Worth it?

[Tom]

I've just been reading Retro Ford and like the look of the A frame kit fitted to GoldMember. My question is, are they as good as Ben says they are?

 

I already have a panhard rod and anti tramp fitted but they panhard rod catches my exhaust and some monkey fitted the tramp bars to the bottom of the axle, i've been meaning to put this right but I've never had a problem with tramp so have left it.

 

A frame - Yes or No, Good or Bad?

 

Ta

[Vista]

I rarely (if ever) read RF.

 

What's the A frame kit secured to?

[banarama]

panhard / tramp bars only/a frame no nice looking car

[Tom]

Vista, They pick up from the front leaf spring mount and go diagonally inward to either side of the diff towards the bottom of the casing.

 

 

Banarama, Thanks for replying but what are your reasons?

[banarama]

the tramp bars are plenty enough really

[Tom]

no one else knows then?

[samurai]

Didnt they have that sort of frame on a mk1 lotus cortina?

[emu]

there is a little bit more here....

 

http://www.oldskoolford.co.uk/phpBB2/vi ... p?t=112092

 

Im quite interested in the idea too, because im just running plain leaves and ARB at the mo. No anti-tramps or panhard.

[Joe-ashtonmobile]

We fitted a, A frame kit on the back of Dads escort, It made it go slower on the quarter mile so ripped it all back off

[Tom]

Cheers Emu - I may give it a go:wink:

 

Not fussed about the 1/4 Joe, just thinking more from a handling perspective

[sambo]

I often wondered why the A-Frame kits werent used on Escorts......

[Matt.C]

i plan to fit an a frame kit to my escort. if it works well enough on goldmember it will be plenty to stop my estate axle moving.

[SmokeEm]

Tom - A frame - big no no. However X frame = Yes.

 

Capri owners know best. Trust me mate

[V8ian]

A good mate of mine has a A frame on his Capri, his engne spec is about the same as mine, ---- and its nearly a second slower over the 1/4, and te more telling 60ft times are a lot slower than mine, so the only assumption I have madee is the A frame does not put the power down that well as leaf springs and tramp bars.

[GT_Jim]

Didnt they have that sort of frame on a mk1 lotus cortina?

 

on the early ones but it was dropped in favour for the GT leaf springs - i think it had something to do with road clearance

 

have a word with Ratman on here - he has A framed his mk1 cortina and its been on the road for a few years now

[V8ian]

Didnt they have that sort of frame on a mk1 lotus cortina?

 

on the early ones but it was dropped in favour for the GT leaf springs - i think it had something to do with road clearance

 

have a word with Ratman on here - he has A framed his mk1 cortina and its been on the road for a few years now

 

Yes, Eary Lotus mk1s had a bracket that came off the diff to support the center point of the A frame, The main reason they were deleted was reliability, Any sort of spirited driving resulted in the bracket pulling the diff away from the casing resulting in the loss of diff oil, and then the diff failure shortly afterwards, ive heard of somebody having 3 diffs in a 1000 miles

[banarama]

well said v8ian

[mk2 stu]

Stop RSing around Tom and 5 link it!!! when we having a drive out then?

[mk3cortinasteve]

Stop RSing around Tom and 5 link it!!! when we having a drive out then?

you keeping her now then

[vibrating_Cake]

i know you guys talking about A-frames and quarter mile know what you're on about on streight line traction and grip from the line.

the A-frame reduces squat... squat is good on the drag strip to give good weight transfer for a nice set-off

 

now... what he wants it for is handling, having 2 bars instead of 3, 4 bushes instead of 6. the idea of the Aframe is to stop the axle swaying from side to side, thus keeping the back end more predictable. which is the same as what anti tramp bars and panhard does, just in a more elagent fasion.

 

im sure around a track/rally course/drift course you could tell the difference, you'll be adding seconds rather than milliseconds, if you're still on leaf springs!

 

goldmembers is used to stop lateral movement in the axle (obv this doesnt help on the drag strip cause you're going forward not around corners) but when you do start going round corners, it keep the back wheels streight and true and you dont get the "slack" of the rear end going in and powering out of corners which causes the dreaded oversteer (jokes) you still get oversteer, but its a lot more progressive because the tyres behind you arent flapping from side to side, gaining grip and loosing grip over different bumps and lumps in the road

 

in other words, yeahh go for it! they are doing "project skidmark" on capripower, worth a look over cause they are trying to make a "bolt on" A-frame kit for it

[Tom]

now thats wanted i wanted to hear, an informative answer

Ta