rear upper torque box damage

[72 fastback]

I was installing upper & lower control arms on my 2002 gt and notice the passenger side upper torque box has pulled away from floor pan. Also where the two spot welds on the frame rail inside the rear quarter has failed. This was probally the weird vibration(felt like mild wheel hop) was coming from. It didn't do this very often though. If i didn't have the rear hanging from the car I might have never noticed. Any shop here in CT I can have this repaired & reinforced?

 

[trinity_gt]

A good body man/welder can probably fix it as long as he knows what he's doing.

Reinforce it with something like this:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/upi-1001/overview/make/ford/model/mustang

 

[blacksheep-1]

I had a friends car come apart like this, if the metal is torn in a major way, (and his was FUBAR'd beyond all recognition) you might find a wrecked car then cut that section out of it and replace yours. It just depends on the amount of damage, and then reinforce it with "battle boxes' like trinity suggests.

 

[72 fastback]

I drove it yesterday on relatively wet roads and it seemed ok. It definetly felt better than it ever did. That kit from summit seems to be the way to go. The car probally had this damage from day one. Or at the very least Kenne Bell day one.

 

[Jhussey1280]

I remember this happening on my Fox body. My friend owns a performace shop that specializes in imports but he helped me fix it with something called Battle Boxes. It's been 9 years so I cannot remember who made them or where I got them, but it was essentially the same thing as the kit listed by trinity_gt.

 

[gearheadboy]

Depending on how bad they are you can fix them with "battle boxes" or torque box reinforcements fairly easy using only bolts. Then take it to a welder to have them welded. The sooner the better. If it is too damaged you may need the complete upper repair. I'll post a pic of my Fox torque box repair and the complete unit.

 

[trinity_gt]

gearhead, is that a full-race car or a daily? From the axle side that hardware looks pretty hard-core.

 

[gearheadboy]

gearhead, is that a full-race car or a daily? From the axle side that hardware looks pretty hard-core.

That is a toy, mostly stock appearing Fox. The pic you are referring to is the only one that is NOT of my car. I posted that as a "what if my upper torque boxes are destroyed" option. You can purchase similar kits from several fabricators if your uppers are past the point of rescue. It is about $300.00 and I'm glad I didn't need it.

 

[blacksheep-1]

Gearhead, where can I buy that? IT sure beats trying to resurrect somebody's junk

 

[gearheadboy]

Several companies make it and I am not advocating for any particular one. Below is one link.
http://wildridesracecars.com/store/product.php?productid=16211&cat=249&page=1

 

[Bob Hughes]

My car did exactly the same thing. I had a welder beef up all the welds around the boxes. I thought I took pics but can't seem to find them.

 

[Sharad]

Agreed with the posts about. Usually torque box reinforcement kits will get you all fixed up. (unless yours is completely destroyed)

 

[72 fastback]

Thanks guys. It is still in one piece and welded up top. It had pulled two spot welds on frame rail and separated down on lower part where it attaches to floor pan. Sharad the control arms seemed to be a nice upgrade. I drove it around a bit. I actually hear my nitto 555r squealing instead of just spinning. I have a sticky caliper or noisy wheel bearing in back that got louder with these new arms but that's understandable. They definetly make the car hook and handle better though.

 

[blacksheep-1]

FWIW, if you are driving the car on the street. or wanting it to handle, you may want tot back off on the stiff upper control arms. The factory 4 link is always trying to find it's "center" (because of the upper arms coming in at two different angles and fighting each other) this leads to a condition called "snap oversteer" on corner exit. Stiff upper arms (or worse, adding a panhard bar.. another arc to deal with) only makes this worse. If you drag race it, then no problem, stiffen the heck out of it.

 

[gearheadboy]

Thanks guys. It is still in one piece and welded up top. It had pulled two spot welds on frame rail and separated down on lower part where it attaches to floor pan. Sharad the control arms seemed to be a nice upgrade. I drove it around a bit. I actually hear my nitto 555r squealing instead of just spinning. I have a sticky caliper or noisy wheel bearing in back that got louder with these new arms but that's understandable. They definetly make the car hook and handle better though.

So you didn't buy torque box reinforcements? And/or weld the boxes all around?

 

[72 fastback]

So you didn't buy torque box reinforcements? And/or weld the boxes all around?

I will be bolting in some reinforments at the very least or perhaps a shop do some welding and or fabricating.

 

[Sharad]

FWIW, if you are driving the car on the street. or wanting it to handle, you may want tot back off on the stiff upper control arms. The factory 4 link is always trying to find it's "center" (because of the upper arms coming in at two different angles and fighting each other) this leads to a condition called "snap oversteer" on corner exit. Stiff upper arms (or worse, adding a panhard bar.. another arc to deal with) only makes this worse. If you drag race it, then no problem, stiffen the heck out of it.

Or you can just run spherical bushings in the axle housing. Problem solved.

 

[blacksheep-1]

Or you can just run spherical bushings in the axle housing. Problem solved.

no it's not, been there, tried that, the arc remains the same, the bushings just allow for freedom of movement at rest, once the suspension moves, the upper arms still fight each other, they have to, that's the way they were designed.