TRZ gives you everything you need to turn your stock-suspension 5.0 Mustang into a world-class hook machine. Severe-duty lower control arms and adjustable upper control arms join the anti-roll bar to make up a package you simply can't beat without a ladder bar-kit and a custom chassis shop. |
Zdancewitz even had his TRZ logo cast into the anti-roll bar ends so there will be no mistaking whose suspension just left your competition in the dust. Cool! |
The installation starts with the removal of any insulation from the trunk floor. Not only does this make for a good weld from the underside, but it cuts down on the chance of fire during your installation. Don't forget to measure your ride height from underneath the car while all of its weight rests on the tires. That measurement will be used later to determine the correct length of the anti-roll bar rod ends. |
Zdancewitz installs the upper and lower control arms to the rear suspension once the springs are removed. Our Eibach drag springs were modified by cutting one coil from them before reinstallation. He trashed the airbag. |
Zdancewitz works the bottom of the floor with a grinding wheel to get down to the bare metal. |
With all of the surfaces prepared, Zdancewitz MIG-welds the six tabs of the anti-roll bar to the rear subframe of the car. Make sure that you weld your TRZ anti-roll bar to the frame and not the flat sheetmetal of the Mustang floorpan. |
The metal of the rear housing axle tube is prepared by grinding away paint and rust. |
Zdancewitz holds the rear axlehousing tubes in position just before welding them to the housing itself. This will join the rearend with the anti-roll bar, forcing an even transfer of power through both tires instead of favoring the right rear slick upon launch. |
This is a closeup of the anti-roll bar link welded to the rear axle tube. The length of the rod is determined by the ride height measurement necessitated by the universal kit we installed. By the time you read this, TRZ will have a 5.0 Mustang-specific kit available to avoid any errors in interpretation in this step. |
To complete the installation, the welded areas are hit with rustproof paint. With the installation of the TRZ anti-roll bar and upper and lower control arms, we're confident that Project Mondo Stocker now has a rear suspension we can grow into. Future plans call for adjustable struts and shocks, as well as lots of testing at the track. |
Our '88 sedan sits low and mean after the TRZ installation. With a full 28x10.5-inch M/T slick, the wheelwell lip will have to be trimmed or rolled. Zdancewitz prefers to have his race cars down in the weeds for better aerodynamics, which improves handling characteristics and elapsed times at the track. |
In case you're just checking in (or in case you have forgotten), our stock-bottom-end, Vortech Mondo-supercharged project car is nearing completion. While preparing the car for Street Outlaw action, we started wondering just how fast you could push the stock 5.0 block and rotating assembly before enough was enough--so Project Mondo Stocker was born. So far, we've added a Vortech J-Trim Mondo supercharger; an ACCEL DFI fuel-injection system, installed and tuned by Jim Summers at ASSC; and replaced the T5 with a complete Performance Automatic C4 transmission.
For this installment, we stopped off at Tommy Zdancewitz's TRZ Race Cars in Alsip, Illinois, to get a look at its custom upper and lower rear control arms, bump-steer kit, front-end travel limiters, and the main attraction--the stock suspension anti-roll bar this shop has become famous for in the Mustang world.
Our reason for choosing the TRZ suspension was simple. With expectations of high-8s/low-9s once a real motor is installed, we needed something more than just the usual traction bars with solid uppers trying to plant the rear tires. Sure that setup will work, but with big power and small tires, you're just asking for trouble at the starting line and downtrack if you are aren't prepared. The strategy behind the TRZ anti-roll bar is simple. It takes the power and distributes it evenly between the two rear tires. This maximizes the tires' ability to get traction and accelerate the car downtrack. This is especially important in a class like Street Outlaw, which typically sees cars with 1,000 hp and a 10.5-inch tire. In the stock suspension, the brunt of the power gets pushed to the right rear tire due to chassis twist and the force of the drivetrain which actually rotates the rear axlehousing toward the right tire. Other devices, such as a right rear spring airbag, do a similar job, but they are inconsistent and weak in comparison to the TRZ setup.
The TRZ anti-roll bar is a chrome-moly 15/8-inch tube with a 11/4-inch chrome-moly tube inside. The aluminum arms are pressed on to the 11/4-inch tube, the links bolt to the aluminum arms, and there are tabs that weld to the rearend axle tubes. The passenger-side link is lengthened to preload the chassis. This eliminates the body roll in the car, and stabilizes it down the track. The upper control arm is double-adjustable so it can be adjusted on the car to set the pinion angle. The lower control arm is a 2x2-inch, square-box tube that is longer than stock to center the wheel in the housing. It has a Duralon bushing with a slip pin inside, so there is no metal- to-metal contact. Both upper and lower control arms are powdercoated in black for a finished look.
Besides solid construction from the best materials, the TRZ package has proven itself on several of the fastest, stock-suspension cars in the country, including Carlo Catalanotto's Baby Blue (which has gone an 8.35/167 with a Vortech-supercharged 342), the C&J sedan that had gone an 8.50 on nitrous, and Jim Summers' GT back when he was the first person to ever go into the 8-second zone in Street Outlaw trim in 1997.
With all of the bells and whistles, Zdancewitz believes a TRZ-equipped car can run consistent 8.50s in the quarter with an 8.20 e.t. popping up under the right conditions. Beyond that, we imagine you're just testing the limits of whatever tire manufacturer you have chosen to trust your life with. As for streetability, he does admit the anti-roll bar will make a little noise, but you can definitely drive a TRZ-equipped car to your favorite hot spot for a test run. Another thing class racers should keep in mind is that many of the sanctioning bodies won't allow ladder-bar suspensions in some classes at all. Other racer organizations slap weight penalties on cars that are so equipped. Working with the TRZ stock suspension stuff makes good sense since it will allow you to hook the car with big power, while avoiding added weight to appease the rule makers.
TRZ markets the complete kit (including the control arms, the anti-roll bar, and installation instructions) for $820. The bump-steer package (installation not shown) costs an additional $120, and its job is to keep front-end-tire toe-out to a minimum during wild suspension changes, such as those occuring during a big wheelie.
Installation on Project Mondo Stocker took Zdancewitz just over two hours, including tripping over us while we snapped the pictures. TRZ can install the complete kit and set up the rearend with its custom touches, or you can follow along with our installation-highlight pictures and do it for yourself. 5.0