how to fix wheel hop?
 

so i have real bad wheel hop when i drop the clutch (as i think most of us do), and a rear suspension clunk to boot! how do i fix this? just get new bushings?

And don't drop the clutch . Sorry not the fun answer your looking for but the reality of IRS cars is badddd wheelhop on hard launches. They handle like mothers but drag launch like bitches!!

Get a rear diff brace. People say it will eliminate wheel hop

Rear diff brace will not eliminate wheelhop
 

The axles will still bounce around. It will reduce the amount of energy stored in the diff bushings, but it won't eliminate it.

The clunk is most likely your pillow ball bushings. They go out and require replacing about every 100K miles depending upon your driving style. It's a straightforward but bitch of a job.

BTW - nice Voltron avatar, fdeeznutz. Reminds me of junior high....(a good thing - loved Shogun warriors and other Japanese animation, as my avatar suggests).

Rear diff brace will not eliminate wheelhop
 

The axles will still bounce around. It will reduce the amount of energy stored in the diff bushings, but it won't eliminate it.

The clunk is most likely your pillow ball bushings. They go out and require replacing about every 100K miles depending upon your driving style. It's a straightforward but bitch of a job.

BTW - nice Voltron avatar, fdeeznutz. Reminds me of junior high....

hehehe i remember voltron! the not so cool transformers! what was that other one...oh yeah remember go-bots?

anyway, im pretty sure that the pillow ball bushings need to be replaced... the car has 83K on it and ive only had it for 10K. i dont know what happend to it before me. speaking of drag launches... which i hardly ever do but am trying to get my 1/4 times... whats the best way? slip it a little untill you are rolling and then pull the clutch out all the way? i have a stock clutch

Depends on tires
 

Dropping with street tires just yields hop and spin, so the slip and go method is best. Losing traction = losing time. If you have sticky drag tires or slicks, then the drop method works.

Beast

i dropped it, wheel hopped like a bitch. 14.1@100mph
stock, first time out.

When i do drag, I get rolling first then give it Hell!! Easier on the drivetrain components. I also had a ACT6 puck unsprung lightswitch for a clutch. The pillowballs will help eliminate some of that clunking. Some people who track there cars have had the pillowsballs go out after as little as 5k miles i think.( It may have been DamonB?) Like Beast said, The energy will be dcreased but not eliminated. Also for piece of mind jack up the car on stands and crawl around under the car looking at the drivetrain components,like the PPF,Axles, motor mounts, etc..) Eliminate all possible causes. For a comparison to above... I dropped it first time out ran a 13.88@108.5mph. Second launch the same,third launch ,.....Left my Diff on the ground 20 feet out of the box!!!! WOOOHOOO!!!!!( all runs had wheelhopp like a mother) Carefull with the launches or you WILL find the "weakest link" !!;)

well better than my 14.5 @ 102 (thats what the gtech tells me anyway)... i must be doing something wrong, frankly i have never tryed launching this car untill now, im afraid i will break something in 1st... seems really horrible to the car but in my miata i have no problems

If it is hurting you to hear/feel it when it happens, ...think of what the car is going thru.

yeah, 2 nights ago was the first time in 3 years that ive had the car that i ever tryed to drag it.... i dont like it one bit! i want a 1/4 mi time for comparison to see if the car is normal compared to other cars w/ similar mods but i dont want to go back out there and try again

13.7@117 mph on RE71s
 

That's what I did before blowing my last motor with hybrid twins. The best 60' times I could get was 2.1. That's about all you can do with street tires.

The slip start, 3/4 throttle 2nd, full bore 3rd and 4th method is the best way to go with street tires. Keeping traction at the very edge yields the best times. I'm just not very good.

Heading to the track with my new t04s setup will be lots of fun until I get my new 17" rg-r's. Then I can put MT Streets on my stock wheels and get the 1.6 60' times :-) and hope I don't blow the rear all to hell.

Beast

im running 225 s02's right now... it was night and cold out so maybe they werent sticking so well + the ground may have had a little moisture... maybe ill try again tomorow, but the last thing i need it to do is blow something... ive already spent 8 months getting the freaking thing to run properly

1. Solid differential mounts.
2. Pillow-ball rear trailing arms and toe-links.
3. New rear lower and upper arm pillow-balls (3 per side, 6 total), about 200$ cost total.

i dont know if you're familiar with the set of bushings that jimlab is making but would those play a part? what are the signs of worn F&R bushings? ive been thinking about getting a set of jims bushings

All of which I have
 

Yup - I have Jim Labreck's nylon diff bushings, M2 links/arms, and new bushings all around (Mazdacomp - didn't like the clunking of Jim's bushings in the A-arms). Definitely helped, but does not completely eliminate wheelhop from a rev n' drop.

Beast

so did you replaced jims bushings w/ mazdaspeed? they clunk eh?

heim joints are a great thing! :D

diff brace worked for me :)

pettit racing sels a launch kit for the fd , i havent installed mine yet but they claim it should help a bit

so new bushings are needed when then?

Yes, mine clunked
 

Jim's A-arm front bushings clunked for my car - I got one of the first sets. I think there is too much variance in the diameter of the upper and lower bushing holes, and the rubber ones can take the slop while the nylon ones can't expand if the fit is a little off.

I still used the diff bushes.

Beast

so when exactly are new bushings needed then... i was assuming they would cure some of my wheel hop......

Inspect them
 

You need to inspect the diff bushings, their like the motor mounts (stock ones are liquid filled). If you can't hold alignment or have slop in the suspension, then you need them. If you have 'clunks' when you slow down or accelerate, then you're pillow balls are done.

There is no hard and fast rules - you replace them when there are shot, and there's no rule on how long they last.

Beast