handling

meweehaa · Apr 5, 2004

My car handles like crap. It is extremely sloppy and I feel like any bump in the road will send me one way or the other. I have new springs new ball joints new shocks new tie rod ends new sway bar bushings. Any help figuring out would help. I have not had an alignment done yet because I was wondering if there is something else that should be replaced first. I have power steering and it is the original stuff. It does leak a little and by a little I mean a quarter sized drop every couple of weeks. Thank in advance, David

302RWP · Apr 5, 2004

when our mustang used to sqeak on ever corner we but some grease on the ball joints. turned out they were really rusted and just needed a little greasin. the outcome was terrific it handles COMPLETELY different, no exagerations. turns are smooth and the squeaks and creaks are gone . try it out see if it works for you too

pabear89 · Apr 5, 2004

How are the upper and lower control arm bushings?
they could be worn out by now.
Did you check them when you replaced the springs?

How much play is in the steering box?

A few things to consider,

PB

zookeeper · Apr 5, 2004

I can really relate to your situation. When I first bought my '68, I was amazed at how poorly the car handled. The bad part is that everything functioned exactly as well as it did when the car was new, which is not saying much. Here's a few tips to get you headed away from the white-knuckle syndrome: first, realize that the problem your facing is most likely flex-related and anything you can do to control flex is a plus. I'd start with a 1" front bar and a 3/4 rear bar. Not everyone agrees with rear bars, but they're on pretty much all new vehicles, and I wouldn't own a vintage Ford without one. Cost-wise, it's also pretty tough to beat the classic A-arm drop. It's easy, effective and free! If you don't know what that is, feel free to PM me or do a search for "Shelby Drop" and you should find what you're after. As long as you've got the A-arms out to drill for the A-arm drop, you may as well think about a shock swap. Good shocks will do wonders for your ride and handling and range from decent, non-adjustable oil shocks, to nitrogen-charged shocks, to Konis and Spax double adjustable (and double spendy) shocks. Personally, I like the way my lowered '68 drives, rides and looks, so I'd lower it a tad too. How big a tad is purely personal preference. Beware of spring swapping: too stiff will not be good for your kidneys or your 40 year old car. A coworker ignored all common sense and bought 620 lb fronts and 5 leaf rears and KYB gas shocks and is not even a little happy with the result. The car sits too high (even though the fronts were advertised as 1" drop) and rides like a logging truck. Not good. Leaf springs are easy enough to fix, simply remove one of the leaves and try again, but the fronts are not so easily fixed, so be careful when buying them. Another often over looked item is the steering wheel, the bus-size wheel that came stock on your car gives you waaay too much leverage and when combined with the sensitive power steering, is enough to change lanes everytime you so much as hiccup. A medium size wheel (no lowrider "chain" steering wheels please) will lessen the effect and make it more fun to drive, plus you can still loan the car to the missus since it will still have power steering. Also, as has been pointed out, worn bushings and the like never help, so consider swapping to graphite-impregnated urethane (no squeeks) when the time comes to replace the soggy rubbers. Good luck

meweehaa · Apr 5, 2004

I don't have a squeaky ride and as I pointed out the ball joints are new so out with that one. The control arm bushings weren't changed so that is a good possibility. The steering doesn't really seem to have too much play really it is just so stinking sensitive. I have noticed that on a hard turn it just feels a little funny. I am not sure how else to explain it. When I say hard turn I mean like turning into a parking spot. The shelby drop I thought about when I had everything tore apart but decided against it. It is more fore hard cornering roadracing isn't it. Mine car is a "little bit hopped up cruiser" and not really a canyon carver. I put stock springs in all 4 corners and KYB shocks in it and yes it does ride a little bit rough but I can deal with that. It is the sloppy handling that really concerns me. It didn't handle this bad when the old crap was in there. Do you think that an alignment would be very beneficial. I am not worried about the tires getting worn so that isn't a priority if that will be the only real benefit. If it is WAY out of alignment will that really kill handling as far as it being sloppy? I put new tie rod ends on and I guessed how far to screw them in based on how much was sticking out of the old ones. Any more help would be appreciatd.

jikelly · Apr 5, 2004

I am having similar problems with all new components. It sounds like yours is a bit worse than mine though. You should go and get an alignment, it will make a big difference and save your tires. I think my problems are being caused by a crappy steering gearbox and my srutrods.

