
The ultimate rear
suspension for your Mustang is now available from
Maximum Motorsports. Installing the MM Torque-arm will
greatly improve your four-link suspension by converting
it to a three-link design. Your car will have vastly
improved traction, both in a straight line and when
exiting corners. Your car will be much more stable and
predictable, and you can get on the throttle sooner and
harder while accelerating out of a corner.
In the stock four-link design, the rear upper control
arms are trying to do two jobs at once. One is to
control axle wind-up, the other is to locate the axle
side to side. When pushed to the performance limit, the
upper control arms don’t do either job very well. Our
Torque-arm suspension system separates the functions of
the suspension components. Each component has only one
job, and is designed to perform that one function with
no compromises. The MM Torque-arm controls axle rotation
much better than the upper control arms. In addition,
the Panhard Bar has the sole job of locating the axle
side to side, which it also does better than the upper
control arms. The lower control arms primarily have the
job of thrusting the car forward under acceleration. The
MM Torque-arm suspension system allows complete removal
of the rear upper control arms and the quad shocks. The
resulting three-link design will articulate freely, even
during extreme cornering, acceleration and braking.
The free-moving three-link design has so much more
traction that the grip at the front of the car will now
be the limiting factor (understeer). You should now
raise the rear spring rate to increase the rear roll
resistance, which takes some cornering load off the
front. To meet your needs, Maximum Motorsports has
determined the rear spring to match your front spring
rate (see Spring Rate Table). These selected rear
springs will give you better handling and improved ride
quality with your MM Torque-arm suspension system.
When we sat down to
design our Torque-arm, we listened to what our customers
wanted. The three issues we heard mentioned time and
again were concerns about ground clearance, exhaust
clearance, and access to the differential cover. You
talked, we listened! Compared to other Torque-arms,
Maximum Motorsports’ has over one inch greater ground
clearance, nearly one inch more exhaust clearance, and
allows complete access to the differential cover. |
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The MM
Torque-arm fits 1979-2001 Mustangs with an 8.8" axle
(except for 99-01 Cobra). Use MMTA-1,3, or 5 for
rectangular subframe connectors, or MMTA-2,4, or 6 for
round subframe connectors. The difference is the
brackets which weld to the subframe connectors.
Our
Standard Torque-arm is rated for engine torque levels of
330 to 590 lb-ft, and our Heavy Duty Torque-arm is rated
for engine torque levels of 475 to 900 lb-ft. These
ratings depend on the differential gear ratio (see
Engine Torque Table).
Engine Torque Table
Differential
Ratio |
Standard TA
Max. Engine Torque
(lb-ft) |
Heavy Duty TA
Max. Engine Torque
(lb-ft) |
|
4.56:1 |
300 |
475 |
|
4.30:1 |
330 |
510 |
|
4.08:1 |
355 |
550 |
|
3.73:1 |
400 |
620 |
|
3.55:1 |
425 |
660 |
|
3.27:1 |
475 |
725 |
|
3.08:1 |
515 |
790 |
|
2.73:1 |
590 |
900 |
|
Spring Rate Table
|
Front Spring Rate |
Use This Rear Spring |
|
490-575 |
51650 or
51651 |
|
575-720 |
51650.99 |
|
700-850 |
51650TA-3 |
|
850-1050 |
51650TA-1 |
|
Coilover
under 175 lb/in |
51650.99 |
|
Coilover
175-250 lb/in |
51650TA-3 |
|
Coilover
over 250 lb/in |
51650TA-1
|
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