Can someone explain the benefits of these mods on a mostly street driven resto-mod with limites 1320 strip action?
Suspension Benefits of Tubular K-Member and Flaming River Kit?
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There really isn't any benefits in most cases with the k member. People here seem to be hung up on them, but for the average guy all it is, is a colossal waste of money.
Might want to be more specific about what flaming river products you are interested in, i associate Flaming river with manual racks.
Might want to be more specific about what flaming river products you are interested in, i associate Flaming river with manual racks.
Well, I'm going to have to motor out of the car and wanted to do a k-member and manual rack to clean up the engine bay and reduce weight. The car is going to be an occasional show and strip car. I've seen some restomods with this setup and other than great looks, was wondering what other benefits are achieved. Obviously less weight will make the car faster, but how is handling affected? It it improved, or just different. Right now my steering squeaks and sometimes sticks on my LT headers.
The effects of a k member are determined by which one you buy, pretty much all of them other than griggs and MM weaken the front end, which i'm sure you know, isn't good. The stock k is pretty strong. Unfortunately the good stuff is not cheap.
Me personally i think manual steering in street foxes is stupid, but that's me. I just don't see the point. When someone opens their hood and i see no PS or A/C, my thought isn't how clean of a look it is, it's how bad it sucks to have manual steering and no air conditioning.
Neither of these mods are going to net you any real gains in performance for a street car. At most you would be losing is 50lbs, that's not even a tenth of a second. Cutting weight on a street car that you don't really need every .01 second out of is seriously overrated.
But for someone who is going to show this car and probably not drive it much who cares about power steering and a/c for me im not gonna drive a car when it's 90 out or 40 out also i wont care about power steering because you wouldntdrive it in the rain or in crowded parking lots when i open the hood and see a clunky power steering pump i dont think of it as a show car
ive got a flaming river manual rack and steering shaft setup in my 89. At parking speeds, it steers a bit harder than a power rack Once you get above a few mph, the only difference is that with the manual rack, you can "feel" the road, no sloppy ps, everything is nice and tight and precise
i would say for a street car the standard would be ideal. Maybe go with the wuick if your into road racing or the like where theres lots of fast steering changes being made
On a show car, there really isn't anything wrong with a nice, powder coated stock k-member. I don't know of any show I was at where I saw a car with a stock k-member and immediately wrote it off as a POS.
I also question the rigidity of aftermarket k-members (other than MM). There is no way a few pieces of tubular steel (or chomoly) is as strong or stronger than the beefy stocker.
I also question the rigidity of aftermarket k-members (other than MM). There is no way a few pieces of tubular steel (or chomoly) is as strong or stronger than the beefy stocker.
I dunno, 20 years with a good friend that owns a mustang racing shop. Being able to see, touch, handle them. Helps too that i have witnessed them bent and broken.
I also happen to own one of the cheaper ones, swap k members weren't out from the good companies back when i bought it.
That's pretty much how i came up with that "BS".
You don't need to be an engineer to tell that the basic tubular k members aren't as tough or rigid as the nearly indestructable stock one.
I'm also not much for vanity mods, that's why i suggest you either go all in with an MM or griggs, or don't bother.
BTW, neither of these save much weight, like the cheaper ones.
David Pepiton
Active Member
i would not buy a aftermarket k member just to simply save weight. chrome moly or a near 1/8 dom tube is in my opinion minimum for me which may save 40ish pounds with tubular control arms.
Now I've only seen Team Z chromemoly in person and I would have no problem putting that on my car for daily driving. but its not high on my priority list.
Now I've only seen Team Z chromemoly in person and I would have no problem putting that on my car for daily driving. but its not high on my priority list.
If the engine out of the car blast and paint the original K. No one ever posts how their stock K broke or now they cant turn their wheels because their geometry is all wrong.
The factory K-member was engineered to be abused by idiots and the general public. If your an idiot or the general public, don't use an aftermarket tubular K-member........if you know the design parameters and use the tubular K-member accordingly, then there is no problem with a tubular K-member. I have a lightweight QA1 tubular K-member in my Saleen complete with the rest of QA1 suspension components. I drag race the car.........I am not an idiot who puts this car on the road course and then complains that QA1 makes a weak POS. Reality check people........
LEEDAY Boss
Member
I have a Team Z tubular K member, tubular A arms, adjustable coil overs, manual rack, AC delete, 89 Coupe; I did all the suspension at once last spring. The car is drag raced just for fun a couple of times a month. For the gain I netted at the track it just wasn't worth it. In fact, I find myself driving the car less because of it. I'm picky though, and the coils overs rattle too much, the manual rack makes the car feel darty and it is hard to steer. I have been told the rack will loosen with use, so I guess I need to work it more. Also looking for a solution to the rattle, probably cut the rubber sleeves I removed fron the struts to install the springs and slide them between the springs and struts. This is my 5th fox mustang and I wouldn't do this again to another. Just my 10 cents.....
mikestang63
SN Certified Technician
IMO for average Mustang owner, it is a waste of money for a tubular K member. Also, it's not just the K member- are you going to replace the A arms, swap to coil overs, etc? To do it right with a quality K member from MM or Griggs you are talking around $1500 - $2000 when it is all said and done. That's a lot of money just to make the bottom of the engine bay look less clutterd and money well spent otherwise. As others have said, you can powdercoat your stock K Member cheap and is made to handle the daily driving.
You can get an adjustable steering shaft or simply dimple the tube hitting the stock shaft to solve the problem.
You can get an adjustable steering shaft or simply dimple the tube hitting the stock shaft to solve the problem.
My Flaming River manual rack is nice and tight and precise. My QA1 coilovers do not rattle either. Might want to have your looked at.
Same here 150mph+ with my brand new flaming river rack and straight as an arrow..
LEEDAY Boss
Member
They say my rack will loosen with miles so we'll see. I'm using the Team Z coil overs with Stranges 10 ways. As designed I can't see a way to eliminate the rattle when you hit a bump.. I thought about a different strut but when you order the coil overs from Team Z they are specific to the brand of strut you are running so I don't know. There wasn't anything wrong with the stock K and springs just always trying to "upgrade" sometimes to a detriment.
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