Everything To Know About The Stop The Hop Kits

When the S550 generation Mustang debuted in 2015, many people were skeptical about the move to independent rear suspension after generations of using the solid rear end in Mustangs. Other than the New Edge SVT Cobras, the Mustang has retained a solid rear end since it was created, but the S550 was intended to be more than just an American muscle car - it was designed to perform and compete on a global scale. With the changing market and the rapidly improving world of high-performance vehicles being easily had by the public, the Mustang had to adapt and become something new for it to stand out.

With this new design and performance, the S550 Mustang very quickly showed itself excelling in many things, including handling, acceleration, and overall high-speed driving. The 5.0L Coyote V8 fit perfectly in the car and with each generational update, the car continued to improve. While the new Mustang could perform better than ever before, the new suspension setup did have one weakness when it came to putting the ever-increasing horsepower down to the pavement. These cars, with their new setup, generated wheel hop when they accelerated hard in any setting, not just when racing on the track or drag strip. We at Steeda decided to develop solutions to this wheel hop issue in order to help other enthusiasts get the most out of the driving experience with their S550 Mustangs.

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What Is Wheel Hop Street Kits Handling Kits Drag Kits Which Kit Is Best For You?

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What Is Wheel Hop?

Wheel hop on the S550 Mustangs is what we call the jumping that the rear wheels will do at times under hard acceleration. Prevalent in the newly-redesigned suspension in the S550 generation Mustang, wheel hop is that sudden violent and rapid jerking or bouncing that you may feel in the rear end of the car. Under hard acceleration, these Mustangs are notorious for this happening, and while it is completely normal for this car, it does feel like the rear end of the car is coming off of the vehicle and can scare people if they don't expect it. This wheel hop is the car ineffectively putting the power down, and the constant hopping is the suspension trying to keep the car level while it is also trying to put the horsepower to the pavement.

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Stop The Hop Street Kits

For many Mustang owners, the S550 is the first option when buying their cars. They wanted something new, something elegant but still aggressive and that sounds incredible under acceleration. However, as a result, many of these first-time Mustang owners surprised themselves by the car's power under acceleration and needed to do something to improve acceleration by limiting rear-wheel hop under acceleration. For this exact reason, we developed different level kits to prevent and fight wheel hop. For the beginner, the “Stop The Hop” Starter Kit is a simple way of fighting this issue for not much money. The starter kit includes Steeda IRS Subframe Support Braces, the Steeda IRS Subframe Alignment Kit to fill any gaps in the vehicle's chassis setup, and finally includes Steeda IRS Subframe Bushing Support System which work together to fight wheel hop better than anything for a comparable price.

Moving further for the beginner who wants to build their car further, the Steeda “Stop The Hop” Enthusiast Kit. Building off of the Starter Kit, the Enthusiast Kit adds Rear Lower Control Arm Spherical Bearings which are designed to “eliminate the factory deflection that can cause up to 2 degrees of inward toe upon acceleration, and improve chassis responsiveness”. When paired with the IRS Suspension Braces, Alignment Delrin Dowel Kit, and Subframe Bushing Kit, these parts work perfectly in stopping your car from unwanted chassis movement under hard acceleration at the drag strip or simply on the street.

For the enthusiast who has not chosen which type of driving suits them best between drag racing or handling-intensive performance, the best option in fighting wheel hop comes in the form of the “Stop The Hop” Ultimate Kit. As the ultimate in the entry-level kits, the Ultimate goes one step further than the Enthusiast Kit to bring the best in eliminating unwanted wheel hop under heavy acceleration. With the addition of Steeda Adjustable Rear Toe Links to provide over an inch of adjustment to the toe angle, this final piece of the setup brings your Mustang together to handle on launch as well as when cornering at higher speed. With this full Enthusiast set up, you will be able to have your 2015-2021 Mustang drive better than ever before while giving enough of an experience while driving your car to enjoy it both around town and when you bring it to race.

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Stop The Hop Handling Kits

For the high-performance handling enthusiast, preventing wheel hop means more than simply making the rear wheels not hop under acceleration. To help handling and performance-driving enthusiasts with their builds, we offer the “Stop The Hop” Handling Enthusiast Kit which builds off of the Street Enthusiast Kit to focus on keeping your chassis rigid both when accelerating and when cornering. The “Stop The Hop” Handling Kit includes additional bushings which provide even more rigidity than the average bushings that are run in these kits. This means more performance from the different types of bushings. The more firm the bushings, the less flex can be found around the differential of the car, keeping the chassis more stable and less likely to flex.

The Steeda Stop The Hop Handling Ultimate Kit is the best way to improve handling while stopping wheel hop.

For the best in improving handling with the Stop The Hop setup, you can't find better than the Ultimate Kit. The Stop The Hop Ultimate Kit comes with two more parts than the Enthusiast package. With the addition of Aluminum Vertical Links with Polyurethane Bushings and Adjustable Rear Toe Links. These improve upright stability while cornering as well as improving the toe angle of the wheels in order to ensure a wider contact patch is made with the rubber on the pavement which helps keep the car firmly planted. These kits help the car corner better than ever before and when you put it on the track you'll feel a difference immediately.

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Stop The Hop Drag Kits

Similar in its start from the handling setup, the Drag Enthusiast Kit builds off of the foundation set by the Street kit. From there, the kit adds Rear Adjustable Camber Arms which allows the car to sit more flush while adding degrees of camber for straight-line use. Additionally, the kit adds Rear Lower Control Arm Spherical Bearings to round out the kit. With these two parts added to the kit, the Stop The Hop Drag Enthusiast Kit works as a perfect building point for the drag racing enthusiast just starting out with their build.

The Steeda Stop The Hop Drag Ultimate Kit is specifically designed to ensure that your S550 tracks perfectly straight when racing.

For the absolute end-all-be-all in our drag racing line is the Stop The Hop Drag Ultimate Kit is intended for completely eliminating wheel hop on the drag strip. The pieces in this kit are more comprehensive than in the others in order to provide the best launch when drag racing your S550 Mustang. This 8-piece kit comprises our IRS Subframe Support Braces, Bushing Supports, and Alignment Kit as a base. From there, it includes Adjustable Rear Camber Arms, Adjustable Vertical Links With Delrin Bushings, Adjustable Rear Toe Links, Rear Lower Control Arm Spherical Bearings, and Ford Performance Knuckle To Toe Link Bearing Assembly. This is the ultimate setup, as we show with its name, but we have shown how good this Stop The Hop setup is on our drag cars that we have run before on the strip.

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Which Stop The Hop Kit Is Best For You?

Steeda's #20 racecar running the track at Daytona.

When it comes to picking which kit to buy, you need to think about a few different aspects, such as how hard you drive your Mustang, how much you want to modify it, and how much you intend to use it. If you are just getting a feel for the S550 platform and simply want to improve your car's handling in day-to-day life, either the Stop The Hop Street Starter or Handling Kit should be your first choice. Once you have figured out your driving style, adding in the parts from the Street Ultimate kit is a simple change that should drastically improve it. If you have decided to build your Mustang with a focus on handling and track use, focusing on the Stop The Hop Handling Enthusiast kit and Stop The Hop Ultimate kit will be beneficial. These are for people who want to do more handling-intensive and track-oriented driving events. They are guaranteed to make your Mustang handle better than ever while avoiding the wheel hop issues. If you want to build your Mustang into a drag car, running the Stop The Hop Enthusiast Drag kit or Ultimate kit are the only ones you should consider, with the Ultimate being for a purpose-built drag car.

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