Subframe connectors, worth it?
02-03-2010, 05:31 PM
#41
TECH Senior Member
I just had my BMR 2 points put on a couple of weeks ago. I have an audi and a 240 slammed on coils and both of those cars have much stiffer chassis than my TA. I got sick of the chassis flex in the TA and finally got the SFC's and installed em. Now I wish I would have done it sooner. It makes an amazing difference in the way the car drives and handles. You can actually feel the suspension working instead of the chassis flexing over uneven roads. And the tail end now just follows through the turn at high speeds rather than want to slide out from under you. Definitely worth it IMHO.
02-04-2010, 10:15 PM
#42
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You will see how bad the stock shocks are once you add subframe connectors. After I added my tubular subframes I noticed my ride over bumps was very harsh compared to before. It made me want to upgrade the shocks.
My next mods were Koni 4/4's, lowering springs, and sway bars from Strano so the handling is amazing
On my lowered car a regular jack will not fit under the subframes to jack the vehicle up. What I do though is put the OEM jack under the subframe and jack it up maybe 1/4" to fit my regular jack under.
My next mods were Koni 4/4's, lowering springs, and sway bars from Strano so the handling is amazing
On my lowered car a regular jack will not fit under the subframes to jack the vehicle up. What I do though is put the OEM jack under the subframe and jack it up maybe 1/4" to fit my regular jack under.
10-27-2010, 09:01 AM
#45
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06-19-2012, 12:13 AM
#47
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I have the 2 point bolt on UMIs and they're good. I had some clunking from the rear during autox, but I toqrued the rear bolts to 100 lbs per the directions, and all is good now. The car is easier to rotate in corners with the only trade off being a little harsher ride.... Oh, I put some locktite on the front bolts.....
06-21-2012, 09:16 AM
#48
My car was completely stock and I was TOLD to put sfc's on and i dint think it was that important right away. Well long story short i have the quarter panel flex to prove on a stock car if you drive it hard at all DOES need sfc's. 
06-21-2012, 04:42 PM
#49
TECH Senior Member
SFC's do not stop dimples on the rear 1/4 panels, they don't even brace that far back...
06-22-2012, 04:17 PM
#53
TECH Senior Member
Many people think that until they throw on some good suspension. I had no idea how much Koni's would change my car for the better when I put them on (~40,000 miles) - the stock shocks suck hard.
06-23-2012, 05:58 AM
#54
My old ride had three points on it with full exhaust. Bought and sold latest car before I could put them on.....anyone need a set of three point sfc? New, still in the wrapping! Chuck
06-25-2012, 08:36 AM
#56
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Take a look where my Grand Prix's rearview mirror is reflected in the Camaro's rear quarter panel. That's not some fancy camera effect like in The Ring. Then look a little forward from there. Those weird anomalies? Those are the dimples caused by a loose car.
07-04-2012, 10:16 AM
#58
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Talk to any body who engineered or help designed the F-body platform and they will tell you the main draw back of using a uni-body design unlike our Corvette brothers, is chassis flex. Having a plethora of ex. GM F-body folks around me for 12 years they all say adding a 3-point SFC to tie the two (front - rear) unibody welds together. Will more than make the difference in any suspension upgrade as far as handling and chassis rigidity. Then add the Konis, Ground Control or Springs, Strano Sway bars, UMI Pan hard rod, UMI off Trans Torque Arm, LCA, Relocation Brackets etc....
My weld in 3-point SLP SFC did scrape the ground and they did prevent me from taking the WS6 through the neighborhood carwash but the minute I put them on, the body creaks went away. Subsequent suspension upgrades just worked and mattered that much more.
If nothing else the ride quality of your car will feel better. And No it's not because of suspension problems! F-bodies are unibodies and they flex, squeak rattle and roll folks..
My weld in 3-point SLP SFC did scrape the ground and they did prevent me from taking the WS6 through the neighborhood carwash but the minute I put them on, the body creaks went away. Subsequent suspension upgrades just worked and mattered that much more.
If nothing else the ride quality of your car will feel better. And No it's not because of suspension problems! F-bodies are unibodies and they flex, squeak rattle and roll folks..
07-04-2012, 03:25 PM
#59
TECH Senior Member
Talk to any body who engineered or help designed the F-body platform and they will tell you the main draw back of using a uni-body design unlike our Corvette brothers, is chassis flex. Having a plethora of ex. GM F-body folks around me for 12 years they all say adding a 3-point SFC to tie the two (front - rear) unibody welds together. Will more than make the difference in any suspension upgrade as far as handling and chassis rigidity. Then add the Konis, Ground Control or Springs, Strano Sway bars, UMI Pan hard rod, UMI off Trans Torque Arm, LCA, Relocation Brackets etc....
My weld in 3-point SLP SFC did scrape the ground and they did prevent me from taking the WS6 through the neighborhood carwash but the minute I put them on, the body creaks went away. Subsequent suspension upgrades just worked and mattered that much more.
If nothing else the ride quality of your car will feel better. And No it's not because of suspension problems! F-bodies are unibodies and they flex, squeak rattle and roll folks..
My weld in 3-point SLP SFC did scrape the ground and they did prevent me from taking the WS6 through the neighborhood carwash but the minute I put them on, the body creaks went away. Subsequent suspension upgrades just worked and mattered that much more.
If nothing else the ride quality of your car will feel better. And No it's not because of suspension problems! F-bodies are unibodies and they flex, squeak rattle and roll folks..
I have 3 point SFC's that are welded in, and I noticed no difference with them (I autox my car, drive it on back roads, rough roads etc), this was after I fixed the real problem though, the stock shocks.
The factory shocks are causing the rough ride, rattles and looseness, and the floaty disconnected feel(too much compression dampening, not enough rebound). Pair that with a solid axle and PHB setup and you've got a car that can definitely feel funny at times, and be perceived as flex (the axle is moving in strange ways side to side while the front suspension is going on its way normally - front feels different than rear, especially with shitty shocks). Then you also have poor built quality, with cheap interior pieces that don't help any.
I replaced my factory shocks around 40,000 miles, so its not like they were "completely shot" - although being the stock decarbons they may as well have been, and these were the "better" Ws6 decarbons too. I just hated the floaty feel at highway speeds and nervous handling characteristics. After putting konis (4/3 SA's) on with nothing else, not only did it get rid of the floatyness and make the car ridiculously predictable, balanced and easy to drive at the limit, they dramatically improved ride quality, made the car feel WAY more solid and tied together and in turn got rid of the rattles by actually absorbing the impact rather than transmitting it to the cabin. The tires were not just slapping against the bumps anymore and then floating around feeling loose.
Creeks are usually from worn out bushings, swaybar D bushings or LCA bushings. I had a front end creek, replaced the D bushings and it was gone. My drivers side rear LCA's also had a creek, replaced that with an aftermarket LCA and it was gone as well.
If creeks went away from adding SFC's its likely because you torqued the rear LCA's down better when installing the SFC's.
There are guys that have removed their SFC's after adding proper shocks and noticed no difference with the SFC's gone as well.
Another great example is Sam Strano's 4th gen Camaro, the new owner added SFC's and the car actually was posting slower times (likely from the added weight), so he removed them.
07-05-2012, 03:27 PM
#60
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everyone i talk to says the stock shocks on our cars are pretty good...
i have 105k on my car and just added Spohn Chrome Moly STB and SFCs and the difference in ride quality and handling was instant, regardless of what anyone says the car feels better/tighter
i have 105k on my car and just added Spohn Chrome Moly STB and SFCs and the difference in ride quality and handling was instant, regardless of what anyone says the car feels better/tighter