Tubular K Member Gurus! Clarification plz!

[Buggapimp5.0]

sup everyone. I'm a little confused here.

I am about to do my K member swap, and i have just a few questions. I am mostly concerned of what has to go along with the entire swap. What should i expect or run into??? can someone please help me here! thanks!!!

1. What is the best brand name out there for tubular k members, as far as durability and driveability goes?

2. I was looking into D&D's tubular k member, but as i was reading their description on ebay (search for mustang k member) i saw it said coil overs must be used as well as their a arms. Is there any reason for this?

3. those who have done the k member swaps, did everything bolt right up or was there any customization/fabrication/extra steps to make everything fit again? Supposebly everything bolts right back up together with stock components right?

4. What advantages / disadvantages do coil overs have over regular springs? other than the advantage of having full control of your ride height???? is there any negative factors to swapping regular springs to coil overs?????

5. Finally, if you could post your tubular k member brand and components you used, either stock components or aftermarkets!! thanks so much!

sorry for the long post!!!

 

[95GTMAN]

I have read that this tubular k-member is one of the best you can purchase.
http://www.ajeracing.com/mustang.htm From what I understand you can run your stock control arm with this k-member with no problems, and it also incorporates the control into the structure of the k-member. Here is a pic I found of it with the stock control arms connected on it.

 

[Killercanary]

The above is regarded as one of the best, the only other one I'd even look at is the one from Jason Smith. Go here for info... http://www.performanceautomotiveracing.com./

Jason's offers the MOST header clearance, and can be powercoated in YOUR choice of colors for no additonal fee. I did searches last night on this and was amazed at how bad many of the others are. Do a search in the drag racing forums on the corral and start reading. I didn't search too much here, but I'm sure there is plenty info. My buddy has the D&D and I'm sure he can give his opinion of it here, but I have heard that header clearance on the pass side is LESS than what the stock K member has. It may have been redesigned since then though, I'm not clear on that one. Mild steel is heavier than chrome moly, but it is more durable for a street car. I was set on getting a chromemoly one, but my research has convinced me to change my mind.

 

[VIPERn94Five-0]

just to throw another question out there...how about MM's kmember??? any good....faccording to their site it seems like a good piece...
from their site:

"We spent over two years optimizing our K-Member, both on the track and on the computer. The result is that the front of your car will corner like nothing else you’ve experienced. Unlike other K-Members on the market, strength, stiffness, and durability are given a higher priority than ultra-low weight so that your investment will last the life of your vehicle.

What makes our K-Member unique:

Our K-Member lengthens the wheelbase 3/4”, which improves the front/rear weight distribution and increases caster.
We optimized the vertical location of the control arm pivots. This improves the camber curve on lowered vehicles and improves the roll center height.
Our K-Member offers two different vertical locations for the control arm pivots, allowing you to choose the one that’s best for your car’s ride height.
We optimize the location of the steering rack for the greatest improvement in Ackerman steering geometry, which helps reduce understeer and tire wear.
After extensive testing of anti-dive, we determined that Ford got it right! The stock amount of anti-dive is best, and that is what we built into our K-member.
Our K-Member allows 5.0 engines to be set back one inch.
The MM K-Members are modular, allowing 5.0 engines to be installed in 96+ cars, or modular engines to be installed in pre-96 cars.
Increased oil-pan clearance for all aftermarket oil-pans means oil-pan service is easier.
Header clearance is increased by over 1” in critical areas.
Easier access to the starter motor.
Pre drilled plumb bob holes for easy and accurate squaring of the K-member to the car.
The factory Ford K-Members weigh on average 50lb. The MM K-Member weighs 36lb. "



unfortunatly you need Tubular front control arms (stock control arms are not compatible because of the large outside diameter of the pivot bushings), Caster/Camber plates, Front Coil-Over conversion kit, Aluminum steering rack bushings, and
MM Adjustable Tie-Rod Ends
and of course the MM price tag (OUCH)


other than those setbacks how is the ke member itself??


