Subframe Connectors Recommendations

[jmir018]

i am still confused!! so ... since i dont plan on road racing just running the 1/4 mile every now and then steeda is a better choice? will a feel a significant difference with the steeda sfc? what's the website where i can find info on the MM full lenght sfc?
thanks.

 

[Poisonous Mods]

Jmir. It all comes down to ur own choice bro.
But really spend just a bit more on the MM Sub's. But as Shadowgray said make sure the shop takes there time welding them.

 

[toofast4u]

Originally posted by jmir018
i am still confused!! so ... since i dont plan on road racing just running the 1/4 mile every now and then steeda is a better choice? will a feel a significant difference with the steeda sfc? what's the website where i can find info on the MM full lenght sfc?
thanks.

It's your choice. I recommend a good set of subframe connectors for all Mustangs V-6 or Cobra no matter if it's a daily driver or full out track car. I recommend the MM full-length connectors for almost everybody unless you are a full out track car then Grigg's in-floor is the absolute best you can buy. The part for the MM full-length is MMFL-3PC.

Here is a link.
Maximum Motorsports

 

[Birdinator]

Before bashing someone else's decision or product it is good to understand why they want the product. If someone is looking to be a road racer and expects to do a lot of hard driving, fast and sharp turns on a frequent basis, then probably the MM full lengths are best. However, as a daily driver where you want speed for your quarter mile freeway or street drags on an infrequent occassion and you would also like to add some chasis firmness to avoid excessive flex and ultimately warping and then fitness problems due to the nature of the Mustang's unibody chassis, then the round Steeda's which are also lighter might be a better choice since the connection points are adequate for that purpose and the Steed's are lighter. There is also the issue of what other suspension mods someone has or wants to put in, and how those effect overall weight, not to mention whether or not they fit together. I'm not intending to flame, only to suggest that there is more than one right answer.

I don't see the logic in that at all. Not flaming you.... But think about this. The more flex by the uni-body, the more energy it is absorbing. That means less power is being transferred to the wheel. Another fact you should think of about sub-frame connectors is the mounting point. You want a sub-frame surface area to be as wide as the mounting points on the chassis. The goal is to weld the sub-frame and chassis to each other’s corners. At the corner, that is the stronger part of both pieces where you will get the least amount of flexing. Any sub-frame that welds to the underside of the chassis is being welded to the thinnest part, which can allow more chassis flex. The other sub-frames that are out their are round tube sub-frames. These are also from what I have learned are very good also but... the mounting points are not as good IMO as the rectangular sub-frames. I notice that most round tube piece use a mounting bracket that is about 4 inches long where most quality rectangular allows up to 6 inches or more. But please check those facts when calling your supplier about round tube sub-frame. One more thing about full length Vs standard length. I don't buy into it too much. No need to add the extra weight to your car. I have standard length Griggs connectors in my car now and have driven cars with full length and have not felt a difference. If you notice, MM make both lengths of sub-frame connectors. IMO it's advertising... Big is better? Not all the time. You don't need an elephant gun to shoot a mouse. If you like the MM pieces, then just get the standard length and put the rest of the money you save on not buying the full length and the extra cost of install back in your pocket. If you want to go with another brand but there sub-frames do not have the seat bracket support. Hell I never have seen a street car used for drag racing, autoXing or even road coarse that has pulled the seat mounts through the floorboards. Again just added weight. I have the Griggs connectors in my car now and for $89 you can't beat the price.

Just my .02

Rob

 

[NorCalRedfire]

Rob,

Thanks for sharing your experience. From your sig it looks like you've put a lot of time, effort and money into your car. The GR-40 suspension is tops all the way. Post a pic of your ride, I'll bet it's a beauty. I especially like your choice of tires. :beer:

Cheers,

Charlie

 

[NMRAcer]

so where is the best place to get theese subframe? ie. who has the best deal?

 

[Birdinator]

Originally posted by NorCalRedfire
Rob,

Thanks for sharing your experience. From your sig it looks like you've put a lot of time, effort and money into your car. The GR-40 suspension is tops all the way. Post a pic of your ride, I'll bet it's a beauty. I especially like your choice of tires. :beer:

Cheers,

Charlie

Hey Charlie,

Thanks you for giving me the in on posting a pic of my ride;-)
.

I hope I didn't come off to strong with my opinion.:beer: I just wanted to pass along the info. I had the Kumho Victor Racers before the Nitto's and the Nitto's are a hair less sticky but I love them. They don't heat up like the Kumho's do. I found even in autoXing the Kumho's can over heat very fast. The Nitto's really make a great Street/AutoX tire.

Rob

 

[Tempest]

Hey postban: What is tha black square tube coming from what looks like the k-member to just behind the front wheel well? Does that come with the verts?

Also an observation: my sonic blue is grey underneath not blue. I guess they tried to start saving money on paint oversrpay!

 

[NorCalRedfire]

Originally posted by Birdinator
Thanks you for giving me the in on posting a pic of my ride;-)

Rob,

Sweet!!!! :beer:

Looks like it's garage only in the winter. I grew up in NY, went to High School on LI - Port Washington - Schreiber High School, but that's near 30 years ago now. That ride doesn't look like its seen any of that sand or salt they spread on the roads in the winter. Don't you want to drive out here to Cali so we can see your suspension up close? I promise you'll never want to go back.

Charlie

 

[Birdinator]

Originally posted by NorCalRedfire
Rob,

Sweet!!!! :beer:

Looks like it's garage only in the winter. I grew up in NY, went to High School on LI - Port Washington - Schreiber High School, but that's near 30 years ago now. That ride doesn't look like its seen any of that sand or salt they spread on the roads in the winter. Don't you want to drive out here to Cali so we can see your suspension up close? I promise you'll never want to go back.

