Upgraded Torque Boxes

It doesn’t take much to twist a Mustang’s frame into oblivion. We’ve all seen examples of drag-race Mustangs that have been run hard without any kind of chassis reinforcements. Tell-tale signs are little dents on the roof and waves in the quarter-panels, caused by the flexible chassis twisting under the demands of big power and good traction. Subframe connectors and a cage will eliminate this, but there’s another weak area in the Mustang’s chassis—the torque boxes. It only takes a few 5,000-rpm launches with slicks to start ripping up the torque boxes even on a stock Mustang—but when you throw real power at it, it gets ugly in a hurry.

The torque box is held together only by spot welds, so many people just weld them up by running a bead joining the torque box with the framerail. This practice provides extra strength for the torque box, but you’re still talking about sheetmetal, so the ideal way to sure up the torque box area is to install Wild Rides’ Battle Boxes. The Battle Boxes reinforce the torque box area by strengthening it and greatly lessening flex. Continuous stress on the torque box area from the twisting of the rearend under hard acceleration causes them to tear, but it doesn’t happen all at once. Think of it as an aluminum can. If you twist the ends of the can in opposite directions, it fatigues over time until it eventually begins to tear in half. The same goes for the torque boxes. This condition is more common for Mustangs that have traction enhancements at the rear. The greater the traction, the more stress is exerted on the torque box.

Furthermore, the Battle Boxes provide an excellent base for other frame-stiffening components such as subframe connectors and rollcages. As a matter of fact, you can route your cage’s rear bars to connect to the upper support of the Battle Boxes. The Battle Boxes will go a long way in ensuring that you’re prepared for battle.