Hey,

I have heard alot people talking about subframes for our cars and how they really improve the ride of the car. The thing I dont know is exactly how do they work? How do they improve the overall ride quality? I was looking into purchasing a pair of UMI weld in boxed style subframes and wanted to get some opinions on those as well.Also do subframes control the up and down movement the car makes whenever you go over a speed bump for example? My car makes a creeking sound everytime I go over a speedbump or even when I get out of it, will subframes help stop this sound? Any Input would be appreaciated.

Thanks,
Chris

 

No, or almost no to everything you heard.

Do good shocks first and see how you like that.

The shocks do way more than people give them credit for.

Any "Yahoo" with a welder and some tube can make SFC. Thats why they are so available. Cheap easy, the fact that they will solve few of the problems people think they will, doesn't stop them from selling them for a good profit.

Shocks are very difficult to build without vast amounts of equipment and testing. They are also hard to do right.

Talk to Sam Strano or get some Koni or Bilstein shocks some where before you do anything else.

Z28

 

SFCs are definitely a worthwhile mod, one of the cheapest and easiest ones to begin your chassis/suspension modifications with. They will not cure every ailment your car has, but they will tie stiffen up the chassis really well and help to eliminate some of those annoying squeaks and groans.

 

Yeah, they will reduce or eliminate body flex altogether providing a solid chassis for any type of competition. This is one of the best mods I've done and would recommend it as the basis for chassis modification.

 

I was having this conversation last nite with my friend. I to was looking at those umi subframes after seeing that a car with subframes up on 2 jackstands in opposite corners. But my friend says that its not worth it. He made some good points:

1. u need some flex or u get stress too much in places
2. the stock subs are just pressed sheetmetal - so u could connect them with whatever u want and they will still just be pressed thin sheet

 

Wow thats some good feedback...you must be new on these boards...if u don't have anything of value to say you should keep it to yourself.

 

i'm interested in if anyone has first hand experience with sub's and convertibles... i wanna stiffen up mine a bit, i can only make about 45mph on the circle off ramp to the highway... i plan on doing both sways and a strut brace. dont know if i should spend the 100 on subs or not..

 

I always figured SFC's were a joke until my buddy got them installed. It really does make a huge difference in the feel of the car. You can tell the car feels firmer and doesn't flex as much over bumps.

 

How can anyone in their right mind say sfc arent a worthwhile mod? I fell theyre a must without a doubt. I own 2 convertables. A 97 GT Mustang and a 94 Z28. My mustang was making 500rwhp at one point. My biggest mistake was not getting subframes on it. It got to the point were it was wierd trying to close the passenger door. It just felt very missaligned. When I put the Lightning motor in it I swear I could fell it flex everytime Id step on it. I learned my lesson from the Mustang so next month when I get into suspension mode sfc will be at the top of the list.

 

My opinion: Just get the welded in SFCs and you will feel the improvements. Most comments that are negative are from people that don't have them. The SFCs were the best mod I made on my car.

 

*sigh* big picture folks...... Are SFC's bad? No, certainly not.

But using a Mustang as an example is misleading as they are nowhere near as stiff as a Camaro anyway. Further, on the Camaro the suspension is at fault if you noticed a huge difference with SFC's. The stock dampers are terrible and frankly don't do a good job at all of sucking up impacts, those impacts get into the body and make it quiver, so sure the SFC's help. But if you have real shocks on the car, most of those impacts are damped by the suspension (which is what is SUPPOSED to happen), and don't get into the uni-body and make it a giant tuning fork.

There is a thread on an other site discussing similar things and one fellow didn't have them, installed them, then took them off and noticed no difference. Another customer had them installed when he had cheap shocks on, found a difference. But then went to Koni's and removed the SFC's for a change of racing class and didn't notice a thing when they were removed. That shows you the effect of the shocks on the car.

Again, not a bad thing to have. Should not be top of the list by any means. Shocks are the most important change one can make to a 4th gen (which was BTW, DESIGNED to be a convertible from the start). PROPER shocks help the ride, the handling, the stability of the car both at speed and over bumps. No single other change on the suspension effects so much. None.

 

I'll also add, as I often do because it's pertinent that a friend/customer has a '96 1LE (complete with the 25% stiffer springs and Koni's) that has been autoxed, drag raced and open tracked since new....... 342,000 miles ago....... No SFC's, and you couldn't tell that car had more than 50k on it when you drive it down the road.

 

I installed the sfc on my car when it had only about 20K km, and it had the level II package which consisted of bilstien shock. I did noticed a difference. and I did came across a 95 Z that flexed to the point that it's difficult to open or close the door just because he used slicks a few times.

 

So you do you feel the same way even for verts? Theyre not expensive, they cant hurt, so why not? I didnt say it should be on the top of everyones list, I said it was on the top of mine from expierience. I didnt know the Maro was stiffer than the stang. Compared to my stang the Maro is a boat so I figured it could use whatever it could get. Either way weather some say it makes a diff or not they will be on my vert.

 

I bought into the SFC hype and purchased a set of weld-in BMR boxed SFCs.

There is not a "blow you away" difference at all. The car does feel a little more stable when you throw it in a corner at high speeds and more solid when going over bumps. They didn't do anything for me at the track.

One thing I really like about having them on my car is that when it's getting serviced, the tech. can lift my car up on the SFCs instead of the wrong spot and flaring my fenders out.