BLUE99T/A

iTrader: (2)

Alright, my question may be a dumb one, but, How do I make my T/A handle better? I've spent the past year and a half makin it faster, learned every way possible to get it to go fast in a straight line but now I wanna turn. somebody help me out. Thanks.

felton316

What kind of driving are you planning on doing? AX, RR, or just street driving? Shocks, sway bars, and springs make a helluva difference.

BOOTYTA

Strut tower brace, sub frame connectors, shocks, springs, wider and stickier tires on all four corners. That is a good start.

Cal

iTrader: (1)

Koni single adjustable shocks. That is the one thing that will make the most difference, closely followed by good tires. Then sway bars and springs. A little known fact is that strut tower braces are as useless as **** on a boar hog for a 4th gen. If you hang your wet shop rags on it, the motor will provide heat to dry them, rofl.

BOOTYTA

How did you come to that conclusion about the STB. I autocross and have tried with and without and noticed a big difference with it on. On the streets it makes a difference.

Cal

iTrader: (1)

I learned about it from Sam Strano, probably the best fbody AX driver in the world.

But we don't have to take his word for it. Take a close look at how the front suspension is designed. The front wheels are attached to almost the bottom end of the spindles. Most of the cornering force goes through the lower control arms and into the K-member. Very little force is absorbed into the upper control arms with that long, skinny spindle barely pushing sideways on them. Further, if you take the upper control arms off the car, you will see that they are rather small and weak, not even designed to take cornering loads.

Strut tower braces work on cars with real struts, like Mustangs and 3rd gen fbodies. For 4th owners, it's only a way to make their wallet lighter and car heavier.

Do what you want, but I'll see ya on the track, and my car's gonna be lighter!

BLUE99T/A

iTrader: (2)

I'm just lookin for better handling for street use. It's all stock and it's got 80k miles. It just feels spongy on turns and rides rough as hell on these crappy new orleans streets.

BLUE99T/A

iTrader: (2)

Oh yeah, the plastic on my dash and doors are cracking and I know it's from the roads because I watched it happen.

Cal

iTrader: (1)

Get some SLP sub frame connectors. That will keep your car from flexing on the rough roads and cracking the plastic.

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

You have to think of the suspension as a whole. All the parts work together, so you have to plan things out in advance to make sure they will work nicely together. Just like matching a cam to the stall speed to the rear gear ratio. If everything works together, performance will be optimized. If one poorly choosen part is in the mix, it will not perforn at it's peak.

Some Bilstein shocks will smooth out the ride. On stock springs they will give you a cadillac ride. But who want's that, right? They will also help control the floaty body motions that the stock shocks can't control. So shocks will make the biggest changes, but don't get some cheap, crappy ones. Stick with Bilstein or the Koni SA's.
Stiffer springs will up the performance level again. The car will still ride better than the original suspension, but with less nose dive and better turn in.
Next, I would have to say a bigger front bar, like a solid 35mm and a performance alignment. Adding some negative camber to the front tires will help them stick in corners.

There is a lot more involved, like ride height and other things that need to be worked out in advance. It can cost some big money, so set up a budget to make sure you can cover all the stuff you will need.

Also, stickier front tires to go with your drag radials can make a big difference in braking and cornering. But you know that, right?