Can you feel improvement after fitter USCT stage 2

-

peterOZ

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 9, 2016
Messages
65
Reaction score
14
Location
Sydney - Australia
Hi , I am hoping to get some guidance from personal experience.
68 fast back 440 ,727 street and strip car. 600hp with Transbrake.

I am looking at the level 2 USCT kit
67-69 Dodge Plymouth A Body Total Chassis Stiffening Pack

Are all the parts listed in link above necessary for my street / strip purpose. Frame connectors i understand will help, but not sure about the rest of items ( torque box's + inner fender brace) and if they will hinder my strip use.

I would also be fitting Calvert mono leafs / Caltrec set up.

Any racers out there who can share their experience. How did car behave on street / strip with the level 2 USCT.

Thanks in advance
 
I will let you know in a few weeks, I have installed their full kit in my Dart, but no engine yet so no feedback on the driving experience.
 
Hi , I am hoping to get some guidance from personal experience.
68 fast back 440 ,727 street and strip car. 600hp with Transbrake.

I am looking at the level 2 USCT kit
67-69 Dodge Plymouth A Body Total Chassis Stiffening Pack

Are all the parts listed in link above necessary for my street / strip purpose. Frame connectors i understand will help, but not sure about the rest of items ( torque box's + inner fender brace) and if they will hinder my strip use.

I would also be fitting Calvert mono leafs / Caltrec set up.

Any racers out there who can share their experience. How did car behave on street / strip with the level 2 USCT.

Thanks in advance

Put frame connectors in it with a 6 or 8 point cage and forget about the rest. When I was drag racing my car, I was worried about it slowing down with the extra weight of the cage. It actually went faster, and started pulling the wheels. You could feel the car was stiffer with the cage just driving down the road.
 
is the car going to have a cage in it?

Put frame connectors in it with a 6 or 8 point cage and forget about the rest. When I was drag racing my car, I was worried about it slowing down with the extra weight of the cage. It actually went faster, and started pulling the wheels. You could feel the car was stiffer with the cage just driving down the road.



I don't have any immediate plans in fitting a roll cage. Something i will need to look at if i want to go faster .
 
I spoke with USCT after i created this post . The fella i spoke with advised me to get the frame connectors, Torque boxs , radiator core support and as i do not have front coils i can do without the inner fender brace kit.
From what i have been reading the frame connectors are a must and by fitting the torque box & radiator core support wont hurt it but help it.
 
I spoke with USCT after i created this post . The fella i spoke with advised me to get the frame connectors, Torque boxes , radiator core support and as i do not have front coils i can do without the inner fender brace kit.
From what i have been reading the frame connectors are a must and by fitting the torque box & radiator core support wont hurt it but help it.

The factory shock towers in my '68 convertible Barracuda were spot welded with about 6 welds to the inner fender. All but one of them was torn loose. I welded in the entire USCT Chassis stiffening kit. The car already had torque boxes from the factory, and was virtually rust free and in incredible condition. The car had noticeable cowl shake when driving over roads with a washboard type surface( the dash and windshield vibrated from side to side over rough roads)

I was only running a Slant 6 in the early years of ownership of this car, but still wanted to improve the handling and chassis rigidity of the car. I welded in the subframe connectors first. The difference was amazing. The under fender bracing and the re-welding of the shock towers solidly to the inner fenders also made a significant difference. Finally, I welded in the under radiator brace, which made a noticeable improvement in the car.

The cowl shake I felt before and during these upgrades was also slowly being reduced with each addition. It was still detectable especially on rough roads. The car drove and road much better.

I then searched for and couldn't find a bolt on Monte Carlo bar to tie the cowl into both inner fenders. I ended up making my own bar that bolted to the pinch weld above the wiper motor and then diagonally out to a couple of the fender attaching bolts on each fender. I tied those into another bar/tube that went across from fender to fender to triangulate my Monte Carlo bar. The last bit of cowl shake was finally gone. The bar only fit the Slant 6 however, and I have never bothered to re fit it with my Magnum swap. It does make a worthwhile difference though.

I would stiffen the chassis with the complete kit and reinforce the shock tower to inner fender connection as much as you can. Your roof-line adds bunch of chassis structural rigidity to you car as would a roll cage. The bottom line is anything that you can do to increase chassis rigidity without adding unnecessary weight will make the car perform better. It allows the suspension to work more effectively and helps make chassis tuning more predictable.
 
The factory shock towers in my '68 convertible Barracuda were spot welded with about 6 welds to the inner fender. All but one of them was torn loose. I welded in the entire USCT Chassis stiffening kit. The car already had torque boxes from the factory, and was virtually rust free and in incredible condition. The car had noticeable cowl shake when driving over roads with a washboard type surface( the dash and windshield vibrated from side to side over rough roads)

I was only running a Slant 6 in the early years of ownership of this car, but still wanted to improve the handling and chassis rigidity of the car. I welded in the subframe connectors first. The difference was amazing. The under fender bracing and the re-welding of the shock towers solidly to the inner fenders also made a significant difference. Finally, I welded in the under radiator brace, which made a noticeable improvement in the car.

The cowl shake I felt before and during these upgrades was also slowly being reduced with each addition. It was still detectable especially on rough roads. The car drove and road much better.

I then searched for and couldn't find a bolt on Monte Carlo bar to tie the cowl into both inner fenders. I ended up making my own bar that bolted to the pinch weld above the wiper motor and then diagonally out to a couple of the fender attaching bolts on each fender. I tied those into another bar/tube that went across from fender to fender to triangulate my Monte Carlo bar. The last bit of cowl shake was finally gone. The bar only fit the Slant 6 however, and I have never bothered to re fit it with my Magnum swap. It does make a worthwhile difference though.

I would stiffen the chassis with the complete kit and reinforce the shock tower to inner fender connection as much as you can. Your roof-line adds bunch of chassis structural rigidity to you car as would a roll cage. The bottom line is anything that you can do to increase chassis rigidity without adding unnecessary weight will make the car perform better. It allows the suspension to work more effectively and helps make chassis tuning more predictable.

Thank you JBC426
 
We tested and developed these parts years ago at XV Motorsports. These were tested on a torsional test rig. At the time, the installation of all the necessary parts resulted in a torsional stiffness rating like a modern car. This eliminated a lot of the creaking/itching associated with these cars. I will say the parts that stiffen the front portion of the car were most important. This included the inner fender bracing, rad support brace and an underhood brace. 2 things that didn't make much difference were torque boxes and boxing the radiator support.
 
I have used the frame connectors, torque boxes and radiator support on 2 Darts now - the difference is significant while driving and launching at the local drag strip. Only weird thing is when driving somewhere paved and really uneven - the car is so stiff it will pick up a rear wheel because the body doesn't flex nearly as much. Make sure you've got the car square/flat before you install!!!

I never used their kit to move the rear springs in to the frame, but it sure seems to make locating things before you weld a lot easier...
 
-
Back
Top