quad shock debate

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If you have a stock suspension, chances are you're going to have wheel hop without them. If you have a modified suspension, take them off and see how the car does. If you still have wheel hop, put them back on or install a torque arm. Or just deal with it. :shrug:

I hate when that happens.


I hate it even more when a 3+ year old thread gets bumped and I don't even agree with that I said before now.

*Goes back to look for Mike's old post* :p
 
Quads are a Ford band aid fix for crappy control arms. Look underneath any serious drag Mustang and tell me if you find quad shocks. Granted, the biggest reason is for tire clearance, but you also don't see those cars wheel hopping either, because they're using stronger control arms and more importantly, they've had the pinion angle of the rear end adjusted properly. This is the key to preventing wheel hop as well as getting better traction. For the record, i occasionally get wheel hop and i still have my quads so what does that tell ya???
 
Here's a little list of quotes I put together for just such debates, because the simple fact is, you won't know if you can get away without them until you try. Any time you have a 4-link or a non-torque-arm 3 link and there is compliance in the control arm bushings, there is the opportunity for the axle to generate the kind of wheelhop-inducing axle housing rotational oscillation that the quads are specifically designed to minimize.

Some people can toss them with no problems, others can't, and it's not predictable which combo can get away without them and which one can. Certainly not enough to say "just get better LCA's and toss the quads", because it works for some and not for others.

Supernatural said:
I was a victim of the no quad shock/ aftermarket control arm wheel hop fiasco... I wouldnt reccomend removing them.

90MustangGT said:
I already have Megabite UCA and LCA. Don't know why I still have wheel hop, trying to figure it out...

[later]...Well, I put the factory original quads back on and fixed the problem. Haven't been to the track but no wheel hop yet.

Ishman 306 said:
I have Mega Bite Jr. Lowers and without the quad shocks have alot of wheel hop. Put the shocks back on and no wheel hop at all.

95cobraguy said:
unless there is an elimination of the factory uppers due to the addition of a torque arm or panhard bar the quads should stay. i was one of the victims of the internet myth that when aftermarket control arms are added the quads should go.

Luke87GT said:
I was one of these people that bought into the internet hype of not needing quads once I got control arms.

On my 87GT, I installed Megabite Jr's lowers with FMS uppers and I got wheel hop after I removed the quads. Sometime later I picked up some BBK uppers and lowers and also got wheel hop without the quads. BAD wheel hop at that. I installed the quads and it improved.

AlJ said:
I've got Steeda uppers & lowers. But I still get some fishtailing when I drive irresponsibly--HA, so I just bought a set of Gabriel quads to replace my well-worn (108K miles) stockers---they DO make a difference.

Speeds8erM-1 said:
My 88 GT had Steeda Aluminum LCA's, stock uppers and wheelhopped bad enough to break one of the parking lights without quads, with quads it was smooth.

SVTCobra306 said:
I had baad wheelhop with FRPP HD uppers/no quads. Put in quads, and the wheel hop was gone.

wrb752 said:
I had really bad wheelhop just in street driving. I replaced control arms and the wheel hop stayed the same. I replaced my quads with Koni ones that I found on E-bay cheap and the wheel hop went away. Traction got much better too. New Quads were a great improvement on my car.

Got N2O said:
I have always heard toss them when you get "real" control arms. I spent close to $100 to go to a track rental this spring, and I almost took the quads with me just in case...The track was good, but my car was wheel hopping bad in 1st and 2nd. So be careful with that conventional "wisdom" that they aren't needed once you change out your stock control arms... My car wheel hops like a bitch without them.

88OrangeLX said:
OK a buddy was driving my car the other day and he started doing a burnout and the car was wheel hopping a little bit.
I have UPR Double Adj. uppers, Jegs Lift Bars, 03 GT rear springs and 50/50 Lakewoods...Also long gone are the quads....Why am I having wheelhop?

