Looking for some hands on thoughts on a torque arm being short like mounted under the rear of the door or a long one like spohn's th400 set-up for a 12 bolt, which would be more violent a short or long one. just curious. JR.

 

Shorter is supposed to be better because it reacts quicker. That being said, short torque arms are only good to a certain point, then a long one becomes more beneficial. I'm not sure what that point is exactly, but if I were running more than 400-500ish horses, I would go with the Spohn crossmember mounted with the spherical rod end.

 

well i running a n/a 440" sbc making 830hp, i have spohns now, but have susp. from Leo Barnaby at Neverlift Racecraft in NJ. which is all chromoly and alot lighter than spohns, my car wheelstands to the sky thats why i'm asking questions. Thanks. JR.

 

440"sbc,n/a 23* headed,stock style susp., 10.5 tires.

 

You'd probably do better with a short one.

Assuming of course, that you can make a place to hook it to, that's more substantial than the floor plan (*cough* Jegster *cough* which still works pretty good for people with MUCH smaller motors and less torque)

The ideal location, FWIW, is such that it places the instant center along a line drawn between the center of the rear tire contact patches and the center of gravity. For estimation purposes, pretend that the CG is at the shifter **** (it won't be far from there). "Ideal" is a pretty big word, but once you get it to where you think that is, it's usually not too tough to find the "real" "ideal" point. I think if you draw that line, you'll find that the "ideal" location for the TA mount would be somewhere about at the front of the back seat. Tweeek it from there for how hard you want to hit your tires.

 

sofa man.... u just keep bringin me the bad news! i got a jegster tq arm waiting to go in with my HSR 383, i should be in the range of 450-500hp n/a. lol now i gotta worry about that too!!!! still its gotta be better than a trans end mounted tq arm.

hey JR NEWMAN!!! where u get those support bars that are in the engine bay around the strut towers? i want them!, they look great and im sure then increase the rigidy of the front end! doesnt seem like it would be part of a cage... the bars too off to the side and the angles off... looks like u have it welded to the firewall, the strut tower and then the base of the tower by the batt box. and so good to hear from a fellow NJ'in, good lookin motor at 830hp

 

WELL WE MADE THEM AND THEY ARE WELDED TO THE CAGE UNDER THE DASH THERES A BAR. WE HADE SOMEONE BEND THE BARS FOR US TOOK A LOT OF TIME AND THEY DON'T FIT MY FRIENDS CAR SO MAKE THEM FOR EVERY CAR WE DO. WE JUST MADE MOTOR PLATE BRACKETS THAT OFF THE SIDE OF THE STRUT TOWER.THEN ON MY CAR I'M GONNA WELD ON THEM BARS THAT GO AROUND THE STRUT TOWER DOWN TO THE MOTOR PLATE AND IN THE FRONT HORNS THAT HOLD THE BUMPER SUPPORTS ON I CUT THEM OFF JUST ENOUGH TO WELD A ROLL BAR TUBING TO TIE THEM TOGETHER. AND OTHER QUESTIONS FEEL FREE TO ASK, IF YOU OR ANYONE ELSE NEEDS SMALL WORK DONE PM ME. I'M IN PA. EASTON.

 

PICTURES OF MY TORQUE ARM & REAR.AND I HAVE WELDED IN FRAME CONNECTORS, WHICH THE CAGE IN SPOTS ARE WELDED TOO.

 

That is INCRECIBLY hard to read, in all-caps like that.... besides being rude, from making it look like you are trying to SCREAM at us for EMPHASIS. I'll look at the pics though...

 

didn't see that caps. were on soory not yelling.

 

those arent the bars i was talking about... it was the bar that was in the pic all my itself wit the motor in it. the bars that are silver that wrap around the strut tower... i think u where talking about them and how they weld into the cage thats inside the cab.... how much would those bars cost for a pair? im sure they would stiffen up the from end even without a cage installed. i like them for the looks and somehow i would work that into a strut tower brace im going ot make for my HSR.

would these offer any performance even if they dont attach to a cage? etc, i kno the cage would be better if it was connected but i like the look lol... yea man the caps killed my eyes and im only 23 lol

 

yes these bars around each strut tower, we made them for my car but they don't fit my friends 82' firebird,if you were to get them made welding them to the roll cage inside the car under the dash is the best way to go,and it did make it stiff.

 

yea those are the bars... i understand u made them for your car but i was wondering if they make any diff in the stiffness even if you dont have a cage to attach them too? and maybe find a way to incorporate a strut tower brace into it.

and could u bend me a pair and i could make them fit? ive done fabrication myself so i could find a way to get em to fit? how much did something like that cost u?

 

Is the front of the torque arm setup to allow it to slide in and out? If not it'll bind and cause all kinds of funky problems.

 

whos hedders are those? i like em

 

looks like stahl pattern race headers.

 

yes its slides in and out when the susp. goes up and down.
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Lemon headers 2" w/ 4" collector.

 

well i had them done a long time ago i'd have to find them fabbed up ones then buy bar, then find someone to bend them up and the guy who did them for me is no longer around. i forget what it cost me, wasn't cheap, try doing the bar like in the picture on the frame horns up front. without a cage theres no where to weld the bars too, if to the cage yes alot stiffer helped to keep the car from twisting.

 

so i could find sumone to bend them if i get the tubing i guess. it looks mandrel bent... wats the diameter of the tubing? i see how its welded to the strut tower and then theres a bracket thats welded tho the bottom of the strut tower. and the bar going across.... isnt that the same idea as the wonder bar? i have one of those and i loved how it tightened up the front end. cant u weld a bracket like u did at the bottom of the strut tower and just weld it to the firewall? or brace it somehow? i kno the firewall is thin metal and not the strongest. looks frigin mean tho man lol

 

1 -5/8" tubing is fine find a shop that does rollbars, cages or complete chassis.

 

The jegster arm is shorter, thus more " violent". I know of only one really fast car running it, and he just went 4.92@152 in the 1/8(on radials I might add)but it is much more finicky than guys with longer arms and he has spent a lot of time running/tuning it. At your power level, I would think you would run into the same issues. The shorter arm reacts faster at the "hit" thus requires tighter shock valving for more power. At a point, you end up with the shocks so tight for the launch that it's hard to keep it hooked through gear changes.

I see your arm has a height adjustment, have you experimented with it any? Lowering it down would lessen its leverage to lift the front end. It looks as though your slider is the pipe with the rod-end slid back into the tq arm itself, thus metal-to-metal. Without a bushing of some sort, it may not slide well/at all under load. How about control arm height? I would guess that you have relocates or some other form of height adjustment for them also. Bringing them closer to the diff is another way to lessen lift. -Past that, more power. It's all about controlled spin, hit'em harder, it'll stop climbing.

those bars would do very little w/o a cage, as the firewall alone isn't much to tie too. Maybe if you got tied out with the a-pillar/door hinge area you could gain some. - Many cage cars run strut pipes, that's where you get 14 points.