Pretzel

Bugger, we need to get the larger button in the poll to say Vote, not Null vote! Idiots like me hit the button to add my vote in the poll, but stupidly hit the larger button (Which is Null)... Or am I the only one ? Put me down for a No vote though, I don't have any noticeable whine in the diff at this stage !

Good attempt at using redundant bits in the car, but personally I don't believe it will work, as all you will be doing is putting a restriction in the oil system, just after/before the filter. (But prior to the oil being pumped into the engine, assuming you'd be planning on using a readily available filter adapter with oil line in/outputs!). Which is obviously very bad to the longevity of the engine, as it will mean you're not getting full flow of oil throughout the oil galleries. I would guess the top end would be the last part in the oil system to get lubrication. How long would you like to run the T with no oil getting to the valve gear ? Let alone the additional pressure you'd have the pump pushing all the time to get through the restriction (Try breathing through a straw, possibly extreme example but the same idea !) I seem to remember Peter (APS) mentioned in an earlier thread about being very careful to have an oil cooler that wasn't going to be restrictive, otherwise you'd cause all sorts of problems, and the size of the pipes in the trans cooler in the radiator would definately fall into the too small category. Just my thoughts, and I'm happy to be proven wrong, but there's no way in the world I would consider doing it to any vehicle I drive (Also a bit hard on the T being a manual !)

Fordtech, When I first brought up the problem, I was told about that and had a look. With the way the bottom skirt comes under the vehicle, I don't think it would be easy (In fact I don't think I would be able to do it at all) to put the pin in behind the bar on the sedan. I know the ute's do, but they have a lot more access behind the bar than the sedan because of the spare wheel well in the sedan. I am still waiting on a response from Hayman Reese, but they have had one of their fitters look at the car now ! I also looked under the car, and there appeared not to be enough adjustment to get the pin to clear the bar ! Pretzel

Thanks JBXR6T, I'll jump under and see what sort of adjustment there seems to be under the car. I agree though, it is poor fitment, and the salesman's (I'll use that term loosely, he knew nothing about the product he was selling) response (I noticed it upon delivery) was 'Oh that's normal, try putting a piece of foam between the pin and the body to stop it damaging paint !'. I ordered it with the car, so am surprised if Frontline is the supplier to Ford that I have a Hayman Reese one, although I assume the dealer must have got $5 bucks more profit by fitting this one? Pretzel

Hey guys, I know there's been a lot of discussion about the poor fitment of some Ute Towbars which generally comes down to the care taken by the fitter, and I apologise if this has been covered before, but with a sedan and the heavy duty Hayman Reese towbar, does the retaining pin actually go into the hole properly in your cars? With mine, looking from the side of the car, the hole for the retaining pin is actually only half way out past the bottom edge/skirt of the rear bumper ! Meaning that for me to put the pin in, the bumper must be pushed in so the hole becomes clearly accessible, and even once in, the pin is still in contact with the bottom of the rear bar (Which obviously causes paint damage) See photo taken of rear bar showing hole in towbar (Or lack thereof!) I am in the process of trying to have something done about it, but supposedly Hayman Reese do not know of this issue, am I the first one to have found this ? Regards Pretzel

TurboCrazy, I think you're on your own with the sounding rude bit (Well it doesn't to me!) And you're on the right track with your thoughts as to what Wheel Polishing is too, It is basically the removal of the coating on the wheels, polishing the alloy up, and then I believe coating them in some sort of clear to make the shine last ? Any wheel/tyre place would be able to get it arranged for you, and I believe anything from about $100 per wheel.

OwnaXR6T, The pic was taken out the front of The Tyre Factory in Thomastown, VIC

Here's a before and after of mine with the standard 17's Not the best after shot, but you get the idea !

Edo, The rear Calipers don't actually have any involvement with the operation of the hand brake. I'm not sure when this was introduced, but my guess would be from say EA onwards ? The rear disks have a small drum brake built into the back of them, which is operated completely independant of the disk brakes ! Generally the cause of scraping noises from the rear end too ! As for mounting the 4 pot calipers on the rear, you should only require some sort of mounting block/adapter to be made !

cul08r, You could be right, I seem to remember that was what they called them (But I had slept between then and when I typed in the post) So I could have gotten mixed up ! And the part numbers are the same as yours as well I think (again from memeory) but I did get the same sort of drop in ride height ! Haven't bothered with the swaybars at this stage. do you know what size you have had fitted ?

Peter, When you're talking about huge front rotors, are you talking one piece, or two piece? My preference would be for the two piece to help with heat dissipation and warping due to heat etc.. But I realise that heat dissipation is probably not a real issue with most of the cars these upgrades will end up on ! As for colour, yes Red may look nice, but then is it just going to be seen as another 'Brembo wannabe' ? Why not choose something away from the norm, say a nice Blue(print) colour which would look good, and also be different to the majority of other brake upgrades ! Regarding the rear's it may be nice to match the front rotors, with at least larger rear rotors (Not necessarily huge rotors, but larger slotted ones perhaps), and just supplying brackets to offset the existing rear callipers (To compliment the improved performance/look of the fronts) I would also hope that Braided lines would be included to assist with consistent pedal feel under all conditions etc.. My vote is also for the 17" wheels, and I would be willing to fork over around the 3K mark for the whole upgrade.

Peter, Yes, your explanation was very helpful. At this stage I'm planning to go for either Phase II or Phase III so either way the exhaust would be sorted out in the process. Just making sure I have all the facts (And in this case it was a suggestion on your web-site for the Phase III, so I wanted to understand why) Before I go and spend the dollars ! I'd rather get it right the first time ! Your availability to answer questions is much appreciated. Thanks again !

Thanks for the explanation Peter, I shall be putting better Valve springs into the required upgrade list ! In my experience, for an engine to be destroyed, detonation does not have to be hard or long. I have had an engine fail after getting what we believed to be a bad batch of fuel (I didn't bother to test any though) The vehicle had been on a Dyno, and was tuned fine, ran probably 30 laps around Phillip Island. (Same fuel it was tuned with). Put in more fuel, and did not manage to get another half a dozen laps, before having it stop ! I did not notice any Pinging, but it had obviously been there once the motor was pulled down! This was a normally aspirated engine, I imagine things are a whole lot more critical in a Turbo Charged engine !

Those of you that have had King Springs fitted, do you know what the springs that you had fitted were called? I am having a set of 'Super Low' fitted to the front this afternoon, and 'Super Super Low' to the rears. This is supposed to give me a nice low (But not too low) ride height with the rake from back to front removed, the vehicle's sills will then be sitting level with the ground. Has anybody else fitted this combination ?

Just wondering why replacement valve springs (Inlet and Exhaust) are suggested with the APS Phase III. My understanding on putting in better valve springs in performance engines is that this then allows more revs without Piston meeting Valve in a dark alley at very high speeds ! where neither come out quite the same, and cost lots of dollars to rectify ! Now assuming my understanding is correct, and as the Phase III does not seem to be revving any harder than stock (According to the Dyno Graph on the web page) what is the reason for putting better (I guess heavier) valve springs in the motor ? Would the valve springs supplied in the motor already not be suitable for anything we can throw at them (Providing of course we stay at or below the factory imposed rev limit). What would the difference be between a Phase III with stock springs, and one with heavier ones (Heavier ones would put a little bit more load on the cam and followers, which would take a whisker more force to open, would that not affect the engine's output slightly ?) Just want to get all my info right before approaching the Minister for War about funding an upgrade!