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1998 trans am A4. My torque arm chewed through its bushing apparently. It can move up and down by hand when the car is on a lift. When decelerating the car shakes and there's a knocking noise coming from under the car. Going into neutral makes it stop. I'm doing a poly trans mount because that's probably bad too, but I definitely need a torque arm bushing. I could throw a poly bushing on this stock arm for $20 or so... But since I'll need a new torque arm eventually anyway, I was thinking about buying one sooner than later. Question is which one should I get?
This car is my daily and I don't beat on it too hard. It's a street car that I'll eventually take to the track, but for now it's just a street car. It has TSP long tubes 1 7/8" and O/R Y. I assume I'd need a torque arm made for long tubes... thing is, I've heard these sit about 2 inches lower than the long tubes. My car is lowered on Strano springs and I already hit my Y-pipe on most speed bumps when I have the unfortunate inability to avoid one every now and then, so getting one of these would make me scared of clearance issues and damaging things. But I also don't want to buy the non-LT version and end up having a PITA installing or having it be impossible. So I'm asking for experiences of people who have been in my situation. I DEFINITELY want one that's relocated as to help protect my trans when I finally get around to going to the track. I want to do things right and protect the car from breaking things as best as I can.
Also... any Thanksgiving/Black Friday sales going on? Torque arms are VERY expensive. (x.x)
Take a look at our torque arm relocation kits,You should have no issues with your exhaust or the fact you have strano lowering springs.
I'll let others on here that run our set up tell you how nice it is.
If it's your everyday driver i would stay away from the short tunnel mounted style for the fact they create a significant amount more noise and they don't rotate when cornering like the long style do. http://umiperformance.com/catalog/in...ex&cPath=7_115
This set-up replaces your transmission cross member with a new stronger set-up with a built in torque arm mount. Each relocation kit is designed to fit a specific transmission and will work with virtually any stock style aftermarket torque arm as well as the factory torque arm.
Our cross member is designed to tuck tight against the vehicle chassis and will not effect vehicle ground clearance.
If you need any info or pricing feel free to contact us here at the shop.
We will be having our annual black friday sale it will start the wednesday before thanksgiving.
You could run either our long arm or our short arm on your car without issues with the long tubes we sell a ton of these setups for applications like yours. Our short arms comes with its own cross member that has the d/s loop on it and our long arm uses our own transmission cross member. If you have any questions please feel free to call us. And yes we will be doing a black Friday sale.
Last edited by MidwestChassis; Nov 11, 2015 at 08:23 AM.
Thanks guys, can't wait for those sales... =) I think I'll go with the shorter one... my car isn't autocrossing or anything crazy and I don't mind a little more noise and vibration. Do it right or do it twice...
Ive had just about every combination of torque arm and bushing on my car. Quickly my thoughts are, get it off the trans tail for strength, you dont wanna bust tailshafts or trans mounts. Then, when you do that, you're gonna hear everything that happens to the rear end, gear noise, bumps, etc. It doesnt matter if the arm is short or long yours gonna hear and feel it all. On the long arm with the relocation, its a pain to get to the adjustment bolts, which generally need to be removed to remove the torque arm bc they are up in the tunnel. So, my vote, and what I'm currently running is a short arm. Much easier adjustment AND easier removal.
I will also throw our BMR tunnel mounted torque arm (TA012) in the mix since that is kind of the direction you are leaning towards. This torque arm is 100% bolt-in so it is an easy install that can be done with regular hand tools. It utilizes the same torque arm bushing that our full length torque arms do so it is one of the quieter tunnel mounted torque arms on the market. The crossmember runs above the exhaust so there is very minimal ground clearance loss which is going to be a big deal for you since you have lowering springs on the car. It also comes with an integrated driveshaft loop to make the car legal at the track and to keep everything safe if you were to have a u-joint/driveshaft failure.
Here is a link to the BMR tunnel mounted torque arms for headers off of our website:
That's the one I'm looking at. 01ssreda4, thanks for your input. I'm a simple man, I don't want to be adjusting things all day or once a week. I like bolt-on and go.
