# Wheel Hop



## Special_K (Feb 22, 2013)

Hey all. New to the forum so I apologize if this question has been asked, but my search was fruitless.

My dad is in the process of refreshing his 1971 GTO 455. However, he has been dealing with pretty serious wheel hop issues for as long as I can remember. I'd like to help him out.

I'm thinking that replacing the (likely stock) bushings is the best and easiest start. Which bushings should I look to replace, and what site would you all recommend I purchase them from.

Thanks!


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## ALKYGTO (Mar 29, 2010)

GM A body's are notorious for wheel hop and it can severely damage your frame.

There are a lot of manufacturers of aftermarket suspension for these cars that will alleviate the wheelhop but Dick Miller is probably my favorite. Check out his site, pretty informative.

Basically, the problem is flimsy upper and lower control arms and mushy rubber bushings not to mention less than ideal suspension geometry. Boxing the control arms, poly bushings, frame braces will help but the instant center needs to be moved forward to really make the suspension work.

My car uses some ancient Southside engineering lowers, stock boxed uppers, tubular braces and it works pretty well.


Here is Dicks site-*http://www.dickmillerracing.com/*

I'm gonna order his new book "How To Hook And Launch" to get ready for the track this year ( Hopefully, finally!)


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

Also, if the suspension is raised at all in the back, any wheel hop tendencies will be magnified. There are "no hop" kits available that bolt to the diff to keep it from winding up, and they are almost undetectable after they're installed.


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Stiff/fresh bushings can help with the wheel hop problem, but they cause others. Because the upper and lower control arms aren't parallel with each other (that triangulation also serves to locate the rear axle side to side), any time the axle has to tilt with respect to the body (like in a hard corner) then the control arms have to "twist" at their ends to allow that to happen. If they can't twist there, then they bend -- or break -- and "bad things happen". With the factory rubber bushings, it's the bushings that allow enough give for that to happen (but when they wear they also contribute to wheel hop). If you really want to fix both problems once and for all, replace the factory upper/lower control arms with aftermarket ones that use some sort of sphereical joint on the ends. This takes all the front to rear slop out of the joints and cures wheel hop, yet they allow the arms to freely "twist" like they need to in corners. Another bonus with them is if you get at least uppers that are adjustable, now you've got a way to adjust your driveline angles to get rid of vibration and stuff.
I'm running chromoly Spohn upper/lower arms on my 69 with their "del-sphere" ends. Love 'em. There are others out there.

Bear


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