OldeSkool

Yes it did take a few hours and I did go through a package of cut-off wheels

BUT the car's sheet metal is completely unharmed.

If I had one of those flexible drive attachments it probably would have gone even faster.

So for those 2 of you out there who are interested in removing your SFC's without using something as agressive as a grinder or a plasma cutter...

A Dremel a flexible drive attachment and a package of cut-off wheels will get them off nicely.

OldeSkool

Oh also. Why I took them off...

I had read at least once on here that SFC's are a bandaid fix for chassis sloppiness. That if you put SFC's on a car with poor shocks, you'll feel an improvement in ride.

But when I put Konis on and didnt feel like they were living up to their reputation for smooth ride quality, I suspected that my SFC's were transmitting noise and harshness through the car.

So I took them off thinking that now that I have good shocks, I'd have a better ride quality without SFC's

I was right. Much quiter. Much smoother. The girlfriend doesnt mind riding it the car any more. And my rearview mirror doesn't move when I go over bumps.

Wish I had just gotten good shocks to begin with

Specialized

iTrader: (15)

Interesting test/inference. I wonder if this is true for all cars?

z28bryan

iTrader: (7)

Wow interesting info. And I thought it was to make yourself SCCA street prepared legal, lol

gun5l1ng3r

I don't know if this is true, but I also have Koni's and 3 pt Weld in SFC (RKsport I think) and what I believe to be horrible ride quality(17 inch rims, maybe?).

Every little freeway expansion gap and abrupt bump is my worst enemy.

I guess having the SFC welded close to the rear LCA mounts might transmit vibrations to the front moutning point, close to the cabin where vibrations can be felt.

I have often noted that when the rear end goes over big bumps that it feels like the car is moving both up and down and left to right(no lateral left or right for the body in sudden bumps) and maybe the SFC's are trasmitting some of the rear end movement into the cabin, making it feel worse.

I don't know if I will remove mine just yet. I have been doing some more reading regarding chassis rigidity and the SFC's only strengthen the car on one horizontal plane, and that plane happens to be the worst one for keeping the car rigid.

I would love to just gut the interior of my car and build a chassis sitffening cage, but school and money keep my dreams from reality

OldeSkool

Good guess.

Maybe one day, but I already have more hobbies than I can afford.

OldeSkool

I've also got 17's - for what its worth

borninatransam

iTrader: (4)

so what happens when you launch and get a bunch of flex? ive seen cars flex so much you can stick your pinky finger in between the window and the t-top. if youre not racing i guess it doesnt matter though.

Sharpe

iTrader: (7)

I know from everything I've read on here in the four or five years I've been here, SFC are not for me. Added weight; no benefit (other than what I think are imagined). There are tons of threads fighting about this. Some say they benefit the F-Body, others say they dont. The one's whose opinion I respect more say they don't. Not going on my car.

SMOKY

iTrader: (4)

The comfort you are feeling is the chassis flexing. This allows for a smother ride quality because your suspension is not doing its designed job, the chassis is absorbing the harshness of the road. The correct way would have been to find a spring and shock package that was as soft as you liked or just buy a lincoln town car if you wanted a smooth ride. These are considered sports cars sorry to inform you on that.

MrDude_1

iTrader: (4)

bingo.

gun5l1ng3r

I understand that, but I have ridden in other Camaros (a 2002 with eibach sportlines and KYB's and ZO6 replicas 17" front and 18" rear) and it felt a little better. But it did only have about 50K miles on it.

I have ~130K on mine and I figure that my LCA bolts need to be checked as well as my shock bolts...

The rear rides like a pickup if I don't have a full tank of gas or someone riding in the back. I do have the spare and jack laying in the trunk well. From my understanding, rebound adjustment can't affect how the shock reacts to sudden bumps, that it can only adjust how quickly the shock extends on dips(after the bump). I don't know how the rear Koni SA settings could affect ride quality unless the springs start to "spring jack", not allowing full spring extension before the next bump.

I guess my whole rear suspension feels like there is a little slop everywhere which adds up to a rough ride in the back.


