Adjustable strut rods

raleighstang65 · Feb 11, 2008

Starting to work on the suspension and have a few quick questions. Wondering if I should upgrade to adjustable strut rods or not. It's basically a weekend driver, no huge performance upgrades or hard driving planned.
Is it really worth the $350+ for the adjustable strut rods considering that it's not a track car? What are the main benefits? Seems like it makes fine tuning the alignment easier.
Also, I did a search and read a recommendation of putting a poly bushing in the front and rubber in the rear where the strut rod meets the frame, is this a good idea (if I reuse the original rods)?
Grenada disc swap is in the works as well if that factors into the equation.

Thanks-
Adam

hsr · Feb 11, 2008

Build your own adjustable ones.

Here are the parts I used: http://members.boardhost.com/MustangSteve/msg/archive/1173144059.html

and the pics posted by John Harvey: http://rides.webshots.com/album/548883173cxeeQg

mikethebike · Feb 11, 2008

I'm not a fan of rod ends on a street car, they have no give when you hit stuff like bumps, sticks, r-r crossings and such. I've never tried this but why could you not just use 67 and later adjustable rods?

skywalker · Feb 11, 2008

mikethebike said:
I'm not a fan of rod ends on a street car, they have no give when you hit stuff like bumps, sticks, r-r crossings and such. I've never tried this but why could you not just use 67 and later adjustable rods?

That would mandate 67+ lower arms. Plus, they aren't that adjustable. The reason for building the "adjustable" lower arms is that they are more easily adjustable. Rod-ends don't have give, but if you look at strut rods, and where the rod ends are, I highly doubt that it will hurt ride quality.

2bav8 · Feb 11, 2008

My ride definitely improved with rod end strut rods.
In no way did the ride get worse.

mikethebike · Feb 11, 2008

skywalker said:
That would mandate 67+ lower arms. Plus, they aren't that adjustable. The reason for building the "adjustable" lower arms is that they are more easily adjustable. Rod-ends don't have give, but if you look at strut rods, and where the rod ends are, I highly doubt that it will hurt ride quality.

Ok, so how would using 67 lower arms and rods work on a 65? Are they longer or shorter than a 65? Along with upper arm shims how much caster could you get? I try to picture the process and thin that you could mmove the upper arm back as far as possible and then pull more caster in with the strut arm. I really like cars with about 8 degrees.

raleighstang65 · Feb 11, 2008

So rod ends don't have bushings?

skywalker · Feb 11, 2008

raleighstang65 said:
So rod ends don't have bushings?

A rod end is simply a spherical bearing with a hole in it for a bolt to go through for mounting. Pretty common in aviation. They simply CAN'T have a bushing. And a bushing would defeat the purpose (strong, precise movement in 1 dimension.) The down side to them is that they too wear down and gain play over time. But then...bushings wear down also. Bushings allow movement in EVERY direction - at least strut rod bushings do.

As far as using the '67 lower arms. honestly, can't tll you to much about it. I've heard of people talking about doing it for the reason you specified but generally it is easier, cheaper and better to just use adjustable strut rods. They are easier to adjust (alignments on my '68 were measured in hours, rather than minutes) and quite frankly, more precise and stable. And as 2bav8 said, his ride quality improved. Can't argue with that and I can see why that is the case. It removes some of the side to side movement in the front suspension - your front end will be much less prone to vibrations. Now, I'm a helicpter mechanic and vibrations in a helicopter are one of the major design concerns. A car isn't quite as drastic, but it is definitely a safety concern.

raleighstang65 · Feb 11, 2008

Thanks Skywalker. I am leaning towards just cleaning up and painting the old strut rods.
Any thoughts on the poly/rubber bushing idea? I actually ended up with a rubber set and a poly set so I am inclined to try it (poly in the front and a rubber bushing in the back to still absorb some of the stress).

skywalker · Feb 11, 2008

If I was redoing the strut rods with bushings, I'd go with the poly bushings, period. I can't really see where a rubber/poly combo will help anything because the purpose of the bushing is to limit movement without destroying the mount.

Most of the movement limit will come from the rear of the mount.

garner67 · Feb 12, 2008

If you're looking for a single suspension modification to improve ride quality, you'd be much better off purchasing roller spring perches.

OpenTracker roller perch link

raleighstang65 · Feb 12, 2008

Opentracker roller spring perches are one upgrade I sprang for!
I've read that using poly bushings on both sides can potentially break a strut rod.

mysavioreigns · Feb 12, 2008

raleighstang65 said:
Opentracker roller spring perches are one upgrade I sprang for!
I've read that using poly bushings on both sides can potentially break a strut rod.

Yep, my friend has sheared 4 of them. Then I told him to go back to rubber, he did, and no shears since.

Opentracker · Feb 12, 2008

The poly/rubber combo works because the poly won't compress like the rubber does under braking. That's the upgrade you get with poly, less caster loss under braking. The rubber in the rear lets the strut move up and down with the suspension without breaking. On the 67-73 cars it is also important for the installer to not overtighten them. That can cause broken strut rods even with rubber bushings.

red65 · Feb 12, 2008

mikethebike said:
Along with upper arm shims how much caster could you get?

One of the big benefits of using adjustable strut rods is the ability to adust them for more caster than is possible with shims alone. The 65-6 cars came with a factor 0-degree caster setting - unheard of now. While 8-deg probably isn't attainable, 3-4-degrees should be possible, and it makes a significant difference in straight-line stability, steering return-to-center, and general road manners. Echoing 2bav8, I don't think there's any ride quality compromise associated with the rod-ends, but there's certainly a benefit in precision.

raleighstang65 · Feb 12, 2008

Appreciate all the advice guys! I think for now I'll work with what I've got.

66 Restomod · Feb 13, 2008

raleighstang65 said:
Appreciate all the advice guys! I think for now I'll work with what I've got.

I bought the Global West pieces online. I think they were 330 delivered. I'm in North Raleigh and the car's off 70 and 540 getting painted this month and next. You can see the GW pieces on the car if you ever want to drive over there to check it out.

RapidRoy · Feb 13, 2008

Don't forget about the heim joint. This helps to take the bind out of the stock suspension. One end of the rod attaches to the frame and the other end attaches to the lower control arm, which obviously does move. On the frame end, there is a rubber bushing which allows some movement. The relative non-movement of the frame end limits the movement of the lower control arm which moves with the wheel, thus binding travel of the lower control arm. I have Street or Track's rods. I made several modifications while I was doing the front suspension, so it's hard to comment on this one alone, but current handling is far better than stock. Rides nice and sticks to the road.

Adjustable strut rods

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