Torque box questions...

[EPIK]

I just picked up some rear suspension parts for my 91. since the lower control arms have spherical bearings instead of soft bushings, should I get my torque boxes welded up & reinforced before I install them? If I do need to weld them up, what is a good kit, at a reasonable price? The car is mostly gonna be a weekend only street car, but I do plan on launching it on slicks at the track from time to time....

 

[Notch916]

I was wondering the same thing. I just got some upper and lower torque box reinforcements and some MM XL sub frames full lengths and was wondering how much a shop gonna charge to weld that up? My local mechanic said i dont need the torque boxs done. But its gonna be for my daily driver 91 coupe. What you think?

 

[93 LX]

get wild rides box reinforcements.. they bolt in but weld in is better after they are installed with bolts..

 

[EMW150]

get wild rides box reinforcements.. they bolt in but weld in is better after they are installed with bolts..

+1 You're better off doing it now while everything is straight rather than have to fix tore up or twisted ones. The Wild Rides kits work fine.

 

[WHT306]

I got mine in a set from UPR they bolt in nice and then I got one of the body guys to weld them in for cheap but I work at a dealer. they also went and added some thick plate steel for extra strength in case i put slicks on one day.

 

[EPIK]

Thanks for the info guys... The battle boxes will most likely be my choice....

 

[TenorPlayinGuy]

Yes, even on stock daily driven 5.0's Torque box reinforcements are the way to go. Even a underpowered stock mustang can destroy a torque box.

 

[347HO]

IMO and experience, you'll want to go in and weld up everywhere there's factory OE spot welds.
When I removed my OEM control arms and inspected the chassis mounts for the CA's, I noticed the robot totally missed what was supposed to be welded. I also found the spot welds to be less than sufficient.
Your Battle Boxes will do much better if you fix what Ford missed the first time around.

 

[old_blue]

I think Rick 91GT sells them on here as well may want to contact him.

 

[josh072692]

Same thing happened to me as 347HO, So I took the car to a local restoration shop that does high dollar builds to make sure it was done right and they charged me $200 to weld the torque boxes. The original spot welds on the top lip were being pulled away, so they pushed them back up and welled it and they put thick plate steel in the corners of the boxes and to the body it looks great and the car doesn't creek at all in the back any more. It took them about 4hrs. I could take some pics if you would like.

 

[jmd2914]

not to threadjack but im in the process of getting tq boxes too...i would like to see some pics of the welding job they did

 

[josh072692]

Alright well I just got back from the cruise night and its dark out, so I'll take some pics in the morning and post them up.

 

[TenorPlayinGuy]

^^^ same

 

[blackened88lx]

+1 You're better off doing it now while everything is straight rather than have to fix tore up or twisted ones. The Wild Rides kits work fine.

Yup. You definitely want to fix them before they get bad. It is NOT fun trying to massage everything back into place once they are torn and broken and pulled away from the car.

IMO and experience, you'll want to go in and weld up everywhere there's factory OE spot welds.
When I removed my OEM control arms and inspected the chassis mounts for the CA's, I noticed the robot totally missed what was supposed to be welded. I also found the spot welds to be less than sufficient.
Your Battle Boxes will do much better if you fix what Ford missed the first time around.

Good advice. The factory did a horrible job. I would run beads on all the factory mounts as well as installing the battle boxes.

 

[josh072692]

Here are the pictures they are the best I could get.

That's where he welded in a plate because it usually cracks there.

A piece of angle iron was welded from the box to the crimp weld.

Another plate was welded from the outside of the box to the subframe.

The same piece as above but a different angle.

The back corner of the box welded

The same corner as above but the inside with a piece of angle iron welded

The upper edge of the box where it is spot welded from the factory was weled from the outside and inside the car. I can take out the back seat if anybody wants any pictures of the inside were it was welded.