EDIT: Stock 130K mi springs

OldeSkool

Thanks BUT

Theres a difference between a nice firm sports car ride and a car that rides like a bucket of loose nuts and bolts. Sorry to inform you of that.

And if you think welding a 15 pound bar that connects only the LCA location to an insignificant area of sheet metal at the front of the car actually does anything substantial, you might reconsider.

Nobody actually makes SUBFRAME CONNECTORS for these cars!! To actually be a subframe connector it would have to connect to BOTH subframes. The front end of all the F-body SFC's I've seen attaches to an area of the car about 15 inches away from the front subframe. You might as well call these things "Nothing Connectors"

And this stuff about the suspension not doing its job because the chassis is flexing, that'd be one thing if the chassis actually WERE flexing under normal driving over reasonable bumps. But the car would have to be made out of rubber in order for a small bump to cause a car to flex to a point that the suspension wouldn't do its job. I've heard your argument before, usually from somebody trying to sell something. Chassis flex limiting suspension performance only really happens when the chassis is really weak (which it really isnt on late model F-bodys) AND when undergoing substantial loads as in road racing or autocrossing. And I've heard from several winning road racers and a-x'ers that SFC's don't make any difference for them. So I'm sorry you've bought into marketing misinformation.

Anyway, I didn't start this thread to start another argument. There are a half dozen SFC arguments going on in this forum at any given moment and they're all a colossal waste of time because noobs fall into the trap (as I was once a noob and as I once fell into the same trap) and then they have to learn for themselves (as I learned for myself) that SFC's are a waste of time and money.

But if welding Sub-Nothing Connectors on your car makes you happy, do it. Just don't give me crap about taking mine off when all I was trying to do in the first place was tell you how and why I did it.

Ironhead

I can't believe you got those SFCs out with a Dremel. I had to use a heavy duty Sawzall, a pack of heavy duty blades AND and an angle grinder. My GW connectors were really in there.

It was for me and a few others I know of.


Well for this year anyway. It looks like they're going to be legal for next year.

Z ROADSTER

Hear ! Hear ! Now this is my new favorite answer. Finally, someone whose been there done that tells the truth. Hell , let em learn the hard way like we did !

soulless

iTrader: (3)

Not to but have you thought about a PHB?

SMOKY

iTrader: (4)

All i have to say is the design of the f-body hasnt changed much from 3rd to 4th gens. Now go outside find a nice hardtop 3rd gen that has a "stiff" factory chassis and look at the rear corner of the drivers window on the roof. If the car has normal milage the small bumps turn into a tear in the sheet metal. Now go look at a 3rd gen with subframe connectors if they did it at an earlier stage thiers no rip. Hmm I wonder if that means the chassis is flexing over those little bumps. The world may never know in the eyes of the ignorant to facts.
Ps I'm done talking to the uninformed.

RevGTO

iTrader: (12)

Olde Skool, I'm shocked you got them off with a Dremel. Did you have good, thick, welds? I put mine on due to creases in the quarter panels from launching. I didn't anticipate the horrible effect they would have on ride.

A week later, I wanted them off, but everyone told me "you'll never cut through those welds with a cut-off wheel." My buddy had laid down some really good welds. So I got some Bilstein shocks and have gotten used to them. They're great for jacking up the car; otherwise, I'd just as soon be rid of them.

Krab

iTrader: (28)

Interesting thread.

subtlez28

iTrader: (15)

I had SLP bolt ons and took them off. Luckily 4 me I had bolt ons. And I'm one of the ones who argue that SFCs are not all they are thaught of. Above is a pretty articulate way to say what I think. I'm glad mine are off.

Glad the dremel worked 4 you OldeSkool!

Do you still have stock springs? Just wondering because of the comment about 17s ruining ride quality(gun5l1ng3r). I thaught I just had to live w that. But then I put on Strano's springs. Now it rides "like a sports car'. Firm but not harsh over expansion joints and such. I know we discussed this Oldeskool, but I figured it was relavant to the thread, 4 others. And I was wondering if you pulled the trigger on some springs?