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Wheel Hop Issues

[GY] "The wheel hop had been eradicated!!!!!!!!!!!!

I lowered the front upper control arm mounting points 2.5". This cured my wheel hop problem, I laid two fifty foot long black marks with no problem.
I am running sticky Yokohama AO32R's and could not get them to hop. I haven't got to check if the handling is affected because my test run was cut short by a leaking water pump and fuel line.
Here is a pic of the brackets I welded on to lower the pickup point.


- Click to enlarge -

The new brackets weld under the original brackets, so I could go back to the factory settings if I need to. The U shaped bracket welds only to the the original bracket.  The triangle shaped bracket welds to the original bracket and the 2x4 vertical frame rail. I think the triangle bracket would be taking all the load with the other bracket for just in case. Because the frame rails angle inward the triangle bracket is very close to the frame rail. I had use a half height nut and grind the frame rail for clearance. Also I had to cut access panels behind the seats to get to the bolts. Also I am running coilovers and no quad shocks.

We made my control arms. They are just like the ones in the "Mustang Performance 2" book.

- Click to enlarge -
I don't see why you couldn't do the same thing with other types of control arms.
Mine are stock length and I positioned the holes in the new brackets so the control arms wouldn't need to be adjusted."

[MDR] "I just finished a set of brackets that lowered my mount 2" it did stop all wheel hop. I am using FFR uppers and lowers. The brackets are made from 3/16"x2" flat stock from home depot two pieces follow curve of originals and then two pieces sandwich it all together with a bolt through original mount and then a bolt through new hole and control are this was then welded into place. I had to remove the control arm, anti bind cable and rubber brake hose to raise frame enough to keep from having to cut access holes and remove seats I had to get 4 longer bolts to accommodate extra 3/4".The rear does feel loose out of corners if I did them over they would have a sleeve between upper mount and a center brace to keep them from flexing. I plan to retro fit these ideas next."

[TB} "$185.00 no weld kit from Auto Weld that claims to stop wheel hop. On the other hand, Global West LOWER CAs also claim to stop wheel hop AND recommend AGAINST using custom or re-bushed uppers (like the FFRs and AutoWeld) with their lowers. Global West also claims that lowers with both ends solid bushed (FFRs) may bind. So... do we;

1. Use one or the other setup.
2. Use both
3. Do nothing

I'm starting to think just the uppers from Autoweld and all else stock will do the trick."

[1630} "heims in uppers: i am not sure that they are better than the four rubber bushings. i lost a lot of traction with the two heims, but picked up some transitional speed. probably a wash. since this car's weapon is torque, id be tempted to go back to stock bushings that this point just to see what the difference is.

the axle needs the softness of the bushing to move not only in twist but front and back for maximum traction.

this is my direct experience and also correlated with the opinion of the chief engineer at a leading mustang aftermarket suspension supplier.

stiffen up the rear arms and lose traction but gain predictability. lesser of two evils. i did change the lower arms without losing too much traction."

[F5] "As in all things there is the trade off as you exit turns but for you straight line guys with the big hp, any of the brackets that remount the upper control arm leading edge down or the rear side up will eliminate the hop. Try not to go the 2.5 inches, Jim has it down to about a one inch increase at the rear of the arm for 99% effectiveness without compromising handling in the turns."

[DB] "The Global west lowers are good ones Very expensive though. They will eliminate the twist bind, but I doubt in a serious way they will do anything with wheel hop on a FFR. My suspicion is they are saying it will on the mustang and that will not apply to the FFR.

I had called Global West about a year ago and asked if they were interested in testing or designing parts for the FFR rear suspension. The Guy was Rude... and had no interest in even talking about it.

I would recommend talking with the people at Maximum Motorsports. They seem to have a similar product and at least a willingness to check the FFR out.

You could also modify the FFR lowers to eliminate the role bind by cutting off the front Bushing seat and welding at Threaded Spud in the the end of the tube to accept a Heim Joint. I did this on a set of BBK lowers a couple years ago. Seemed to work well."

[RB] "Search around for my other post on the autoweld install as YES!!! It does work VERY well!!! I put a few more details there and also a number of others added their reactions to installing the Autoweld parts too!"


Question: [1352] "When accelerating straight at a rate causing the rear wheels to lose traction the rear end begins to "hop" and a visual inspection of the posi-traction marks on the street (race track of course) indicates an intermittent tire contact with the ground which oscillates between tires. The FFR set up is a 3.73 gear, FFR Upper and lower, No sway bar, stock quad shocks, 275-50-15 Nitto Drag radials @ 26 psi, 4.25 inches frame to ground...My 88 5.0 doesn't do this and after measuring the Upper and Lower control arm mounting points realized the FFR Cobra Kit car changed the mounting geometry, which introduces a new thrust force on the axle which may be responsible for the hop. A quick guesstimate would be to lower the mounting point of the upper control arms on the kit car frame towards the ground 2 inches. Has anyone tried this or have another solution? FFR indicates lowering it 1.5" may be satisfactory?

Answers and Comments:

[AC] "You are in the right spot. When the car is at the 4.5" ride height, the upper frame control arm mounting hole should be 1" lower than the axle housing control arm hole."

[yg] "I have lowered the upper frame mount 2.5" and it fixed the wheelhop."

[RO] "Slicks. The altered control arm location also eliminated the wheelies."


[yo] "I lowered the upper control arm mounting point on the frame 2.5"
This completely eliminated the wheelhop on my car. I have 275 Yokohama A032R's and rear coilovers, and no quad shocks."

[1775] "All the time we have all spent anguishing over wheel hop and your post did seem to somewhat drift off ! But I am very excited about your 50' long results ! I have removed and returned my Jegs brackets which never saw mileage. I have measured my front upper control arm mounts. I am figuring I can purchase 8 small pieces of 3/16" steel.
Two would measure 2 1/2" x 4".
Two would measure 3 3/4 X 4"
I should then grind or shape them these 4 pieces to conform to the shape of the existing mount bottoms...as extensions.
I figured once they are welded on with a bead I could reinforce them with the other 4 small plates which would be welded outside, overlapping the original mounts and new extensions. Then drill new mount holes 2.5" lower than original. Does that sound like the plan ?"

[yo] "Sounds like you are on track.
I drilled the new so that they would not affect the pinion angle.
So they are not directly below the original holes.
I propped up the rear end and used the control arms to mark for the new holes"


Question: [1b] "I have read a lot about the wheel hop and just don't know if I want to make it a permanent change. I was afraid what it might do to the pinion angle and what it would wear out. Any help?"

Comment:

[1z] "Wheel hop it seems has no solution that works for everyone. The easiest solution seems to be lowering the upper control arm mounting hole location about 2 inches. This can be done quite easily by adding a flat plate to each mount tab with holes for the upper arm to attach through. Picture the same shaped tab longer with the mounting hole 2 inches lower."


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