any other suspension mods, or will this set-up be good for the drag strip? i realize i will still spin, slicks coming in the near future.

 

[GT500RedStripe]

Are you still running the Goodyear F1 Supercrap tires? The most important thing I did was get rid of those dangerous pieces of !@#T.

 

[DMotorsports]

Not so sure about the lowering springs. If you're going for drag-racing performance (which I assume you are), you might be better served by some Cobra Jet springs, which will lower it a little. Most guys that lower their cars do it for looks or handling. The lowered stance may look good, but can make it harder to get proper weight transfer during a launch. I'm still running stock springs and have pulled several 60's in the 1.50's, the best being a 1.52 .

 

[acobra03]

Wheelhop is a serious issue for sure that needs to be fixed before doing any mod in my opinion. I went with Metco upper and lowers from Posi and could not be happier with the results. Tires will be my next change.

 

[acobra03]

Not so sure about the lowering springs. If you're going for drag-racing performance (which I assume you are), you might be better served by some Cobra Jet springs, which will lower it a little. Most guys that lower their cars do it for looks or handling. The lowered stance may look good, but can make it harder to get proper weight transfer during a launch. I'm still running stock springs and have pulled several 60's in the 1.50's, the best being a 1.52 .

Nice 60's, what tire did you do that on?

 

[DMotorsports]

Oh, and one more thing. I'm not real familiar with the Roush kit, but stay away from any lower control arms with polyurethane bushings if you plan on drag racing, especially with slicks. The bushings will bust after a few hard launches. I learned this one the hard way. Had a set of BMR LCA's that were excellent on the the street, but after a couple of trips to the track, the bushings were toast. You'll need some lowers with rod ends.

Nice 60's, what tire did you do that on?

Hoosier 28x10.5x15 bias ply slicks.

 

[GT500RedStripe]

Oh, and one more thing. I'm not real familiar with the Roush kit, but stay away from any lower control arms with polyurethane bushings if you plan on drag racing, especially with slicks. The bushings will bust after a few hard launches. I learned this one the hard way. Had a set of BMR LCA's that were excellent on the the street, but after a couple of trips to the track, the bushings were toast. You'll need some lowers with rod ends.




Hoosier 28x10.5x15 bias ply slicks.

What lowers did you put in?

 

[DMotorsports]

What lowers did you put in?

I originally had the solid, billet aluminum BMR lowers with the poly bushings. Loved them on the street. I just installed a set of the adjustable BMR's with rod ends. Maximum motorsports makes a set of Xtreme Duty control arms that are supposed to be excellent, but I couldn't justify paying $400 for them.

 

[johnjon87]

All I had to do for wheel hop was put a set of uppers on there and it wasn't a problem anymore. With that power that's all you should need, Lowers are kinda redundant there but I guess it cant hurt either. With the 850 RWHP I need the Lowers now and a bigger rear end.. going with the ford 9" cobra jet but I need to refund my wallet first..

 

[whiplash920]

Oh, and one more thing. I'm not real familiar with the Roush kit, but stay away from any lower control arms with polyurethane bushings if you plan on drag racing, especially with slicks. The bushings will bust after a few hard launches. I learned this one the hard way. Had a set of BMR LCA's that were excellent on the the street, but after a couple of trips to the track, the bushings were toast. You'll need some lowers with rod ends.




Hoosier 28x10.5x15 bias ply slicks.

are these the LCA's you have.....BMR Adjustable LCA "street" with poly bushing / rod-end

these seem good from what ive read. thanks for the advice/suggestions!

 

[DMotorsports]

These are the ones I had until the bushings busted. They worked fine on the street, but not so much with multiple hard launches on slicks:

BMR 2007+ Shelby GT500 Billet Lower Control Arms w/Poly Bushings [ACA004] : Lethal Performance, Performance parts for Ford Mustangs



These are the ones I have now:

BMR 2007+ Shelby GT500 Adj. Lower Race Control Arms w/Rod Ends [TCA020] : Lethal Performance, Performance parts for Ford Mustangs

 

[Pure_Evil_GT500]

How much more road noise do you get from the switch to your new ones? I have the same ones you have broke the bushing in and I drag race... I've recently purchased a set of racestars with the same slick as yours...

 

[DMotorsports]

How much more road noise do you get from the switch to your new ones? I have the same ones you have broke the bushing in and I drag race... I've recently purchased a set of racestars with the same slick as yours...

Haven't had my car on the road since I installed them. I trailer it to and from the track. Plus, I run open headers, so road noise, wind noise, and gear noise have all become things of the past. haha.

