Wheel hop, The destroyer of my transmission...

[rotinaj13]

ok guys I was trolling the net, and found this:

the biggest cause is weak control arm bushings as well as weak motor mounts. you dont actually spin the tires, nor do they actually "hop". what happens is with [shizzle]ty mounts, theres slack, or general mushiness in the control arm bushings. then, when you hammer on the power, the tire jerks forward, taking up the slack very quickly, then slamming against the harder(not worn) part of the bushing, or even worse, the steel sleeve because the bushing is fubar. when the wheel and control arm, and whatever else that just ran loose, all of a sudden getts reeled in, and all of this rotating inertia tries to get released into the ground(forward movement) but breaks the tire loose for a second. while the tire is spinning, it doesn't have the traction or speed to keep the tension on the driveline and bushings, so everything bounces back, then the tire gets traction again, and slams everything up against its limits again. and again. and again.

long story short, how old are your control arm bushings? ever thing about replacing them?

[rotinaj13]

I used to get wheel hop bad until recently when I replaced both front control arms, new energy suspension sway bar end links, tie rod ends, and filled my front and rear motor mounts. Since then I have not got wheel hop once. I'm not sure exactally what eliminated it but one or all of those things may help.

[rotinaj13]

Here's a little graphic to help you out...

And yes, your suspention will also have something to do with it. If you've got bushings that are worn enough to still have signifigant wheel hop after repairing worn motor mounts, you're likely having other problems in addition to wheel hop. Problems like wheel alignment, clunking, odd steering sensations...ect ect

[rotinaj13]

Polyurethane caulking. Various hardness levels are available. Do a search to see what brand/hardness does what.

That applies to filling the engine mounts.

Let me know what you guys think. I dunno exactly what the main cause is but from what these ppl were saying all of these fixes all but eliminated there wheel hop.

[Silv3rBull3t]

Yeah from everyone I've talked to, if you can deal with the vibrations the solid/filled motor mounts give you, then that's the way to go for launches and performance. Festiva's also usually have shotty motor mounts half because they are usually old and worn (older cars) and because it is an econobox... Not exactly built for drag launches.. Just my thoughts since I haven't done it yet but am planning on it this weekend.. I'll let you know how it goes and the noticeable advantages/disadvantages I get from it... -Kyle

[B6T]

Front suspension bushings, tire pressure, pavement surface, etc all have an effect on wheel hop too. I never got wheel hop once on the street, but once I ran street tires on the sticky drag strip, the wheel hop was so bad I was surprised the transmission didn't explode that instant.

Eventually, I'm going to weld up a 4th engine mount on the drivers side from the transmission to the unibody, that way the mounts on the cradle will only have to serve as torque mounts and not torque + engine weight mounts... I think that would be place considerabley less load on the weak (by design) front rad support and rear engine cradle support.

[Gro Harlem]

i got some poly c/a bushings but my mounts are fubard...i gotta drive like a grandma now to prevent the engine from banging against the firewall :-/