Are K-Members worth getting for the money?

 

An aftermarket tubular suspension and well worth the money. If you plan on going to the track alot it will definately help you alot. You will lose close to a 100 pounds of the front and if you get the comple package...i.e. a-arms,coil overs, adjustable struts, etc. you will give your car awsome weight transfer. Another benift that you get is the awsome handling that comes with the tubular package. I cant began to tell you how awsome it feels. ...however if its your daily you should also be aware of a few side effects..

 

Well i'm setting my car up for Autocross on the track and handling is what i'm going for...right now i'm looking at some big brake upgrades wheels and then i'm going to start on suspension and i wanted to know about the k-member...my car is some what of a daily driver, i drive it and my jeep but will most likely be moving away from it being driven daily (1.5 miles to work )

so what are the side effects to this mod?

 

Your car will be noisy as hell. There is almost no shock absorption even with top notch struts(however adjustable struts reduce these probems by 70% i'd say). You will feel most bumps, or any uneven road patch you come across, I tell you it drives me nuts. This is of course if you chose to go with coil overs. You can always have spring perches (spelling) welded on to your aftermarket k-member (some however already come with them) and use your current springs, which will elimante these so called side effects, but if you want superb handling coil overs are a must.

 

If you like to autocross and you're looking into k members then the only way to go is MM.

 

4.6 if you could would you not have gone with the k-member now or would you still do it? Also 4.6 or 03gtmustang is the MM able to use currect spring suspension? if not which k-members if you know of any have this option?

 

what about qa1?

 

I most definately would do it again. The pros overcome the cons by a landslide. I can deal with squeaky coil overs and such if my car can handle like it does now. ...plust you can lower it and raise it any time you want with a turn of a wrench.

I personally have the D&D kit and i could not be happier. I've had it for about a yr now. I drive my car every day of the year and put about 1500-2000 miles a month on my car and i've had 0 problems with it.

 

Go to www.modulardepot.com and PM white_2kgt. He autocrosses and has the MM stuff.

 

If i go with the QA1 where it bolts into my stock suspension will i lose any handeling as if i went with the MM and did EVERYTHING also is it very hard to do and is there any tricks? I do have access to a lift, can it be done from underneath without pulling everything out?

 

The easiest way to do this is to jack the motor up a few inches, and remove the k-member.

 

QA1 is fine for drag race cars but I'm not convinced of its suitability for use in autocross. It's much like the Griggs unit which is great for track only but doesn't have the strength or rigidity that you want for Autocross and aggressive street driving.

Maximum Motorsports makes the only K-Member that should be considered for serious Autox duty.

Between the springs, control arms, and k-member you will lose oodles of weight off the front end which only helps everything on cars with heavy v8 front ends. If you are going for track ready, I'd say 350# springs in front and 250-300 in back (depends on your rear setup). I'd also look at a Griggs torque arm and a MM panhard bar. You don't even know what kind of handling difference there is to be had with a MM Max Grip Box.

DO NOT CHEAP OUT HERE! If you buy cheap components and get a catastrophic disassembly of some piece while in motion, you'll really hate yourself. You get what you pay for with suspension. I used to think different but, I've spent enough money to know better now.

It's not hard but true-ing the K-member is important and best left to someone that knows what the hell they're doing.

TIPS: Support the engine with a jack on the crank, disconnect struts, tie rods, rack&pinion and brakes from the spindles, support them with wire or zip ties and drop the K-member.

pre-assemble the new k-member, a-arms, struts, etc... on the ground before you hook it to the car. Look for problems before they become problems during final assembly.

If you're going to do the front, might as well do the back. Front turn-in is killer but if it's followed by a sloppy rear end then you're going to have to correct your line and lose seconds, lose control or worse. Trust experience if you want. That's mine.

ONLY MM CC PLATES ARE SUITABLE FOR C/O setups. I've yet to find any CC plate on the market that even comes close to as impressive a safety/durability record. Any haters got an opinion on that...cool. Back it up with facts, not your personal experiences. This guy probably doesn't drive like you, so your experiences are irrelevant, particularly since you've only had a limited experience set in all likelihood.

begin the defaming.

EDIT: FWIW, I have full a MM kit and I don't think it's loud or harsh considering my setup (extremely aggressive for the street... almost full race). Yes it is loud and harsh.. but not as bad as my 01Gt with Steeda sport springs and tokico's was. Consider that... Steeda's sport springs are like 650#" in front and 300 in back, my coil overs have the same effective rate as a 1300#" conventional spring in front so I have gobs more potential and a really limited amount of NVH. If I used 225# springs in front and maybe 250's in back I'd have a really mild mannered ride with impressive if not wicked handling. Remember, softer spring equals more required ride height to control bottoming the struts and smacking your k-member on the ground.

 

You want to support the motor with a jack under the oil pan with a piece of wood between the two so you dont dent the pan. Or you can get that tool that holds the engine from the top. And just like r3dn3ck and I said, the only k member that should be used for autocross is the MM. If you are really serious about this then it WILL cost you. Give MM a call and they will get you set up.

 

I don't know anything about road racing, but if you drag race, get the K but don't waste the money on CO's, unless your drving a 10 sec car or faster.

Adam

 

Ok so here's the question now...I have about $4,500 to do the ENTIRE Road Race/Track package through MM and a few other things or i can just pay off the car and wait till next winter (save all summer) to tear into it cause if i do it now, it will prolly be a summer project and i won't get to drive it that much

Wait and pay the car off?
or
Do the massive suspension upgrade

 

PAY IT OFF NOW!!!! you will save money in interest and without the car payment you can save up for the suspension mods pretty quickly

 

oh how I dream of the day when I don't have to make anymore payments on the stang....

 

me too....only 22 more payments.

 

I guess i'll do that then, it is smart to pay it off now but the inner child just wants to do the upgrades...

 

I got most of my mods through trades and repairs to things that broke. If I'd have had to foot the bill for them all retail.. eeek, pay it off first then go hog wild with the extra 400 bucks a month. You picked the right stuff, and they'll still make it next year.