Livernois Motorsports’ Redesigned Differential Brace Wins Best Product At SEMA

Ford switching the S550 Mustang over to an independent rear suspension back in 2015 caused plenty of old-school purists to miss the solid rear axle.

Over the past decade, enthusiasts and aftermarket shops have embraced the platform, though the factory setup still leaves room for improvement under heavy power.

That ongoing evolution led to Livernois Motorsports’ redesigned differential brace for S550 and S650 Mustangs, which just took home the trophy for Best Performance Street Product at the 2026 SEMA Show.

Instead of following the crowd with solid lockouts or overly stiff mounts, the engineering crew looked at why the rearend bucks and binds in the first place.

Andy Ricketts of Livernois Motorsports explains that the factory chassis really needs a third line of bushings to properly balance differential movement. Adding that third support line balances the housing front to back and side to side so it can articulate without weird harmonics.

Rather than relying on standard small round inserts that compress and hit a hard stop, Livernois Motorsports’ redesigned differential brace uses custom-shaped elliptical polyurethane bushings built to absorb side-loads naturally.

Alongside those custom bushings, the company used its in-house CNC-machining capabilities to modify its original cradle so the updated version works directly with the factory differential coolers equipped on Shelby GT350, GT500, and Dark Horse models.

Earlier versions of the cradle physically cleared the cooler, but owners had to ditch the factory temperature sender and other stock pieces during installation. The updated layout retains the sensor and places it directly in the fluid path to read actual oil temperature instead of transferred case heat.

Every box comes complete with heavy-duty ARP hardware capable of holding up to huge horsepower numbers at the dragstrip. The shop’s own S650 Mustang is already ripping off 1.2-second 60-foot times on the track with this setup serving as the only aftermarket suspension component on the car.

Both the standard unit and Livernois Motorsports’ redesigned differential brace for cooler-equipped pony cars are available to order right now directly from the company website.