EDIT: my guess is the MM Kmember is designed more for a handling car...while these others a drag oriented??

Anthony

 

[95GTMAN]

Besides haveing to dich out all the money for the K-member, control arms,and all the rest of the stuff that goes with it. I have heard that you can't run any rims bigger than 17's since it moves everything forward. And I guess you could use it any way you wanted .

 

[YEAHLOH95]

i put a d and d in my car i went with everything k-member , control arms and coil-over kit over all i'm pleased with it it is alittle tight on the passenger side but doesn't rub all the time i was talking to paul the other night about this same subject and it may just be me but if i'm in there taking everything apart i only want to do it once , and as far as the coil over part the weight savings is one of the bigger plus's but the ride is still ok and my car is lowered about 2 inches now . i would say the mm stuff is quality stuff i'm running their camber plates and like them alot

 

[Buggapimp5.0]

i put a d and d in my car i went with everything k-member , control arms and coil-over kit over all i'm pleased with it it is alittle tight on the passenger side but doesn't rub all the time i was talking to paul the other night about this same subject and it may just be me but if i'm in there taking everything apart i only want to do it once , and as far as the coil over part the weight savings is one of the bigger plus's but the ride is still ok and my car is lowered about 2 inches now . i would say the mm stuff is quality stuff i'm running their camber plates and like them alot

hey yea, thanks for the info.

would stock springs be able to be used on an aftermarket kmember setup? or do coil overs have to be installed? how about the a arms etc? are they direct bolt ons to the aftermarket stuff? or do they need to be changed as well? what ups and downs are there to keeping the stock equip other than going aftermarket???? thanks for the help guys, im noob to this advanced suspension work stuff

 

[YEAHLOH95]

if you go with tubular a-arms then you will need to go with the coil over kit if you get a k-mamber that accepts the stock a-arms then you can use your stock arms and springs but the k-member will need to have spring pockets like in the pic of the silver one . mine did not have them but a call to d and d should clear up if you can run stock arms with their k-member i just don't know if they offer a spring pirch for the stock spring ??i know the hal qa1 from summit does and my firend put that set up in his fox and it worked fine , you just need to get the car lined up after wards both his and mine were direct bolt ins not grinding , i did mine wiht just the short block in the car his motor was pulled which made it easier

 

[Buggapimp5.0]

what would you do if you were in my situation? twin turbos are going in. I wanna put the tubular k member so i can make some room for piping down below as well as loose weight and stiffen the front end. What will be the benefits of changing the arms and springs for coil overs????

 

[94GTLaserRC]

I wanna put the tubular k member so i can make some room for piping down below as well as loose weight ....

LOOSEWeight?
Just get your car running already!!
RC

 

[VibrantRedGT]

LOOSEWeight?
Just get your car running already!!
RC

Has it been a year?

 

[YEAHLOH95]

with the twin turbos going on i would at least do the k-member but the nice thing about coil overs is the selction of springs so you could dial it in for the weight of the tubing and intercooler ? that will be on the front of the car now i have the middle3 spring set up in my car and i like the street manners and they work well at the track too not that i go as much as killer does lol but i don't think you will regret one bit going with the whole kit on the front i know i don't .and as far as instal time you could do it all in probably 2 days total .thats if you8 don't already have camber plates.?

 

[Buggapimp5.0]

yea i already got steeda's camber setup going on. Thanks for the info dudes...

and Joe, no a year would be in June :-D

 

[94GTLaserRC]

"Why do something if you are not going to be the best at it?"

RC

 

[Buggapimp5.0]

yea go figure... :-D

 

[OinkAodeOink]

an advantage to using coil overs is it will give you more room between the K member and coil over spring.. Where as with the stadard spring, you would have much less room in between to work with.
Im not sure how your doing your setup, but im thiking more inline with the guy on TM.com.. think his name is Turbostang.. he runs a red Fox, 357, twin to4's i think.. low mounted setup, looks real sweet. He runs the downpipes straight back, in between the k member and coil over, and has lots of room to work with.