2019-08-01+Car+Craft

restrictions. They’re designed to keep

the suspension traveling up into the

wheelwells and prevent it from mov-

ing sideways. The rubber in standard

bushings will flex, allowing the rear

axle to shift side to side. During heavy

cornering, banking, or a one-wheel

bump, the Roto-Joints work to reduce

that lateral movement. It’s possible to

run all solid ends on the rear control

arms, which would nearly eliminate all

lateral movement from the rear axle.

UMI offers adjustable rod ends on the

lower arms and Roto-Joints on the

upper arms. Our combination, with

polyurethane lower bushings and

Roto-Joint uppers, sacrifices some

performance for comfort, as solid

joints can be noisier and produce a

harsher ride. It’s the porridge that’s

just right.

➔SOURCES

Harbor Freight Tools;

HarborFreight.com

Strange Engineering;

847/663-1701; StrangeEngineering.net

UMI Performance;

814/857-5400; UMIperformance.com

Wilwood Brakes;

805/388-1188; Wilwood.com

The housing and S-Trac
have been proven in
1,000hp applications
and the HD Pro 9, even
more. This setup allows
us plenty of room to grow
into when we crank up the
boost. Now all that’s left
are dreams of big drifts
and monster burnouts.

AUGUST 2019 CARCRAFT.COM 41

The hub/disc slides onto the spindle on
the outside of the axletube, encasing the
parking-brake pads. Next, we lay a spacer and
a newly packed outer bearing in place. The
bearings are held in place by a nut retainer
washer followed by a special spindle nut.
Strange Engineering supplies a special nut
wrench that accepts a^1 ⁄ 2 -inch socket drive.
Because the bearings use an inner spacer, the
spindle nut torques to spec, without having
to spin the hub. We hammer down an ear on
the retainer to hold the nut in place.

Finally, the axle easily slides into place, but it’ll take a few tries to align the outer splined-

drive plate with the axle. The drive plate slips over the axle and studs. It’s held in place

with two small, flush Allen bolts. The studs handle the torque. The Strange Engineering

cap finishes off the assembly.

Strange Engineering and Wilwood
developed a floater brake package with
six different options, ranging from
$900 to $2,100. Our Superlite 4R four-
piston caliper, 13-inch drilled, slotted,
and Electro-coated rotors pair with our
front system, which uses the same
rotors and six-piston calipers.
For our street/road course plans,
UMI Performance suggested its Street
Performance Monotube shock with 20
rebound settings (PN S131, $229) and
2-inch lower springs on all four corners.
The lower control arms are made from
0.120-inch wall thickness mild-steel
tubing, and allow the use of a stock
sway bar, something the wagon
doesn’t have. The upper, rear control
arms feature UMI Roto-Joints for the
frame mount and Moog bushings for
the axle side, producing a balanced
setup between comfortable and
competitive.
UMI’s Roto-Joints allow for 28
degrees of total rotation with no