69stanger · Apr 5, 2004

my mods are in my sig.

its weird but even with my new suspension my car still handles like a boat, the only thing my mods seem to have accomplished is smoothing out my ride. I still have not taken my car to the canyons to really test it but on the streets it seems to behave just like before but only more smoother.

meweehaa · Apr 5, 2004

Again I am not wanting to go to the canyons I just want a nice handling car to drive that I don't feel stressed out whenever I am driving it.

69stanger · Apr 5, 2004

have you replaced your rear leaf springs yet??

meweehaa · Apr 5, 2004

Yes like i said all new springs in the four corners. So that is out.

Tubo(2-bo) · Apr 5, 2004

Nice ride

IMHO Poly bushings on the front strut rods, a set of KYB's, & sway bars front & rear, should be mandatory basic suspension upgrades. Early Stangs dident even come w/radial tires, when new. These mods will at least bring the suspension up to radal standards. Ride is firm, though not too firm, sporty enough to match the cars imiage. After new brakes, the first thing I do to a newly aquired Stang.

dolfan87 · Apr 5, 2004

meweehaa said:
My car handles like crap. It is extremely sloppy and I feel like any bump in the road will send me one way or the other. I have new springs new ball joints new shocks new tie rod ends new sway bar bushings. Any help figuring out would help. I have not had an alignment done yet because I was wondering if there is something else that should be replaced first. I have power steering and it is the original stuff. It does leak a little and by a little I mean a quarter sized drop every couple of weeks. Thank in advance, David

If your car is improperly aligned, it will cause what your talking about. Not enough caster can cause the car to take off in a different direction when you hit a bump.

One question. When your car is sitting in the driveway at idle, and you turn the steering wheel...how far can you turn it before the tires move?

If your tires move right away, then the problem is most likely alignment.

However if your steering wheel turns and the wheels/tires don't move, you have a worn out steering box, or slop in the steering system somewhere.

let us know what you find out.

87

LanceMach · Apr 5, 2004

I'd suggest getting it aligned before you do anything else. Alignment can really affect your handling: if it's way off, it'll handle like a grocery cart! After alignment, there may still be something to fix, but if you removed the tie rods, then it needs an alignment.

This may not completely solve your problem, but I'd do that before I did anything else.

zookeeper · Apr 5, 2004

I have the 1 inch A-arm drop (I highly recommend it for ANY vintage Ford, not just carvers) and my alignment specs are as follows: camber= 1/2 degree negative, caster= 3 degrees positive, toe in 1/8 inch. With these specs my car drives like a dream and has much better steering feedback so you don't feel so "disconnected" from what the car is doing.

meweehaa · Apr 5, 2004

Ok I checked it with the car running and yes the wheels turn as soon as I turn the wheel. AND.....I just made an appt. with a local repair center to get my alignment done as I was typing this. Thanks for your help guys I will let you know how it turns out.

DarkBuddha · Apr 5, 2004

Dude, get the car aligned... You can't even barely attempt to get a true feeling for your car's handling until you do. I tried to drive my car after rebuilding the front suspension, and even though I'd measured the strut rods and did a home alignment, the car was still sketchy as hell. It was so bad that I couldn't do more than 30mph on the way to the alignment shop and even then I could only barely keep it in the lane.

So, if you're thinking about replacing anything else, just replace everything and be done with it. Then get the car aligned and then you can see how it really handles...

meweehaa · Apr 5, 2004

No disrespect Buddha but if you see my last post I have made the appt.

KillerKittyCat · Apr 5, 2004

My 69 Kitty tends to roll. The 65 Mustang handles much better with only a bar in the front and does not roll. The Eliminator has the "drag-pac" option but the weight from the 428 I think moves the balance forward. It will dive into a turn but not pull through the turn, as the back wheels lose traction. The Mustang will let me get on the gas as soon as I am brave enough. I would be curious if the 69/70 engines were mounted a little bit further forward than the previous years??? I really can not tell because I can see the ground under the Mustang hood but nothing under the Cougar hood.
Sorry this really does not help.

1967coupe · Apr 6, 2004

When you change the strut rod bushings is a alignment needed afterwards?

DarkBuddha · Apr 6, 2004

meweehaa said:
No disrespect Buddha but if you see my last post I have made the appt.

Oops... missed it. Sorry about that...

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