What does the tourque arm do?? I was looking at suspention components at tunder racing(and a few others) and the question poped into my head. If i want my car to handle better and handle a decent amount of power int he furture would it be in my best intrest to get an aftermarket one??

Thanks.

 

I'll say this again, I'm not an AutoXer. . . But I think the Torque arm is prolly the number one thing to buy for any application whehter it be drag or autoX. . .

When the rear end is put under load, the front part of it wants to kick up. A torque arm prevents this. A stocker TA takes the load of the rear end trying to go up and blocks it from going up by being attatched to a bushing on the tranny. Too much HP will break that bushing that the TA is connected too. . . A good quality after market one will attatch to the body somewhere and tranfer more weight than the stocker will, this is where the high HP guys can lift their front tires off the ground. Instead of tranferring partial weight and load to the rear end, it'll transfer FULL weight to the rear end and won't budge as much as the stocker and plant the tires firmly to the ground, and if you have a hi HP motor you'll be able to lift the tires off the ground. . . For a drag application of course. For an autoX application, I'm not speaking from experience but I can assume how this would work is much like that drag. When you come out of a turn or start laying some HP down, you don't want a stocker TA to have your rear axle hopping like a bunny and spinning tires like a ****', you would want those tires planted firmling down so you don't spin or lose power in hopping. You want to stick and go. . .

I recently purchased a Spohn Torque, with a -2 angle, and I must say this SOB is one SOLID ****!! You can tell a significant difference in the traction you get with this. Hell you can look at the difference when you burn out! On a stocker torque arm when I see some people do burn outs you can see the wheel hop in the marks, it goes from a solid mark then fades out then solid again and fade, etc. . . now when I do one, its a solid thick, I mean thicker than normal, patch or rubber.

I would recommend the Spohn, though it is expensive but its prolly the best out there! Solid bar, not tubular!! suckers heavy, but you'll see why. . . Also comes with optional built in driveshaft loops. I bought mine with the option of a front and rear driveshaft loops, worth it IMO!!

but like I said I'm not an autoXer, but thats my 2 cents on it. . . I could see the Spohn helping and AutoX car out though, and I've seen a couple people post about it on here and liked it. . .

 

Leave the stock torque arm alone.. there are racers running 9 or 10 sec quarter mile with stock torque arm..

The stock arm's only weakness is its tendency to flex.. if it were reinforced in some way with thicker steel you wouldn't even need to change it whatsoever.

I've heard/seen most of the these aftermarket tq arms break (including Spohn) or wear the u-joints/floor pan of the car..

I've had most of them GW/Spohn/LG...

I would stick with the LG one, it's the most intelligent design since it is like stock, it's beefy and rotates and slides freely on it's attachment point... just like stock...

The spohn attaches to the weakest point of the car.. the tunnel brace point... which is two pieces of sheet metal spot welded to the floor pan.. this is terrible since the short tq arm puts alot of stress to its pivot point and therefore you risk ripping the arm of the car..

Also the arm should not have bind at it's rotating/pivot point... the spohn/bmr trackpak create bind.

GW traclink is very good... but will wear u-joints down and cause alot of vibration/wear to tranny crossmember...

Since your car is stock.. I would start with more basic changes.. sfc's, stb... or even a better seat...

 

Thanks for the info Steve. I plan on lowring the car with the Eibach Pro-kit(1.25 in drop). I would get the LCA relocation brackets to keep everything aligned. Would the drop change anything or would the stock one still be good? Like I said before, right now im just looking for good handling. Limited drag racing, if i do race it will be road or auto-x. After the !CAGS and new tires, SFC and STB are on the top of the list. Thanks again.

At first the comment about the seat through me off, but then i realized that would be money well spent seeing how much I move in my seats now.

 

Eibach pro kit is good, the rear spring is good since its soft like stock so good for drag racing.

Don't forget that you will likely start scraping every single part under your car... and then in 2 months you'll take off the springs and go back to stock...

If I were you I would look instead at the SLP eibach/bilstein combo... this is perfect since it only lowers 3/4" which is plenty and doesn't require getting relocation brackets or adjustable panhard bar... plus you won't scrape every single entrance and exit on the streets...

I've seen people flatten their headers because of this ...

Believe it or not, after changing this & that in my cars for the past couple of years.. I've found that changing seats is often overlooked in these cars..

I mean to be quite honest I don't even like the seats in the corvette either...

I guess I get too spoiled driving my friends NSXs and M3s... and picking out all the flaws in our cars

But there's not much options for seats so don't jump off your chair yet.. Recaro, Momo and Corbeau are the only seat makers that have brackets for our cars.

Corbeau is the most affordable and cheapest quality.. and then followed by momo and recaro.

