Do LCA relocation brackets affect ride quality?

merkyworks

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After installing LCA relocation brackets I feel like the rear rides like crap. Just cruising in a straight line the rear seems to over react to bumps in the road like the shocks aren't working. Tired the middle and top hole on the brackets and I can tell a difference in anti squat but theirs no difference with poor ride quality.

For those that installed LCA relocation brackets did you notice a change in ride quality and/or did you change your shock/spring settings?

If others didn't notice a change in ride quality then I have a possible theory on why my ride quality has changed.
While testing anti squat settings to determine which mounting hole to use I was doing lots of launching (1st and 2nd gear near WOT pulls). With the better anti squat traction the tires started to rotate on the rim causing the rear wheels to come out of balance and this is why the rear ride quality is crap. Is this a crazy theory?
 

GT Premi

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I didn't notice any change in ride quality when I installed mine. Do you have adjustable LCAs? If so, check to make sure they're set at the same length as each other or the stock arms. Also, what do you mean by "overreact to bumps"?
 

Jam421

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I was told the LCA's could effect handling but I never pushed the corners hard enough actually feel that. Honestly not sure if they effect ride quality which was a good thing. Traction was improved dramatically! My MT's hooked much better than before but now I'm thinking of experimenting with tire rotation. A call to the MT Tech line might help with your concerns about balancing...not sure how much they'd be out to actually feel it out back.
 

merkyworks

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I didn't notice any change in ride quality when I installed mine. Do you have adjustable LCAs? If so, check to make sure they're set at the same length as each other or the stock arms. Also, what do you mean by "overreact to bumps"?
.

LCA are BMR non adjustable with poly bushings on both ends.

Overreacting to bumps meaning the road surface has waves/small bumps...
- Rear feels like it reacts to the road imperfections and the rear of the car feels like its moving up and down a lot.
- Front feels like it absorbs the road imperfections and the front end of the car doesn't move a lot.
 

merkyworks

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I was told the LCA's could effect handling but I never pushed the corners hard enough actually feel that. Honestly not sure if they effect ride quality which was a good thing. Traction was improved dramatically! My MT's hooked much better than before but now I'm thinking of experimenting with tire rotation. A call to the MT Tech line might help with your concerns about balancing...not sure how much they'd be out to actually feel it out back.

Yeah I read they can affect corner handling but my issue is cursing down the road going straight.

Did research on this and no one talks about a drop in ride quality. The ride issues almost feels like tires being out of balance which led me to thinking maybe the tires rotated on the wheels, never had this happen though.
 

GT Premi

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I was told the LCA's could effect handling...

Better LCAs affect handling immensely.

.

LCA are BMR non adjustable with poly bushings on both ends.

Overreacting to bumps meaning the road surface has waves/small bumps...
- Rear feels like it reacts to the road imperfections and the rear of the car feels like its moving up and down a lot.
- Front feels like it absorbs the road imperfections and the front end of the car doesn't move a lot.

Sounds like you still have the stock springs or stock spring rate. The stock spring rates are trash. They're more for drag racing (and squishy comfort) than any kind of performance driving. The new LCAs and brackets are highlighting their weakness. Get some better springs or some adjustable shocks. Once you start changing suspension parts, each change fishes out weaknesses in other parts. I'm speaking from MUCH experience building up my GT500's suspension.
 

HillbillyHotRod

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.

LCA are BMR non adjustable with poly bushings on both ends.

Overreacting to bumps meaning the road surface has waves/small bumps...
- Rear feels like it reacts to the road imperfections and the rear of the car feels like its moving up and down a lot.
- Front feels like it absorbs the road imperfections and the front end of the car doesn't move a lot.

I have the same exact setup and do not feel and difference other then no more wheel hop. If it is moving up and down a lot I would suspect the shocks. LCA should not have anything to do with up and down.
 

merkyworks

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Have Cortex adjustable coilovers and tried different settings but this has had little effect.
 

SirShaun

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I have FRPP Springs, Viking Double Adjustables, BMR Rod Ended LCAs in the bottom hole.

I experience the same issue you described. Car is just extra jumpy in the rear it seems. I've played with the shocks, and can get the bumpiness to change at which speed it happens.

Running a low compression (3), and higher rebound (At least 12, forgot what its set at), to dissipate some of the up bounce. I'm sure if I upped the compression, could eradicate a lot of it, but then wouldn't get as good of traction.

Switching to a softer spring would help a lot as well, I just haven't gotten around to it.

We made the rear of our cars more rigid as a whole, with good compression characteristics, paired with stiff springs basically.

You could probably get by with increasing compression on your shocks, if you don't need the traction, and want the comfort.

It also doesn't help we haven't put double adjustables in the front. Front is still super stiff, while we have increased up/down in the rear. If the front was absorbing like the rear you wouldn't feel it as much, either.

Soooo
A. Up the compression/rebound in the rear, see if it gets better at cost of traction.
B. Softer Springs so it's not as harsh of a response.
C. Softer Springs and Double Adjustables in the Front, make the front/back more equal in response.
 
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RedVenom48

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Your factory SVTPP rear springs are definitely part of the problem. They are WAY too goddamned stiff. I chucked those things as far as I could across the shop when I replaced them. Your life and your handling will vastly improve with softer springs.

