Torque Boxes

Topic: Torque Boxes (Read 5297 times) previous topic - next topic

Torque Boxes

April 26, 2007, 04:43:12 AM

Has anyone here installed Battle Box type reinforcements? Last weekend I put a set in my Bird. Bought them on ebay from Laurel Mountain and they are for the Mustang chassis. There is a slight difference in the chassis contour and the placement of the LCA mounting at the frame. The pics will show that I drilled a new hole 1-5/8" higher on the frame to match the reinforcement.

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Reply #1 – April 26, 2007, 05:06:45 AM

Here's a few of the upper box. You may be thinking "That idiot put them in backwards". The inside contour of the upper box must be different in the Stang because this is the way they fit. They are only bolted in.

I plan on launching the car with sticky tires and a T5 and wanted to stiffen these things up before trying to rip them out. The LCA's are MM's and the UCA's are CHE. I hope this will help in getting some consistent respectable 60' times.

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Reply #2 – April 26, 2007, 07:54:48 AM

Use the lower battleboxes on my bird(just bolted in) and i had the same problem with the lca bolt location however i redrilled the battlebox not the frame.

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Reply #3 – April 26, 2007, 10:10:02 AM

Quote from: dominator;142905

Use the lower battleboxes on my bird(just bolted in) and i had the same problem with the lca bolt location however i redrilled the battlebox not the frame.

Thats what I'de have done too, because now your suspension geometry is going to be all f**ked up. Should be intresting to see if it will hook now though.

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Reply #4 – April 26, 2007, 10:28:43 AM

1-5/8" higher?!?

I'm going to have to check the "Strongly Disagree" box on that one.

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Reply #5 – April 26, 2007, 10:45:32 AM

I bought some of those, I might get them installed someday....didn't realize they fit that differently though.

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Reply #6 – April 26, 2007, 03:34:59 PM

Looks just like mine. I bleleive the battle bixes were re-drilled , just likeDominators. If it dries out around here, I'll get some pics up. Mine were completely welded in place too, no bolts.

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Reply #7 – April 26, 2007, 06:19:36 PM

The lowers don't even look like they reach the original mounting hole.

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Reply #8 – April 26, 2007, 08:35:52 PM

They do on mine just enough to cover over the existing lca mounting hole with a bit on the other side.
Don't know why those are so short.

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Reply #9 – April 26, 2007, 10:03:43 PM

EDIT- sorry, forgot you already know everything

Bob Myers

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Reply #10 – April 27, 2007, 04:31:29 AM

Quote from: 1WLD BRD;142925

Thats what I'de have done too, because now your suspension geometry is going to be all f**ked up. Should be intresting to see if it will hook now though.

I'm thinking the geometry is very similar to having SSM lowers. When I get it down on level ground I'll take some measurements and plug em into the suspension calculator and see how bad it is. If it's in an acceptable range I'll adjust ride height (cut stock springs) to where it sits nice. The good thing is that it can be moved back to the stock hole easily if it is f**ked up.

I put the subframe connectors in last year. Unfortunately I didn't take any pics of the install. I used a cheap set for a Mustang that had a slight offset down towards the rear. They slid into the front rail about 8" and I opened the floor to weld them from the inside. The offset gave about 1/2" clearance for the fuel lines to cross in the stock location and they are welded to the bottom of the rear frame.

Torque Boxes

Reply #11 – April 28, 2007, 10:32:55 PM

Here are the lower reinfrocemnts after I lenghten them for my car.

I fell that by moving the lwr mount point up will make it hit the tires harder, because the instant center is moved up to high and to the rear of the car.

The instant center should be about were the shifter is and about the height of a stock AOD shifter.

***********
Here is how I learned to think about launching a car. Imagine pushing on a refrigerator on a tile floor. Your feet are representing the tires on your car. The Center of Gravity (CG) of the refrigerator is imagined to be in the very MIDDLE on one of the shelves. If you were to push on the refrigerator somewhere above the CG then you will probably push it over (the refrigerator won't move) and you won't feel much pressure on your feet. Now, if you push on the refrigerator 2" from the ground, you will slip on the ground (not getting traction) and the refrigerator won't move. If you push on one side of it then it will turn and not go straight.
But somewhere in between the CG and the ground will be the "sweet spot" where you will get the most traction and the refrigerator will move the easiest. When changing the suspension, what you are looking for is the Least amount of power to move the car the quickest. This is Efficiency.

Definitions:

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Reply #12 – April 29, 2007, 02:09:24 PM

Exactly! Using my shade tree knowledge :hick: and the IC calculator at HARDCORE tells me to split the difference. I'm going to redrill at 3/4" above stock. The IC length should be @ 80" and somewhat high, but lowering the car will bring it down and shorten the IC length. The anti-squat should be @ 107 and increase very slightly as the car is lowered.

If this works out as planned it should yield some good 60's. If not it's back to the drawing board.
Any thoughts?

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Reply #13 – April 29, 2007, 08:20:34 PM

You will need a drag type strut up frt with like a 90/10 to help hold the frt end up, as to keep from unloading the tire after the 60 ft mark.

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Reply #14 – April 29, 2007, 09:07:53 PM

Yes, 1-5/8" is WAAAYYY too much. 3/4" is pretty good. I've usually done it at the axle end however.