IRS in Fox Body: Wheel Fitment

I'm sure it could be done, but the wheel back spacing (custom wheels) and the ride height would have to be perfect. They better be running a panhard bar or something too, or it will rub with any hard cornering.
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Yeah I think the car in the article is getting the full Maximum Motorsports treatment, including torque arm and panhard bar. It's a pretty sweet looking car, although the wheels are black FR500 wheels which I'm not a HUGE fan of.

Yeah, I'm not sold on FR500 wheels on a FOX yet either, I am a huge fan of Maximum Motorsports' products.

I sold my mustang, but I had installed their torque-arm rear suspension and I loved it. I'm regretting having sold the car now, and wish I could get it back.
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How was your car with the torque arm set up? Street/track/drags? I really want to try out the IRS in the Fox but i'm getting some negative feedback on it. eg. too heavy, no real benefit, etc.
I'm after a nice ride and good handling in a street car; I'm not really looking to build a drag monster.

It's a night and day difference from stock. The torque arm setup does everything well, and rides so much better than stock. My car did not 60 ft. that well (best I ever mustered was a 1.9 on slicks). The suspension was simply sprung too stiff for drag racing. An adjustable front strut may make a big difference though.

However, it cornered amazingly flat, and rode very comfortably.

The only negative I noticed is that you will get more noise transfered into the chassis, because of the bushings used in the control arms, panhard bar, and the torque-arm. For me it was livable, because the car was so much more fun to drive and you can easily drown it out depending on how loud and obnoxious you like your exhaust and/or stereo.

If I had the choice, in a FOX mustang, I'd probably go torque arm over the IRS, just because it's easier to install and it works very well.

I really like the torque arm idea, and researched/priced the options fairly extensively a couple of years ago. But I guess I decided on the IRS because a) it's rare and b) it supposedly rides like glass. I do like unique mods and because I plan to keep this car forever I'd like to (in a way) incapsulate the best technology available for these cars. And in 20 years, I'd like to be able to get in the car and feel like it was ahead of it's time [img]/forums/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

I was looking on American Muscle's website, and they apparently have wheels with backspacing for '05 and up mustangs. These wheels have pretty extreme backspacing at 7.15" and may work with my application. If the backspacing set the wheels too far in I suppose I could simply use spacers to set them back out. . . Yes?

For most people, IRS is just not a practical upgrade, but if you have the means, for ride quality and handling, it's hard to beat. Go for it.

I'd install everything first, before you order any wheels. Then take measurements to verify what exactly you need. Maybe you could get some take-off GT wheels cheap enough to get it on the ground, and go from there.

Also, consider this. The IRS as is no comparison to the solid axle in terms of performance (it's worse in most cases). However, check out the upgrade kits from Maximum Motorsports and any problems will be solved w/ their stuff. The main problem is the tons of rubber bushings in the system causes to much flex, especially in acceleration.

Actually the deal was sweetened by the fact that the IRS already had brand new MM bushings installed throughout. I want to do a couple more upgrades before installing it, such as a diff cover brace, upgraded tie rod kit and so on. Also, I think you make a strong point; that I should install the IRS setup first. Anything can look good on paper. . . The take-off GT wheels are a good idea also, as I hate to have the car down for any measurable period of time.