Current ride is very controlled and very comfortable.. Here's what Im running:

BMR LCA relo brackets
STOCK LCA
STOCK UCA and mount
Viking 150# springs on BPS billet adjustable perches
Viking Warrior DA shocks set to 1C 3R

I USUALLY have a BMR Rod end UCA and Double rod end LCA's. Mine wore the hell out and were squeaking and rattling over bumps.... super annoying. Factory arms are in until I retire my ride from Daily duty and can replace all 5 rod ends.

Stock arms on LCA relo's look as retarded as you think they do lol.
 

GT Premi

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...
I USUALLY have a BMR Rod end UCA and Double rod end LCA's. Mine wore the hell out and were squeaking and rattling over bumps.... super annoying. Factory arms are in until I retire my ride from Daily duty and can replace all 5 rod ends.

Stock arms on LCA relo's look as retarded as you think they do lol.

Why not get some non-adjustable arms to replace the stock ones? Just about anything would be better than those. FRPP (now FP) has a set for a couple hundred bucks. I thought I was the only one who had a set of BMR double rod ends go bad. I don't even think I got 5K miles out of them. :( I loved the handling and grip improvement, but it got to the point where I just couldn't take the squeaking anymore. So I put the old Bob's Auto Sports arms back on.
 

RedVenom48

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Its a temporary set up at the moment. I sold my non adjust BMR arms when I got the double rod ends and I refuse to ever use another BMR upper poly BMR arm. Blew the bushings out twice on those... Its out of principle I don't use it.

Current resources are going into my Taurus to get it on the road. Thankfully its almost ready. Then the long road to saving for go fast parts begins again for the Shelby. :D

All 5 new rod ends from Viking are I think around $100 so Ill make that first on the list.
 

Catmonkey

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Just a thought, but what sort of air pressure are you running in the rear tires? You have bigger tires with a higher load rating, right? Might want to experiment with air pressure. If you have double adjustables out back, I'd dial back the compression a little at a time.
 

69b302

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With the better anti squat traction the tires started to rotate on the rim causing the rear wheels to come out of balance and this is why the rear ride quality is crap. Is this a crazy theory?

I did not notice any change in ride quality when I install the relocation brackets. You do need to typically have an adjustable UCA to keep the pinion angle correct(at least with the BMR brackets I used yeas ago). The tire theory is not crazy IMO. My MTs always slip so much, I don't even get them balanced any more. Trying to get someone to dry mount the tires is tough, and dry mounting lead to a broken axle and broken carrier on my buddies car. At this point I would rather see a little tire slip, vs broken parts, so just let them mount their normal way.
 

merkyworks

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Car already had single adjustable JRI coilovers with front 400 lbs / rear 200 lbs springs and BMR LCA's installed before I did the relocation brackets. When I installed coilovers the LCA geometry became off so relocation brackets were needed to correct this. I drove the car for a couple weeks before I installed the relocation brackets so I had a decent idea of what the car rode like before installing the brackets and it definitely seems different now.

Going to get tires balanced, try out different tire pressures and shock settings and see if I can't the ride to be better.
 

Black Cobra '99

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Well, you have a unique problem. I'd check the geometry and bushings if playing with the damping didn't change anything. But from your description it sounds like your underdamped. You might be better off contacting Cortex.

I have Eibach coilovers, BMR links and MM relo brackets. When I was playing with anti-squat I found that it depends on how low your car is. My car was lowered ½ inch only and according to the equations from MM, on the top hole that was ~60-70% anti squat IIRC. So you could be running too much anti-squat if your not lowered much.
Bushings do funky things but I'm not sure they'd do what you described, still worth looking into.
 

SCGallo2

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Rear feels like it reacts to the road imperfections and the rear of the car feels like its moving up and down a lot.

Experienced something similar when I installed a full BMR rear suspension with poly bushings, H&R lowering springs, and QA1 single adjustable rear shocks all at the same time. Following QA1's recommendations for street/strip, my initial shock compression/rebound setting was 6 clicks (of 18 total). The rear bounced like a low rider at 55mph on a decent stretch of highway... thought I made a terrible mistake selecting this combination. Then I thought about the adjustable shocks and dialed them back to 1 click and problem solved, no more bounce. My street setting was 2-3 clicks max, and my rear suspension was comfortable and dampened with precise articulation.
 

merkyworks

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Wanted to give an update after playing around with tire pressure, shock settings and then getting tires balanced.

Results are tire pressure and shock setting didn't seem to make ride better.
Got tires balanced and that made a huge difference, like night and day. Using the valve stem as a reference point I made an alignment mark on the tire with a paint pen so I can keep on eye on if the tires are rotating on the wheel.

Really gained an appreciation for properly balanced tires LOL.
 

jayames

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So all is well? I have the KR suspension on my GT500. Also a Roush upper control arm, an adjustable BMR panhard bar and MM lower control arm relocation brackets. The rear was jumping all over the place when I hit imperfections especially around corners. I recently installed adjustable lower control arms, had the pinion angle checked and a four wheel alignment. Fixed the problem. Now feels like the rear just follows smoothly along. Still need some bigger rear tires for traction but handling is really improved.
 

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