On Sunday I installed an Edelbrock Torque Arm, and Prothane poly trans mount (along with a Thunder Racing ported TB and BMR driveshaft loop), and I must say both those items make a big difference in the car feeling more 'solid' on acceleration. Hard to describe, but the best way to explain it is the car doesn't have as much lateral 'flex' as before when punching it... feels a ton better.

Also, the stock torque arm bushing was all chewed up, which to my best guess is like that because of lots of hard launches. So this makes at least a bushing replacement a must-do mod, and while you're taking the bushing off, you might as well do the whole torque arm.

And while I can hear more exhaust/road noise through the poly trans mount, I'm not getting much if any increase in vibration. I recommend both these mods...

Tips for the install:

1. Make use of a dremel to cut the rivet heads off the old torque arm bushing & bracket. I couldn't imagine doing this with anything else... also if you can't punch the rivets out after chopping the heads, a good drill with titanium tips chews the rest of the rivet right out of the hole. It is also much, much easier to do this with the bracket off the car, so definitely take it off.

2. If you have a choice of bushings, go with Energy Suspension... that way you don't have to mess with backing plates on the bushing ever again. Also, the Energy Suspension bushing is one solid piece, unlike the Prothane or stocker, which is two pieces.

3. Taking off the transmission support makes things so much easier when it comes to taking the torque arm bushing bracket off the car. And since you'll expose the tranny mount when taking the support off, you might as well change that mount while you're there, which is why I went with the Prothane mount.

4. Last but probably most important, keep the rear suspended with a jack or jackstands at all times when pulling off the torque arm! I forgot about this when I moved the jack and the rear end rotated on me... and it was a major PITA to get it back to center again. So if you've gotta move the jack, remember to support it with an extra set of jackstands!

Overall, doing all these mods took about 4 hours (with a 1 hour lunch break thrown in and lots of BSing). After doing it the first timeI could probably do all these mods in less than half that time working straight through.

Here are a couple of pics:

Edelbrock Torque Arm compared to stock piece:



Prothane Poly Transmission Mount Installed:

 

Nice write up. Glad to hear your install went pretty smooth.

Where did you get the torque arm, and how much did it cost you? I am considering this mod myself.

 

I actually got both the torque arm and poly trans mount for $198 shipped from Summit Racing. Best price I could find on those things...

FYI, just the torque arm was $178 shipped through Summit Racing, and the next best price I could find for this was at Pace Parts, and that was $193 shipped to my area code, again for just the torque arm.

I definitely recommend this mod, especially if you go to the track and have any kind of traction issues... also, I'm pretty sure my stock rubber torque arm bushing was all chewed up because of multiple hard launches at the track. And my car only has 18,500 miles and the torque arm bushing looked pretty bad.

 

Does the edlebrock include a TA bushing with it?

I will most likely be adding the edlebrock in a few weeks myself.

 

Yep, the Edelbrock Torque Arm comes with an Energy Suspension bushing... great deal for the price, for sure!

 

That is why it took 4 hours

BTW, good write up

 

Thanks... and yes that's one of the reasons it took 4 hours.

That and dremel/drilling the rivets also slowed things down a bit... those two things were the slowest parts of the install. Everything else went pretty quick.

 

Just curious; why is the torque arm so much cheaper than the BMR and Spohn versions?

 

Another question for you, how much more does the edelbrock TA weigh compared to the stocker?

Thanks

 

BMR and Spohn both have adjustable pinion angles... Edelbrock is non-adjustable. You only need the adjustable ones if you have lowered your car...

 

It's actually quite a bit lighter than the stock torque arm... don't have exact weights, but I know when I picked them both up, the Edelbrock was much sturdier AND lighter.

 

what is the part number for the tranny mount from summit?
PTP-7-1604-BL?? no specific listing for F-body. is that mount used for all GM cars?

 

also, the picture of the tranny mount you posted has a bolt coming out of the mount, but in the pic from summit, it looks like that bolt isn't there, and it looks like the energy suspension mount

 

The bolt in the tranny mount was a seperate piece that came in the package with the mount... it was screwed in once the mount was bolted on.

It is definitely a Prothane mount... the torque arm mount I have is an Energy Suspension mount, which I like better than the Prothane because it is one piece with no backing plates.

 

u will need an adjustable if car is lowered

 

That would be it... that particular mount fits most GMs I believe.

 

That tranny mount made mine sound like some sort of coffee grinding device!!! Took it off that night. Went to a 1le and it makes the shifter vibrate and a gross noise on hard shifts. Not to mention IT caused my KR to retard 4 degrees. I'm going back to a stock mount. AT least yours is ok.

 

redlinez, i use a poly tranny mount. it makes no add'l noise or vibration. the 1LE mount is only slightly better than a stock mount, but i still think its junk. the stock mount is junk too. you have some other problem going on in there.

 

also redlinez, which brand mount did you use? if you used energy suspension, you do not use the plate that comes with it, and you have to shave down the two "nubs" on the side opposite the side with the plate. if you don't do those things, you will get vibration and noise.

 

I didnt Eldebroke made a torque arm, seems like a good price too. I will have to look into it a little. Seems like everone that has used it so far has had good luck. Like what was mentioned earlier, you need the adjustment for a lowered car though.