[Zatrekaz]

So, what are the benifits of Sub Frame Connectors? AM has a good priced set and I was considering doin some more suspension mods.

So, what do you get from them exactly?

[Imran]

Stiffens up your car. Id get them first.

[WhtStang00]

[goren813]

Be sure to get the full length ones. And check out MM's version, then compare them to the AM ones. I don't know off top the differences, but you want the full support that the weld-in MM one has. It has a cross beam at the seats as well. So long as the one offered on AM has these characteristics, it should be alrite. People praise the MM FLSFC's. Def. a good mod for chassis stiffening, helps in cornering but also prevents flexing upon hard launching.

[stangcharger]

full length keep the frame of the car from twisting. To give you an example we saw signs of my frame starting to twist at only 195rwhp.

[WLJohnson05]

not meaning to thread jack, but i was just thinking about the helpful characteristics of sub frame connectors and i was wondering, would they actually help in a wreck too....to help keep the frame from twisting up, in turn helping you stay safer?

[Teamsterjohn]

I just bought a pair off a guy on ebay for my 05. There made by Tommy Brown I belive. There also good for if your car is lowered and you now have a good jacking point to jack up you car.

[goren813]

Woody that's a good point... I wonder though, because modern cars are made so that some areas are crush areas, while others are built to remain rigid. So if Stangs weren't built to have the sub frame so rigid, it may be quite the opposite of what you suggested, as in it may be more dangerous. IF the crumple zones aren't able to crush as they should, more energy may be transmitted to the cabin, which means to the people inside, which is bad. I really have no idea though, this is just another way it COULD go.

[Assassin_Dan]

I thought crumple zones were just located behind the bumpers?

[Codeman]

no, the whole body is supposed to collapse, and i believe on most cars at least the engine is supposed to slide under the cab.

[RFM 40th V6]

Mach 1's and convertibles come with sub frame connectors from the factory.

The stiffer the frame the better. Crumple zones are really only in the front of the car from the bumper to the fire wall.

Or at least thats what I know about the zones.

[winnie51189]

Originally Posted by Codeman no, the whole body is supposed to collapse, and i believe on most cars at least the engine is supposed to slide under the cab.

Why the hell would the whole body collapse? That's a terrible design, especially considering the people tend to drive from within the body of the car.

[HMUSN]

Originally Posted by winnie51189 Why the hell would the whole body collapse? That's a terrible design, especially considering the people tend to drive from within the body of the car.

It absorbs the impact and protects the people inside the car. Does tend to total the car though.

[Codeman]

That is why i said the cab is not supposed to collape. This is why cars nowadays are safer than cars of the seventies, and also why more cars are totaled. Like ^ said. The cars of the seventies you could smash into each other like demo derby and they would not crinkle, and also then all of the energy from the impact is then transfered to your body. The new cars watch a demo derby crinkle fast. This is because the force of the impact instead of being absorbed by the people is absorbed by the car. Sure it totals out your vehicle, but i would trade a vehicle for my life any day.

[joshridge]

^ forsure!

[winnie51189]

Originally Posted by winnie51189 Why the hell would the whole body collapse? That's a terrible design, especially considering the people tend to drive from within the body of the car.

^Sarcasm.

I'm pretty sure the frame as a whole is supposed to crumple, the specific areas, that were designed to crumple do, but only to prevent the death of the passengers in the passenger areas. Our cars don't actually have frames. Or atleast not the type of frames as the cars in the 70's had. We have unibodies. And although the crush zones are helpful they are only there to help divert the forces in a controlled fashion. Not sure if you've been in an accident or not but you still get a shit ton of engery transfer. That's why we have safety restraint systems in our car such as airbags, seatbelts, etc.... I would say they help even more so than the crush zones.

[HMUSN]

Being a man of science I will have to disagree with that statement.

[winnie51189]

Originally Posted by HMUSN Being a man of science I will have to disagree with that statement.

This is fun! Which one? If it's about the safety restraint systems being more helpful than the crumple zones. I guess really it depends on where the accident occurrs. If it's the classic T-bone accident then airbags and seat belt would do more to help than the crush zones that never got touched in this accident. However if it's a head on collision, the crush zones do help, but without airbags and seatbelts you're likely dead regardless(either faceplant into the steering wheel or fly out the windshield onto/around the other car).

[Codeman]

Ok, i agree with you on the side impact, since the car is not going to collapse the same way as it would in a frontal or rear end impact. But Even if the old cars of the seventies had airbags, due to the fact that all of or most of the impact is transferred to your body it would cause major porblems. I know that you still absorb a lot of the impact even in new cars, that are meant to crumple, but you do not absorb near what it could be if you had a car that did not crumple. I agree however that for the systems to work correctly you must be using your seatbelt, and your airbags.

[goren813]

There are many studies comparing crash results and injuries from modern to older model cars. New cars are 293892838 times safer, this of course includes better seat belt design and construction, as well as airbags and the crumple zones. The latter makes a huge difference. Injuries are on such a case by case basis though, some times people are killed because they WERE wearing the seatbelt, just because of the specific crash dynamics. On any given day however, belts, bags and technologically advanced chassis will save your life. And plus in FL now its the law to buckle up.