Charlie

LOL not to far away from where I lived. My wife grew up in Little Neck and I was in Woodmere. Unfortunately my garage is half eaten out by termites:rollseyes so my car has been living outside under a car cover. This year living in New York sux's. Me and my wife are talking about moving out of NY and down the coast. But we have not considered C.A. as an option. I might have to think about that;-)

Rob

 

[NorCalRedfire]

Originally posted by Birdinator
Me and my wife are talking about moving out of NY and down the coast. But we have not considered C.A. as an option. I might have to think about that;-)

Rob

If you want to check it out on vacation or something, just pm me and we'll hook you up with all the SVTOA folks out here for a party and show you the town.

:beer:

Charlie

 

[toofast4u]

Birdinator full-length subframes are by far superior to standard length subframe connectors for increasing rigidity in a Mustang. Full-length subframe connectors connect directly to both the front and rear suspension mounting locations on the chassis. This is extremely important as it provides a rigid platform for the suspension to work on. Standard length subframes connectors only connect to the rear torque boxes to the rear of the front stock subframe which is pressed sheet metal. While this is better then nothing it definitely is not as strong as a full length connector. Also MM full length connectors have a greater diagonal width then their standard connector and can therefore have a thinner wall thickness and thereby significantly reduce there weight. I guarantee if you ask Griggs they will tell you that full-length connectors are superior to standard length connectors remember they also make a full-length subframe kit. There full-length kit which is called there in-floor connector is extreme and requires major modification to the chassis, but is unquestionably the most rigid and extreme kit that I have seen available from any company. Also while breaking floor pans is not as common on the SN-95 platform it was very common on the Fox bodies. I personally would rather have my seats connected firmly to the subframe of the vehicle instead of the weak pressed steel they are stock.

 

[toofast4u]

Here is a good pictures of the difference between a full-length and standard subframe connector.
KB on the left and MM on the right you guess which is stronger.

 

[toofast4u]

Here is a picture of what the Griggs in-floor kit looks like. This guy is actually using larger tube steel then Griggs kit comes with, but the installation is the same.

Before front

After front

After rear

 

[AzDropTop]

So what does a good install cost for full lengths?

 

[NorCalRedfire]

Originally posted by toofast4u
I personally would rather have my seats connected firmly to the subframe of the vehicle instead of the weak pressed steel they are stock.

Hey toofast:

How come you didn't get the Griggs in-floor connectors? Do you have any other suspension upgrades - replacement K-member, K-member brace, strut tower brace, lower chassis brace? Whose of those would you recommend. What do you think about coil overs and caster camber plates. Thanks.

 

[Birdinator]

Hey toofast4u,

That in-floor kit looks sweet. But there might be one problem I see there. I had the Griggs in-floor kit installed in my car and I had to remove the power seat option and convert it to manual sliders do to clearance issues. Looking at the pictures of the shot's you posted, the in-floor connector looks allot taller than the ones used in my car. If thet’s true, even if it is a race car the seat can only sit so low do to the in-floor connector it's self. Does he have any problems with the seats sitting to high and not enough head clearance when he has a helmet on?

Rob

 

[Shadowgray03]

Originally posted by AzDropTop
So what does a good install cost for full lengths?

I would say 2-3 hours labor.

 

[toofast4u]

Originally posted by NorCalRedfire
Hey toofast:

How come you didn't get the Griggs in-floor connectors? Do you have any other suspension upgrades - replacement K-member, K-member brace, strut tower brace, lower chassis brace? Whose of those would you recommend. What do you think about coil overs and caster camber plates. Thanks.

I didn't do the Griggs infloor because I am not up to totally cutting up the interior of my car. I have everything that MM has available for the 03 Cobra suspension related except for the k-member on my car now. I also have Steeda pinion bushings. I am planning on doing the Griggs K-member as soon as I am done with the KB install when I decide if I am doing long-tubes or not.

All of the strut tower braces I have seen for the 03 Cobra are not options IMO. From the material I have read I don't believe that a strut tower brace is needed or adds significant body reinforcement to the SN-95 platform. The strut towers are not under significant transitional load when turning or going straight that requires them to be reinforced that load is actually being directed into the k-member by the LCAs. With that said when MM does come out with one I will probably buy it as long as it clears the KB.

I have MM 4-point k-member brace.

MM Full subframe connectors.

I have coil-overs front and rear. The front are 425# springs with MM race-prepped Bilstein struts and the rear is 650# springs with Bilstein 00R spec shocks. MM caster/camber plates are the best plates for the Mustang bar none. Griggs recommends using MM plates for coil-over applications. Coil-overs are great and dramatically improve ride quality and handling characteristics of the Mustang platform.

 

[toofast4u]

Originally posted by Birdinator
Hey toofast4u,

That in-floor kit looks sweet. But there might be one problem I see there. I had the Griggs in-floor kit installed in my car and I had to remove the power seat option and convert it to manual sliders do to clearance issues. Looking at the pictures of the shot's you posted, the in-floor connector looks allot taller than the ones used in my car. If thet’s true, even if it is a race car the seat can only sit so low do to the in-floor connector it's self. Does he have any problems with the seats sitting to high and not enough head clearance when he has a helmet on?

Rob

I know the grigg's kits beams are not as tall, but that is the only pictures I have found of the installation. I don't know the guy who owns that car I just remembered the URL so I can show others what they look like. I can barely fit in my car with a helmet on now.