[decooney]

Hello Mike L, Bob P, others,

Got an update for you or others that have been following this thread for the ERA Jag IRS upper link/dampner kit. a.k.a WHK-ERAD01.

The final has been mounted and tested; version 2.5 to be exact. It includes a 50/50 horizontal dampner, with solid mounted steel only fixtures to the Jag hubs and to the rear part of the chassis. I have about 100 miles on the car now driving in varying road conditions and surfaces. The 2nd prototype has a few design changes for ease of installation purposes. It includes 4 tapped holes/bolts to mount the front hub brackets, 4 bolts to mount the rear frame brackets; two being Rivnuts for the frame, the other two using existing holes. Here are the final results, using my GoodYear Eagle tires and Spax Coilovers:

- From a roll, stabbing it to the floor about at about 8-15 mph, the tires bite harder now, and there is no wheel hop with less tire spin on my tests. You do feel the car lurch forward in a different manner. Even when just taking off from a stoplight you notice something is different. Subtle, but you do notice a change.

- Out of turns you notice it grabs differently or sooner, and I can't explain it really, you'd just need to drive it to see what I mean. I have to get use to how it behaves again out of turns. Feels like there is a bit less slop now and the rear almost comes around just a tad bit quicker, like its more planted somehow. Can't explain it in words really.

- From a dead stop or at 1mph launch shock loading the rear end, it still wheel-hops enough to complain, but not as irratic as before; I'd say an easy 50% reduction under a harder launch. I only tried this once and don't want to try this again...

- The actual measured travel on the dampner itself (how much it acutally moves or dissapates) is about 1/4 inch each way. This to me says there is up to 1/2" movement on the hubs of these cars, even when there is a dampner.

I guess my next test will be to go back to the subframe, retorque all bolts, check control arms, add some air to the rear tires, and go 2-3 clicks firmer on the Spax shocks and call it a day.

In summary, I would say that it makes a noticeable or moderate difference in a few different ways, however wheel hop is not completely eliminated on hard launches; only soft launches after testing it with my tires and shocks. It looks like it belongs there... Your tests may behave differently using your tires/shocks, etc. Its a bit of work to drill/tap and install and get everything properly mounted for both brackets on each side. The whole kit may only be worth doing for 1 out of every say ten ERA owners out there; but I like it so far.

At this point, I'm not going to make any further changes to the design and will just go with this in its final form as it is today.

Take Care.
Duane