I love my car...except the T-tops. Going over the speedbumps, exits and extreme curves I hear a lot of squeaking and groaning. I even thought about converting her to a hardtop....until I did the research on it and it isn't cost effective, nor do I want to risk ruining the entire car.

Then I thought about getting subframe connectors and having them welded on. For those that have subframe connectors, I'd love to hear your feedback and if you've seen improvements on stiffening the body up, and which SFC's are voted the best. What do you think?

 

Years ago I had a 85 Z28 with t-roofs. I installed a set of the alston sfc and the difference was night and day. Well worth the money. I've got a set of UMI ones that are going to go on my 87 in a few weeks.

 

The subframe connectors should be mandatory on our cars. I have hotchkis subframe connectors on my car and it was a good modification. They benefit a stock car but are even more valuable when you start increasing the power especially with t-tops.

 

Wow. Well I guess SFC's are the way to go then. Thanks for the info.

 

Careful on the sfc, some weld in without exhaust mods others require original pipe to be moved if you have it still stock. I inhereited Hotchkis so I've got exhaust work to do first.

 

I have Global West sub frame connectors. They connect the front and rear sub frames but also are welded along the right and left side pinch seams. No interference problems and no squeaks. They are more demanding when installing but well worth it.

 

So which company makes SFC's I can install without having to relocate the exhaust?

 

The Global West sub frame connectors are round, attach at the subframes and then curve outward to the pinchwelds (away from the exhaust ). They need to be welded along the pinch seams which is a pain if your car is undercoated bur that increases rigidity. Take a look at the Global West web page. I am running headers, a custom y pipe and a 3 inch exhaust pipe in essentially the stock location with no issues.

 

My car has the Competition Engineering bolt on connectors and they fit very well. I got mine welded along with bolting them in.

Mark.

 

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/susp...-subframe.html

 

I just installed the UMI Subframe connectors and they went in with no modification to exhaust or anything. Highly recommended and YES! Night and day difference. I highly recommend them.

 

When installing Hotchkis on my car, I had to heat a front pipe until red and using a steel bar, I gently bent the pipe slightly to allow the needed room for the passenger side which was a 100 times more difficult than the drivers side.

 

I have two sets of frame connectors. SPOHN (the outer type) and MAC (the inner type).. Many people only get one type but that's entirely up to you. They stiffen they car in different ways so for the small cost why not stiffen up the car more? I have t-tops as well, as especially with t-tops you cannot get enough stiffening as our cars do not have a structural roof. There are many threads on here regarding SFC's so don't be shy to use the search and find out what you are looking for.
I personally got the MAC (inner) SFC's installed first and noticed a world of a difference. Then a couple years later I got the SPOHN SFC's welded in. But I would agree with the posts above, no matter how you drive the car, even just going out of your driveway, SFC's will help.

 

Excellent. I'm completely sold now on SFCs. I'm not a welder so I'll just have to take her to a body shop and get it done there.

 

Yes I had a shop who has experience with these cars do it. They did a great job with the welds and then painted around the weld for a nice clean finished job. You want to do it right the first time so it's done properly. The inner frame connectors might make you lose ground clearance, whereas the outer type tuck up nicely along the rocker. Something you might want to think about depending on how low your car is.

 

I was looking at the UMI's that are the outer ones. She isn't lowered, so I wouldn't worry about the clearance...except the major potholes and torn up roads out here.

 

Plus, from what I've been readin it seems the square bars rather than the round SFCs offer more strength as far as stiffening the car up.

 

Hey Late yr talking about body flex (that is - twisting) more than roll right? Cuz roll, left and right, can be worn suspension stuff too. With SFCs you will still roll...

 

i have the UMI subframe connectors and hotchkis drop springs. no clearance issue due to the subframe connector. exhaust is another story on speed bumps

 

Its kind of a wash. Depends on wall thickness too. I dont think you'd be able to feel a difference between round or square ones of hte same type, personally. the quality of most of the big companies that make these is pretty good across the board, and there are certainly differences in effectiveness between inner and outer sfc's, but I dont think either are better in theb ig picture so much as better at different things. Personally I like that the outer sfc's because I think the LCA mounting points are probably the most stressed part of the rear of the car, and that's what they tie the front into. The inners go straight to the rear frame rails from the front frame rails. They probably make the whole car overall more stiff, but they're so far from the LCA mounts, which see enormous forces during hard launches and acceleration in a car that has a lot of power. They certainly help, but they probably wont help the LCA mounting points quite as much. You can use both if you want to to get the best of both worlds.

Either type is a great idea for different reasons. You wont miss out on a whole lot by only using one type in my opinion and I think they both make an equally drastic improvement.