I have a Spohn adj torque arm that mounts to the tunnel brace, and am sick of the road noise and knocking coming thru the floorboard...much less its my wife's car and she doesn't like it either.....

So I'm thinking I could stiffen up the stocker by welding in some additional thick round tubes/pipe running the length of the arm which would keep it from flexing and keep wheel hop to a minimum...along with a new poly bushing where it mounts to the tranny. I don't really need the adjustability.....and if it doesn't clear my dual exhaust setup, I may chop out some parts of the torque arm and reinforce it with additional steel on the top part of it.

Anyone else do this or think it would work effectively?

 

I wouldn't. If you are thinking of welding, cutting, replacing bushing.....thats a lot of work compared to bolting up a better one. I have the BMR adj one, but since the rest of my suspensions is pretty much stock, i haven't changed the angle yet. BMR does sell a non-adj one. i'd look into that. Its kind of a trade off: More work (and possible structural compromise) with a modified stocker, or more money for a better replacement. Its up to you. But I wouldn't go cuttin up the stocker.

 

Yeah, I found the BMR non-adj one for $220 after posting this, but I may still have issues with it clearing my dual exhaust setup is why I was thinking I could cut the stocker where needed to clear it then add steel back where needed to strengthen it up after cutting it..and while at it, stiffened it up.

 

You're in FTW, check out Wolfe Racecraft. They're off Pioneer in Arlington.

 

Be careful if you decide to stiffen the stocker or to get a stock mounted aftermarket TA. The stock TA flexes a little...just enough to absorb some of the force applied to the tailshaft of the transmission. If you stiffen it or add an aftermarket stock mounted TA, which is much stronger and less likely to flex, you now have put a higher load on the transmission. The result of which might be similar to my experience which was a split tailshaft on the dyno causing all kinds of damage.

Imho either live with the noise or just add a polyurethane bushing to the stock TA mount. I was cutting 1.60-1.70s 60' with the stock TA and the poly mount...

--Alan

 

ABA383, I'll probably be pushing similar hp to what you have. Snapping the tailshaft was something I was concerned about...I wonder if Spohn has a little softer bushing to put in the TA I have to reduce the noise some.. Guess I send them an email and ask about it. Thanks for the info.

 

I had the stock mounted Spohn when I broke the trans...I now have the Spohn tunnel brace mounted TA with poly bushings and I love it...Steve and Gordon Spohn are great to deal with..I live an hour from them and am one of their few walk in customers...

--Alan

 

I don't mind the noise, but since this is my wife's daily driver, if she doesn't like it I'll be forced to stop the mods to her car or be forced to buy her a new car and on that..hehe

 

I'll trade you even...stock TA w/poly bushing for the spohn hope it clears longtubes..lol

 

you said it might not clear....do you have a pic of your exhaust? I'm running 3" true duals with long tubes, and it clears mine.

 

I don't have the exhaust made yet, but it will be LT's with 3" true duals..the drivers side will cross over right under the tailshaft and over the "X" brace as shown in this pic http://hometown.aol.com/onebadwskier...Xbraceside.jpg there is about 3.5" of clearance between them now.
I have a convertible so there was an extra "X" brace that ties the tunnel brace to the tranny mounting brace....When I installed the Spohn TA I modded the tunnel brace that came with it and welded on an "X" brace as shown in the pic.

Hey nitrous, sorry, I already have the original stock TA that came off the car to use...and I had modded the Spohn brace already per above.

 

As said above, I wouldnt strengthen the stock arm.

I broke the mount off the side of the tranny with a stock arm. If the arm and mount were stronger, Im sure I would have broken the tailshaft.

Much of the knocking with the spohn TA can be fixed by tightening the front shackle poly joints a little tighter, at least thats how it was on mine.

 

As I said, go to Wolfe in Arlington, then cruise over the Lane's and get some duels made that'll clear your TA.

 

Lanes doesn't do exhaust work anymore, only tires according to Keith up at Speedtek...I've been by Lanes a few times but they are always closed so I gave up and asked Keith the next time I was in there.
I'm going to try a few things with the Spohn TA I have, I think everyone has convinced me that it may not be a good idea to have it hooked back to the tranny, I'll keep them in mind though if it doesn't work out.

 

is stiffening up the stock arm really that bad of an idea? i'm quite the welder and i have been thinking about it before i saw this thread. i'm realy just new to how much stress is put on the TA durring launch and i dont know alot about suspension at all. i guess i'm just asking how is welding up a stiffer stock TA going to be more harsh on the mounts than an aftermarket stock mounting TA? i'm on a college budget and more of a DIY'er so it would be worth saving the money if i could.