Has anybody ever twisted their chassis without SFC's? Or are they just an aid in handling?

I have a set and am undecided whether to install them or not. I have ran a 1.57 60' with no problem so far. No need to add extra weight!

 

I've seen people post that they have noticed twisting, but the question in my mind is: Are your 60' times good given your set-up? If the answer is yes, there may not be much gain, if any. If no, then you may be wasting power by twisting the car rather than the tires, and in that case SFCs would be a good addition.

I like them for the extra stiffness on the road, but I have a 'vert.

 

I have heard of some that make a large amount of power (with T-tops or verts) cracking the windshield. The other place it will show up is on the roof support on each side of the back window.

 

You guys aren't going to believe this, (just posted on which front rotors to get) but I just had some Global West SFC welded in on Monday (Yeah, I just did the rotors on Sunday). Mufflex in Trenton welded them up in about an hour and a half. They do reall good welding. They took their time and weld SFC at every possible attachment point. Car handles like...... night and day!!! You feel a little more bumps on the road but just make car feel more "taunt". When you go fast into a turn, then you really feel the bennies of having SFCs!! Car justs zips into the turn and just zooms out!!!! You can yank the car into a turn your brain tells you is going to put you up over the curb and the car will still lean, but it is all on the suspension, not frame and suspension. going into steep drive ways, car doesn't "snake" anymore!!! That annoying "where's it coming from" squeeking I had in the left rear T-top corner on real bumpy roads has misteriously disappeared!!! I would say SFCs are VERY important on not only T-top cars, but also hard tops. My '95 M6 Z28 had about 98,000 miles on it when I had the heads/intake ported. We decided to change the clutch/press plate just as a precaution. While the trans was down, I did a depot level inspection (former aircraft inspector, 7 Level). I noticed a approximately 3"-4" crack in the trans tunnel!!!! This car was only turning 13.3's @ 106 mph, 2.0-1.9ish '60's!!! This was bumped up to 12.50 @ 111 mph, 1.85 '60 best. This was a hard top car!!!! It began to feel very loose as the miles rolled on. The morale to this story is GO OUT AND BY SOME GOOD WELD IN SFC's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BTW, my MASSIVE 2" dia tube Global West SFC's feel to be about 20 lbs for THE PAIR!!!! One of my new front rotors is heavier by far than BOTH of my SFC's!!!!!! I work at a warehouse now all day picking up stuff, so I KNOW WEIGHTS!!!!! Go get some!!! <img src="gr_grin.gif" border="0"> P.S. The guy's at Mufflex are a Friendly lot. Denny has a very interesting story about his 2001 SS convertible from HELL!!!!! If you get work done there, ask him about It!!!!!!!!

[ February 20, 2002: Message edited by: FaSS Blac ]</p>

 

Thanks guys!

 

I'll second the recommendation for Global West SFC's. They are really stout - made from 2" diameter tubing, the biggest I found. They weigh about 24lbs. together. Really made a difference.

 

I'm a big fan of SFC's as well. This doesn't really give ya any hard data, but it's my experience w/ it nonetheless. My '96 Firebird never got any SFC's, and I traded it in with just under 36,000 miles on it. It rattled like a 150,000-mile Pinto. I had a set of Kenny Brown DDSFC's installed on my '98 T/A three months after I bought it, and it never had any rattle problems, even after some low 1.5 60' times. The Kenny Brown units are really heavy, though. I put a set of BMR SFC's on my SS three days after I bought it, and I could definitely tell some difference in driving. It gives a more positive feel to the car IMO, and this car has yet to rattle. FWIW, you might ask Joe Kizzire if he had them on his '98 T/A or not. I do know that he said the car had twisted too many times from launching on N2O, and that's the reason he specifically ordered a hardtop Formula.

 

They are a night and day difference as far as how the car feels on the road. They make it feel much tighter and solid.

Also, you know how I beat the hell out of my car Larry. I put subframes on the car when it was only a month old and my car STILL does not have any rattles or leaks. Its at 80K miles now, with 1000s of track/street passes.

Tony

 

My question is this. I have bolt on slp subframes and chose them over the weld on because the car was only 6 months old and didn't want to weld on the car yet.

Now a year later, people are telling me that I should have em welded because they will make an even bigger difference. Is this true and can I just have my sfc's prepped and welded?

Thanks

 

I would put them in! I did and the car rides,drives,and handles like night and day! <img src="gr_images/icons/wink.gif" border="0">