How's the compatibility with these on rear ends? I have a 10-bolt but I'm eventually getting a 12-bolt. 9 inch is overkill for my uses so I'll probably try to find a used 12-bolt... curious if this product is compatible with any or all 12-bolts.
I started with a bmr long arm, then added their relo crossmember, then now run a midwest short torque arm. Some say the short arm negatively effects handling and braking, I for one never noticed. I also didn't notice drag shocks/springs, front skinnies, no front sway bar etc. Why? Cause I dont drive my car like a maniac....im generally conservative unless it's a straightline blast then I back down to the speed limit. Dare I say some go fast mods actually make the car ride a little better. In the end though a chassis mount torque arm will give you some cabin noise coming through the floor but once youve adjusted to that it's no big deal. It's so nice knowing you can hammer on it and wont bust your trans tail or trans mount.
Question: my exhaust is tucked up pretty close to the frame. How will I know if these crossmembers will fit over top the Y-pipe or if I should try to get one that goes under the Y-pipe?
I can't speak for other companies but with our cross members if you are using stock exhaust, kooks or any other exhaust that tucks up nice you can use our straight cross member.
Our drop down cross member is manufactured to clear virtually all aftermarket header/y-pipe set-ups on the market. It will also clear most merge collectors such as QTP and TSP y-pipes.It does reduce ground clearance, if vehicle has a tighter fitting y-pipe set up you can usually use the straight cross member.
So just to be safe, I should get something that goes under the Y-pipe... I'd rather have a clean install and my parts work and have clearance than to have ground clearance. When I'm ordering I'll be sure to ask specifically about this. So UMI, does this package come with the crossmember that goes under or is this the straight one? I have a hard time telling them apart just by looking and this is the one I was looking to price up come sale time.
So just to be safe, I should get something that goes under the Y-pipe... I'd rather have a clean install and my parts work and have clearance than to have ground clearance. When I'm ordering I'll be sure to ask specifically about this. So UMI, does this package come with the crossmember that goes under or is this the straight one? I have a hard time telling them apart just by looking and this is the one I was looking to price up come sale time.
01ssreda4, for the new setup does the exhaust go in the middle between the beams and below the DS loop? I'm having trouble differentiating the types of crossmembers by looking at them. Some go above the exhaust, some go below, and I can't tell which does which.
01ssreda4, for the new setup does the exhaust go in the middle between the beams and below the DS loop? I'm having trouble differentiating the types of crossmembers by looking at them. Some go above the exhaust, some go below, and I can't tell which does which.
01ssreda4, for the new setup does the exhaust go in the middle between the beams and below the DS loop? I'm having trouble differentiating the types of crossmembers by looking at them. Some go above the exhaust, some go below, and I can't tell which does which.
Quick break down, clearly there is 100's of types of exhaust sytems and configurations but this will give you a good idea on which cross member will work for you. We do have a what we call a turbo crossmember for those running front exit exhaust.
Thanks for your help everyone. Now I have to ask, where can one go for the best installation guide for a short arm that is relocated? I have a mechanic friend helping me but he isn't familiar with f bodies and this is my first time doing this, so I need a good guide to installing it and setting the pinion angle and choosing the right bolt hole for the adjustable part.
Thanks for your help everyone. Now I have to ask, where can one go for the best installation guide for a short arm that is relocated? I have a mechanic friend helping me but he isn't familiar with f bodies and this is my first time doing this, so I need a good guide to installing it and setting the pinion angle and choosing the right bolt hole for the adjustable part.
You will use the outer holes on the bracket that attaches to the rear end and the pivot link will be in the third hole up. Set your pinion angle to -1.5 to -2. When setting pinion angle do not use the mounting brackets or the arm itself to measure from, use the yoke itself. I use a long socket to reach down far enough to set my gauge on.
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Torque Arm/Long Tubes Question 
