Popular Mods That You'd Recommend To Not Do
- Thread starter Dave2000GT
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I'm w you on this one cowboy. I'm not 16They all pound in the front end and transfer a pile of road noise. I've ridden in cars of all sorts, with all different kinds and they all do the same thing. If you live in a town with no potholes, then good you're one of the lucky ones....enjoy it. I and about 80% of the rest of North America have to live with them on a daily basis. And a big old tubular K-member isn't nearly as friendly to live with on a daily as the stock stamped steel unit..
Some owners will put up with the bull**** and convince themselves the performance trade off is worth the hassle. Some will even go as far as ignore the problem altogether. I'm not really one of those guys....at least not since I was a teenager.
What about rear control arms w urethane bushings? On a scale from Rolls to jetski how much rougher a ride than rubber?
Ha me eitherCan't we go back to arguing about gears? I don't have a dog in the "kmember" fight.
Rougher ride....not so much....but then I've got the 3-piece style bushings on one end and spherical rod ends on the other in mine. I also wen't from 25-year-old stamped steel arms and worn out rubber bushings to brand new Megabite Jr lowers and Steeda adjustable uppers for comparative purposes, so anything would have been an improvement after that. I've also got full length sub frame connectors and a strut tower brace across the front of the car. When used in conjunction to stiffen the uni body, it allows the suspension to more effectively do it's job, instead of transferring everything through the body first. In short, it tends to improve ride quality and handling.
....I'm gonna say although the performance should be much improved, the bushings in them aren't going to prove nearly as durable as the stock rubber ones in the originals.
Try to avoid the cheaper arms with urethane only bushing for the street. The 2-piece urethane bushings have got a reputation for binding up in the rear, which can cause unpredictable results....and will often reward you with an annoying squeak if you don't really put the grease to them.
It's not the traction problem that they're or at least I'm complaining about. Around the town square its ok but other than that it can get kinda laborsome. As far as performance goes 1st gear is way to short and when on the highway I'm wishing for a 6th. The bolt-on car w 3.73's is still relatively slow they just seem quicker because the car will throw ya around a little more.
89_LX
Member
One piece headlights, body kits, big spoiler, painting interior, huge tach, clear, altezza? taillights.
Ya thats pretty much where im at on the gears. Just a pain in the butt driving. Stock gears let you feel more of the motors torque in 1st and 2nd. That said I still have major traction issues in 2nd with stock 3.08s, time for a tire mod I think. Any recommendations for a grippy street tire on 16" ponies?
Nitto 555 dr. They only last about 10-12k miles or so. But they are fairly sticky.
Ummm...the car doesn't just "feel" quicker. Gears actually improve acceleration. You may need a better suspension and tires. 1st does get pretty short but you'll pull 2nd-4th a lot faster. Finally..."gears" talk. Hehehe
Myself
Whaaa? Clearly a steep gear isn't meant for a DD. So people bishing about it being "inconvenient" are entirely missing the point. Don't modify the damn car and then complain it doesn't behave like stock. You "feeling the motors torque" is nonsense it's just taking longer for the nutless car to get through the gear. And "grippy" tires for a friggin pony wheel is an oxymoron.
Not trying to attack you in particular I guess but the age and bitchy-ness of this board has sure shifted to "how do I get 30 MPGs and what's the quietest muffler, how do I get heated mirrors and what to do if it ate my Lionel Richie cassette". Kind of a bummer
Wait... You have heated mirrors????
Where'd you get them? Are they part of the LS swap? Are they GM or honduh heated mirrors?
What blinker fluid did you have to use? Is the green blinker fluid ok or did you have to switch to the orange?
Nooooo y'all are missing the point. Even on a weekend cruiser that you'd might wanna take on a couple hours road trip wouldn't be much fun. I'm not saying gears don't make one faster and I'm also not saying that a "hot rod" or whatever you wanna call it should ride like a Caddy and sip gas like a metro. All I'm saying is i bought into the 3.73 forum hype that the 3.73 is "the single best mod" yadda yadda and so I went out and got me some. Slapped em on went to the 1/8 mile and got beat by a neon.
As for the state of the forums lately I guess it's just a sign of the time. Maybe we're running out of things to talk about. How bout when people complain bout someone asking a question that's been asked a million times? Yesterday I was going to work the classic rock station was playing the same ole crap. I ought to complain
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What he's saying actually does have some merit. While it's true the stock 190hp needs the added gear for that get up and go, one inherit flaw of running higher numerically gear sets is that they don't take advantage of the torque curve the way that taller gears do. a 3.73 or better gear set will get you up and into your power band quicker, but they'll also get you through it quicker as well. The taller gear set will actually keep you in the meaty part of your power range longer, and allow you to take advantage of that long mid range torque pull.....which is generally why they seem better on the highway.
I put the 3.73's in my Coupe, which although made them find when stock, did have me constantly shifting around, looking for the right gear. When I had the 308's in there, it was just a quick down shift from 5th to 3rd on the highway and hang on for the ride. Afterwards, I'd find myself down shifting into third, but then quickly having to up shift into 4th and didn't experience that satisfying pull through the gear.
Now that I'm making better than 100hp more than I was before, I find myself at a crossroads. While the 3.73's are more usuable in the higher RPM ranges (since my top end now allows me to make power a good 500-800RPM higher than I was previously, I too am making gobs more torque where I'm also "zipping" through that power band much more quickly. That and I always feel now like I should be shifting up into 6th gear on the highway....until I realize my trans is only equipped with 5-forward gears.
I actually plan on gearing back down to a 3.27/3.31 gear ratio this summer.
Also, grippy tires for a 16x7 pony wheel is entirely possible as long as you're willing to commit to a drag radial. I had a set of Mickey Thompson ET Street Radials on my Cougar in a 15" tire and I made more than 150lbs/ft more torque than most bolt on 5.0L Fox bodies and I could barely get a slip coming out of the hole with them.
Don't underestimate the merit of a good tire. Guys have been going 10's on 15x7" wheels with the right tire under foot for better than a decade now.....so they'll certainly handle anything a bolt on 5.0L will throw at them.
gearheadboy
15 Year Member
Did you used to own my blue 88 GT? I've spend BIG $ and tons of time trying to undo all the mods that were just plain dumb. Trying to save a Fox here. I cannot wait until that AC is back in working order.