I have recaros in my car... love love love them... It simulates the feeling that you're in a more expensive car .. yeah right ... more importantly it holds you in place while taking aggresive turns and makes you focus on driving.

Steve

 

Steve, once again, thanks for all the help. I will get the SLP kit down the road. I was planing on getting everything in the kit anyway, plus its cheaper then buying each part. Only question is, it only comes with the front sway bar. Do i need to get one for the rear(intended uses of the car are above for anyone other then Steve). Would i notice any handling losses from not having a beafier one in the back?
Thanks agian.

 

I cant see how the Spohn design would create any binding. Looks like a good design to me. I like the madman industries arm also. You want a shorter length arm but not too short. This will improve instant center and help traction.
The Global West unit is Garbage! I have heard of plenty of damaged floor pans because of this arm. It is quite binding. To the point of limiting travel. Shorter length is nice. But it is to short. Plus attaches to a weak part of the car.
I have seen cars with limited travel because of this arm and have had a GW tech admit that they will cause floor pan trouble.

 

I have the SLP Level 1 kit, and am very happy with the stock 19mm bar. The car handles well, and hooks up coming off a corner. The front shocks (SLP Bilstiens) need more damping for serious autox/RR, but ride nicely on the street.

 

THe SLP kit is very good, don't get the poly reinforced components they will create bind in the rear.

Also you can certainly run a 21mm in the rear, but I would match it with a 35mm in the front. Otherwise 32/19 f/r is fine.

ARe you running 17x9 wheels? Tires make a huge difference too...

lons94z...

I've had all the arms... i can say out of the short arms the GW is functionally the best... there is not as much bind at the pivot point because the arm slides in/out of the rubber snubber.

Furthermore it is better mounted to the car... floor pan (7 bolts) and tranny crossmember (1 bolt). Way better than 4 tiny little 13mm bolts connected to the cross member.

And then finally it works... grip grip grip like i've never experienced it from a solid axle car (with a 95# v6 spring and a standard bilstein HD shock).

Spohn didn't even come close...

GW arm has helped some autox'ers win championships, it definitely isn't a POS.

 

This : http://www.slponline.com/view_produc...RTNUMBER=70001 is the kit I would get. I have no idea if that has the reinforced components of which you speek.
So would i need the larger sway bar in the back to match thr front?? I think your saying i dont, but just want to double check.
I am currentally running 16X8 wheels at the moment. but i wont be getting the SLP kit for at least a year, so if all goes well ill get the kit as well as new wheels and tires. They are in the plan(the wheels i mean). But like i said this is a ways off, but if i know what im getting i can save for it starting now. Thanks again, you have been a huge help Steve

 

SLP part number 70001 is what I have and suggest, 70001A has the reinforced LCA's/PHB (which is a good idea), but they also have poly bushings (which is a bad idea). 70001 comes with 1LE LCA's & PHB.

 

Thanks for the input Chuck, its nice to hear positive things from someone who has used the products. Thanks again

 

Hey Chuck do you miss your 1LE?

Which drives better now your new TA or 1LE?

 

Steve_C,

I've got questions regarding your Recaros. They are SRDs, right? If they are, do you mind shedding some lights on these seats?

1. Are the brackets/sliders a shoe in fit, or did you have to make them fit? How much did they cost (both seats and sliders)? I see
http://www.recaro-seats.com/recaro_srd.htm and
http://www.daveturner.com/recaro/index.html as potentials vendors to get 'em from.

2. I'm 5' 11", 33 waist. I pretty much rub the liner with my helmet.
it's no problem for a quick 13 sec trip down the strip, but concerned it'd be with a/x or o/t. Does it seat higher than stock?

3. Did you ever drive long distance with the seat (like to the tracks)? Are they comfortable enough?

Thanks a bunch in advance!
Aria

 

I bought mine from recaro-seats.com, the guy there is really nice to take your money...... i mean he's a great guy jk

The SRD is the perfect seat for street/track... well anything is better than stock... it even is good for your back too (orthopedic)!

You can go with SPG but thats for real racing..

The base bracket (one that bolts to the stock studs) wasn't that
great... I had to file the holes a bit... but they went on snug..

The slides bolt up to the seat (universal) and have three hole positions to adjust height/angle. I actually had to cut a piece off one of the sliders because it got in the way of the base bracket!
So I could't lower the front because of it.

I have the seat at the lowest setting and its pretty much like stock height.. I can still move my head with my helmet...

I do find the seats to be a little to out towards the door which makes me contact the upper outside pillars or t-tops sooner..

The seats are $525 each and bracket/sliders is $110 for the kit. So about $635 +$50 shipping...

Pricy but worth it, besides Momo, Sparco, Cobra, OMP are all in the 500-600 range for a decent base seat.

Steve