Torque PULL hard to the right

[Kstadt]

Hey,
This is my first time on this site and was wondering if anyone has any insite for me. I just purchased the most amazing factory five. The car was put together well including a supercharged bored out 347. The problem is the car pulls like a mule to the right on hard accel. Is this common and are there any fixes. gearing etc..?
Thanks in advance
Ken

[mr0077]

kstadt, nice syclone...I had a 92 typhoon, loved it, I think I'm gonna have to get another!
On your torque steer, check the rear end alignment, and the attachment points...not sure what type rear end the FFR cars have, but I had the same problem on a Shell Valley with a live 9" Ford rear end...turned out the rear end was not lined up with the centerline of the car...hit the pedal and the car pulled left, mash harder, the car would get sideways. Had another car with bad bushings on the rear end, pulled one way on acceleration, the other way on trailing throttle...
What else should he look at, guys?

[Mark Husar]

My cobra has a terrible pull to the left on the back end (assend swings to the left) under hard acceleration. I have learned how to steer out of it, but it is real squirrley.
I have not been able to track down the problem. The car was used as a vintage racer and it has a gadzillion adjustment points front and rear. I would guess this was for preload for different tracks.
I will take it down for a full alignment after reading the post about adjusting to the centrline of the frame. I will post afterwards to let you know how it turned out.

[xlr8or]

A 4 wheel alignment would be a good start. Make sure they measure thrust line.

Might also want to check if it's an 8.8 with the stock mustang quad link and verify there are no cracks.

Scott

[B. SMITH]

THIS IS SO SIMPLE BUT WE SOMETIMES ARE LOW ON TIRE PRESSURE IN ONE REAR TIRE. THIS CAN MAKE THESE LIGHT, SHORT WHEELBASE CARS PULL LEFT OR RIGHT UNDER ACCELERATION DEPENDING ON WHICH TIRE IS LOW ...
B. SMITH

[rdorman]

They have it. Rear is not square to the center line of the car. It will show up in a four wheel alignement.
Rick

[mrmustang]

HHHHHHmmmmmm, I have to clarify a bit more about the details of this particular car:

The car in question has roughly 520HP (347 stroker with a Vortec T trim supercharger on top of it) at the rear wheels, being run through a Tremec TKO transmission, with 3:73 rear gears in a working locker rear end......My assumption is that the car, in it's current state is pulling to the right from the sheer torque and power reaching the rear wheels. The amount of power, channeled through the rear end, coupled with Comp TA tires (275/40R17's) seems to indicate rear slippage(aka:spinning the rear tires) more than anything else.

Ok, with this added bit of information, I'll leave it to the rest of your tech guys to come up with the solution(s)........


Yours in Fords,

Bill S.

[Kstadt]

Hey,
First off thanks for the reply's.Jim who i purchased this awsome machine from bases the pull on the power of the motor. I'm not convinced. I have a Hunter 4 wheel alignment system at my shop and had a chance to put it on. The toe was slightly off. Not enough to create the tremendous amount of pull i expierience. I also noticed there are no motor mount bushings at all. Could this somehow be adding stress directly to the frame? In turn cause the pulling?
Thanks, Ken

[Jahred]

Question. Isn't it correct that there should be some natural "Helicopter" action evident, particularly off the line? I havent driven my cobra too hard yet, 514 with Ford 9 in, powertrac locker and Mosers, but I know if I give it too much gas in second, the rear end will kick out to the right (counter clockwise) a little bit. There is no "pull" evident in the front end. It just pretty much rises and snarls. But I understood, particularly with a fixed rear end/locker that as you lose traction, the torque created by the engine would cause the rear end to "kick out" a bit.

[Kstadt]

Thanks again. I just want to be very clear, when you mash the throttle in any gear above 2000 rpm's, the car gets dangerously out of control.Among other tips, I heard from one club member that the engine mounts might be an area i should look into.
Thanks, Ken

[KobraKarl]

Ken,

take your car out in front of your neighbours house, do a nice 20 ' burnout, do a u turn and have a look, one black stripe at the left tire = differential /axle problem and a huge pull on hard acceleration. if you get two black stripes your rear end is trying to go a different direction than you .

there really is no connection between steering and drive train ,and all of our cars want to walk around a bit under hard throttle but i wouldnt characterize that as steering pull.

good luck Karl

[mrmustang]

Hey Ken,

Engine mounts on this car are solid.....When you "mash the throttle" down, your creating enough kenetic energy to break the tires loose with the HUGE amount of horsepower/torque the engines is creating at a very low RPM. This is what your feeling as the car is getting sideways from the lack of traction....Nothing more, but most certainly, nothing less.......It's not like driving the C2, as the power there is not an all or nothing equation. The power band of your new car comes on at about 1,650rpms, and does not drop off until almost 5,500rpms (or wherever the MSD rpm switch is set at)......


Yours In Fast Fords,

Bill S.

[Kstadt]

Hey Bill,
What about big blocks (427,428...) that have to create just as much torque. Do you thinks they have the same type of pulling characteristics?
Ken

[mrmustang]

Hey Ken,

The Big Block Cobras (not all of them mind you) can pull the same amount of HP and Torque as the small block...However, with the small block being blown and injected, the power band will behave differently...The rear gear set your using will also play a major factor in getting the power to the pavement, as it acts as the torque multiplier in this equation........Put the 3:27 gear set in, I think you'll find it a far better combination for this particular Cobra............


Yours In Fords,

Bill S.

PS: The wife liked your C2, want to trade for a 74 TR6 driver class car ........

[Mr.Fixit]

Most high torque cars will have a preference as to which way the rear end wants to kick out. A little is normal, a lot is something wrong, none is well sorted out. These short wheelbase cars really want to have the rear end pass the front end when the throttle is down. What's the difference between "a little" and "a lot" that's subjective

[Junket]

Hit
I belive Fixit might have hit on something a lot is the first time you do it & a little is when you do it a lot
Ken

[terry lee]

ALOT OF TORQUE, ANY FRAME FLEX, AND YOU'VE GOT YOUR A$$ IN FRONT OF YOUR FACE BE CAREFUL!
NICE SYCLONE BTW; WE'VE GOT A MARLBORO, AND TYPHOON.
THE COBRAS AREN'T ANYTHING LIKE THE AWD SETUPS, NO FORGIVENESS.
TL

[flipper35]

Mine kicks back end to the right when I am alone, back end to the left when my 350# buddy rides along. Either case is easy to correct with a flick of the wheel.

[B. SMITH]

KSTADT,

IF YOU HAVE A LIVE AXLE, THE PROBLEM COULD BE THE FOLLOWING;

LOOKING FROM THE REAR, UNDER ACCELERATION, THE REAR AXLE ASSEMBLY WANTS TO ROTATE COUNTER-CLOCKWISE. THIS EFFECT PRESSES THE LEFT REAR WHEEL HARDER TO THE PAVEMENT THAN THE RIGHT, ACTUALLY LIFTING THE RIGHT WHEEL, LIKE OLD MUSCLE CARS.

THE END RESULT IS A LEFT SIDE LIFT AND A RIGHT REAR DROP AS THE CAR TRIES TO COMPENSATE. EVEN WITH A TIGHT DIFFERENTIAL YOU PULL TO THE RIGHT BECAUSE THE LEFT REAR IS DOING MOST OF THE FORWARD PUSH DUE TO THE ADDITIONAL TRACTION ON THE LEFT SIDE.

THIS EFFECT IS DRAMATICALLY REDUCED IN I.R.S. VEHICLES.

B. SMITH