Got N2O said:
Glad I'm not the only one [who got wheelhop without the quads]. I have Granatelli/JD's performance arms and I had terrible wheel hop last time at the strip. 60' was 1.81 when I had the quad shocks, dropped to 2.05+ with them off.

fiveoh said:
I removed my quads when I replaced 6 of the 8 bushings in the rear with poly bushings and had to reinstall them because of the wheelhop. :(

NOSFED86GT said:
I noticed that when i installed a set of steeda upper and lowers I experiened alot of wheel hop after removing my quads.

Fusion2002 said:
I just installed some lower control arms, and they didnt help at all! I still have wheel hop....

...its a 88 LX i put on JD's performance control arms. I have always heard that you leave the quad shocks off when putting on lower control arms...

[later]...put the quad shocks back on and tightened up all of the bolts, my wheel hop is almost gone...It's interesting how after putting on the quads with the new Control arms, my tires actualy squeal instead of just jump. Pretty exciting :)

[later still] Lemme just say thanks to all of the guys who gave me advice to stop the wheel hop. Its totaly gone now. All it took was 5 minutes bolting my quads back on and the wheel hop started fading fast. I think as the parts are wearing in its getting even better. At first I had a little bit of hop, but I took it out today and I couldnt get it to hop at all. Thanks again guys.

JonnyX said:
I agree with you TOTALLY about these things. Every car I've ever dealt with that hopped like mad, these things cured it. No question.
If we ever do a Top Ten Best Tips List, this gets the number one slot, hands DOWN.
 
I would say the majority of people with stock control arms and 20 year old bushings who take them off , if they DON'T get wheel hop then put sticky tires on and see what happens. I never once got wheel hop until i put BFG DR's on my car and then i got wheel hop WITH quads. I know there's bound to be someone running slicks with stock everything and no quads who will contradict me..blah blah blah but the point is they're a band aid fix just like the stupid slapper bars that came before them. Get some decent control arms with new bushings in them and call it a day. The simple fact is that 99% of the quads out there are probably wore out and useless anyways and aren't controlling anything except how wide you can run your rims.
 
I would say the majority of people with stock control arms and 20 year old bushings who take them off , if they DON'T get wheel hop then put sticky tires on and see what happens. I never once got wheel hop until i put BFG DR's on my car and then i got wheel hop WITH quads. I know there's bound to be someone running slicks with stock everything and no quads who will contradict me..blah blah blah but the point is they're a band aid fix just like the stupid slapper bars that came before them. Get some decent control arms with new bushings in them and call it a day. The simple fact is that 99% of the quads out there are probably wore out and useless anyways and aren't controlling anything except how wide you can run your rims.

But see, then you can't really say everyone can ditch the quads because there are some people who have the hop and do have new stuff.

Me for example

ALL NEW
-Max Motorsports XD Adjustable rear control arms
-Ford HD/Steeda boxed upper control arms
-Ford Axle bushings
-tokico shocks

I've run two sets of rear springs, Ford C springs and later Mach 1 springs. I've had the adjustable arms low, i've had them high. I've had two sets of street tires on the car.

Only thing i was missing were quad shocks...and i had wheel hop.


What's on my car now?? Brand new Ford quad shocks.

Everyone's car is gonna be different.
 
I still have mine on with less than a 1/4" clearance on my tires. Dame KYB quad shocks. I feel this is too close and might buy either Koni or Ford quads they look smaller....or even 3/8" wheel spacers. Flipping quad shocks will do nothing. The piston housing of the KYB quad shock is too long.

275/45/17 Nitto DR on 03 cobra 10th wheels. Fox length axles.

Edit: Forgot to mention my friend did a 4 cylinder to explorer 5.0 conversion. Wheel hop was crazy. Installed quads after the rear swap. No wheel hop what so ever. After seeing this first hand I'll keep my quads.
 
if you reinforce the tq boxes and run the correct control arms with the pinion angle set right you wont run into wheelhop, its really that simple. My car had very slight wheelhop before i had the tq boxes welded, after that, no hop at all
 
I think you should never let your wheel selection be controlled by the fact that you want to keep your quads. I would sooner dump a ton of money into my rear end to avoid using quads and be able to run 275s than stick with quads and run 245s because I was afraid of wheel hop.
 
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