5 leaf mideye and del-alum bushings???

BlueMonster65

Founding Member
Feb 24, 2001
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16
Connecticut
there's alot of suspension talk here and over on corner carvers. but i wanted to know if there is anybody using the combination of 5 leaf mideye and del-alum bushings. i just purchased them from mustangs unlimited and hope to install them soon. i am hoping that the del-alum bushings will be good on the street and will help control lateral movement because my old 4 leaf springs allowed the rear to move around way too much.
 
I have a set of Eaton springs I bought from NPD. They are a four leaf 138# standard eye 1" drop. I am using KYB gas-a-just shocks and also have the G/West Del-a-lum bushings. The ride and handling are excellent. I didn't want to give up all ride comfort and install a five leaf spring, here in the Northeast the roads take a beating all winter. Sometimes it is halfway thru the summer before all of the potholes are filled back in again.

There are some photos of my car on my CarDomain page, they will give you a good idea of the stance. The front fender lip to floor measures 24 3/8, in the rear it measures 24 1/4. While I would like to get the front lower that the rear, I'm not going to tear everything out for 1/8 of an inch, at least not until I have to do something else.
 
The corner carvers guys are pretty radical about performance handling. This is not always the same as what you want or need for a street car. I cannot answer your specific question, but I would be very careful. For example a rear sway bar may be just the thing to fine tune a track car, but can cause excessive oversteer on a street car that is not as carefully balanced.
 
John Z said:
The corner carvers guys are pretty radical about performance handling. This is not always the same as what you want or need for a street car. I cannot answer your specific question, but I would be very careful. For example a rear sway bar may be just the thing to fine tune a track car, but can cause excessive oversteer on a street car that is not as carefully balanced.

Yes, the boys over at CC do not really get the picture on early models.

The rear end moving around is not all that bad in the early model. I use neither a panhard bar or rear sway bar at speed to keep the rear loose so the front will turn better.

HistoricMustang
www.historicmustang.com/tech.html

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We have poly on the orange car right now too. I'm changing it to Del-alum before the next outing. Sould free things up like the perches do up front. We'll see. Good to hear from you too. You know what they say about all work and no play!

John
 
I've had a set of Del-a-Lums on my 5 leaf standard springs for a couple of years now with no problems. Mideyes shouldn't be any different other than ride height. I use my car on the street and at the track and the ride is smooth over bumps but I do get a little more vibration/harshness over course pavement. They definately do a better job of controlling lateral movement than rubber or poly but not as good as a panhard or watts link. I think you'll be happy with them...

68Restoman
 
Opentracker said:
We have poly on the orange car right now too. I'm changing it to Del-alum before the next outing. Sould free things up like the perches do up front. We'll see. Good to hear from you too. You know what they say about all work and no play!

John


Please let us know what you think after the next outing. I'm curious myself. Since my car will be used on the street most of the time the del-a-lum's would be a cheaper alternative to a panhard bar or watts link for those of us than probably don't need one. Even if we DO want one.:D
 
thanks for all the help. i'm pretty sure i made a good choice. i too am curious to hear how they perform on a race track so hopefully opentracker will let us know how things go cuz i don't think i'll be going on one any time soon. as Jimmys66 mentioned i'm just hoping to control lateral movement and i figure its a little more money than a panhard bar but less fabrication and its a lot less than the watts links i've seen around. i don't plan on running a swaybar i don't have any room for one anyway, and suposedly with the del-alum bushing i shouldn't need one. thanks again