 

[whiplash920]

Haven't had my car on the road since I installed them. I trailer it to and from the track. Plus, I run open headers, so road noise, wind noise, and gear noise have all become things of the past. haha.

what uca's are you using?...im assuming the manufacturer is bmr - are u using a panard bar? - didnt see it listed in the mods in your sig. im asking for a couple reasons - first im new and still new to the car scene - prob have enough info to be dangerous and id rather take my time and make sure i go for quality. ive heard some say it is better to go with the same manufacturer when purchasing suspension parts - so that they all work well together and are designed to do that. however - i see more out there that have pieced together aftermarket suspensions with parts from bmr, eibach, roush, redline, etc. you seem to have a good grasp on these things from a drag perspective, so im curious about you opinion. my gt500 will be mostly street driven, but it will make it to the track 6-8 times/year - so i want good solid suspension parts so when i go there i can let her rip! thanks for your help.

btw, what part of ky you in - i grew up basically in covington, ky - just south of cincinnati, oh.
brad

 

[DMotorsports]

I personally don't see the problem with mixing and matching manufacturers. My upper control arm is currently the adjustable BMR with the poly bushing.

BMR 2007+ Shelby GT Adjustable Upper Control Arm w/Poly Bushings [UTCA019] : Lethal Performance, Performance parts for Ford Mustangs

The bushing in it appears fine for now. I'll continue to run it until it busts. I don't believe this is quite as big of an issue on the upper.

I just installed a BMR panhard bar with rod ends as well. Haven't had it out yet, so I can't comment on how much of a difference it makes. I will say that it is obviously more rigid than the stock piece, and it is a touch lighter.

As was hinted at by another post, these parts that have rod ends are known to transmit more noise to the cab. I can only imagine how much noise would be transmitted by a bushingless upper control arm since the one with the poly bushing is already quite a bit louder than stock. Something to be aware of with a car you'll mostly be driving on the street.

I'm by no means an expert (as you can tell by my ET), but I don't mind sharing what I have learned in the short time I've been doing this. There's lots of great information to be learned on sites like this one, as well as getting to know people at the track who have been doing this for a while.

BTW, I live in the Louisville area.

 

[bossnova3]

Also might want to check this out, from che engineering linky:

View the S/T 8.8 Axle Brace<br>Part # CHE9L at http://www.cheperformance.com

This is on my to do list, don't know of anyone using it, but seems like a good addition to the rear suspension specially for drag racing.

Ed

 

[armycook1981]

I'm running CHE products 8.8 axle brace, uca,lca's, with poly bushings so far fine but m launching on reg nitto 555r's and haven't cut better then 1.73....
Wheel hop seems fine at the track it's a tad hard to tell due to me spinning 1st and some of second with these shotty tires

 

[cobrkilrl]

I called Evolution Performance and told them about the wheel hop issues I was having with my 09 KR. They went over everything I needed to get rid of it . I went with the UPR UCA non adjustable since the car already had been lowered from the shelby factory, LCA's with relocation brackets and a UPR adjustable pan hard bar. Had the relocation brackets welded in place. I have resolved all of my wheel hop issues and this thing with drag radials hooks like a stripped ape. Great customer service from these guy's and didn't try to sell me something I did not need. I think you just have to shop around until you find someone that is knowledgeable about your needs and at a great price. Will do business from them again in the near future.

 

[breoland]

as for the issue with bmr bushings, a while back there was a problem with them taking a crap on people but bmr from what i recall corrected it and shouldnt be an issue, but if you are going to be a die hard at the drag strip then yes get race rod ends.

your upper control arm, the roush one is nice for noise reduction and yes it stops the hop but you are limited with this if you decide to lower the car a little and get a one piece driveshaft (which is what you want if you are drag racing) go with an adjustable one to set the proper pinion angle.
you really need to decide if this is going to be a car at the track on regular basis, because you may want to go with the beefier setup.
there is a guy here with ford racing lowering springs, tokico d speck adj shocks and bmr uppers and lowers with poly bushings lower relocation brackets and with a set of 325/50/15 drag radials he is cutting a 1.5/1.6 60 ft
I have the same setup but I have not been to the track yet. car handles great for everyday driving, little noisy but nothing un bareable

 

[breoland]

I called Evolution Performance and told them about the wheel hop issues I was having with my 09 KR. They went over everything I needed to get rid of it . I went with the UPR UCA non adjustable since the car already had been lowered from the shelby factory, LCA's with relocation brackets and a UPR adjustable pan hard bar. Had the relocation brackets welded in place. I have resolved all of my wheel hop issues and this thing with drag radials hooks like a stripped ape. Great customer service from these guy's and didn't try to sell me something I did not need. I think you just have to shop around until you find someone that is knowledgeable about your needs and at a great price. Will do business from them again in the near future.

you wont need an adj upper if the car is lowered until you go with a one piece alluminum driveshaft