popping issue around left shock tower

[grantur01]

Hey guys... my father was having an issue with his 66' fastback with the car swaying to the left while going over a hill. I figured I would start adding some items to his suspension to make the car sportier feeling and take care of that issue so that is what I was going to focus on this year.

I bought him some KYB Gr2 shocks for the front end (everything suspension wise is stock btw). Well we knew before hand that the drivers side spring has a spacer it in for whatever reason (to level the car?). The pop would happen every once in a while beforehand and now he had the shocks installed and it is very bad with popping if you hit a dip or something, a loud bang he says.

Well now he wants to yank them off and put the old auto zone specials back on. I'm trying to convince him that the shocks have nothing to do with the popping, that something is wrong and we need to figure out what it is. I don't think he's buying that.

On the drivers side both sets of shocks slip over like they are going to come out of the bushing at the top where the forks mount to the top of the shock tower...

Do you guys think the spring is in a bind and popping loose slightly while hitting a bump? Is there an issue with putting a performance shock on a stock classic suspension... Sorry, I'm young and stuck in the modular mustang world so my classic experiences are slim. To me the KYB's have changed the suspension geometry so the actual problem is more noticeable now.

Any help would be appreciated!!

 

[2+2GT]

Lose the spacer. If the car sits funny without it, it's a crummy fix for a shot spring, and you should get new ones.

 

[zookeeper]

GR-2's are great street shocks, so thet are definitely NOT the problem, unless one of them is loose. How old is the suspension? It's all original to the car, then it's very likely that it's also worn out. The fact you KNOW there's a spacer in one side of the car to level it out ought to tell you that the suspension is sacked. Time to get out the checkbook and rebuild the whole thing before someone gets hurt.

 

[grantur01]

oh wow, thanks for the quick replies

I don't know that the spacer is there to level the car but I'm going to assume that if we pulled that out.. like I want to.. the car is going to become unlevel.

I don't have major money on me but what springs do you think I should go with.. this is a 289 car and I don't plan on changing that so I'm not worried about extra weight from a bigger engine. Get some classic GT springs??? What do you recommend? This is a straight up street car/show car.

He's also complaining about vibration around 55 or 60. I think that is purely alignment though.... I've heard the Gr2 is a great shock and I really don't want him to pull them off. He's already going to call the shop tomorrow to get them pulled back off. I'm going to go over there today and look at everything and change his mind about it hopefully. He's embarrassed because it was popping in front of his car show buddies at a big show yesterday and he's blaming it on the shocks now

 

[zookeeper]

I can understand the popping being both irritating and embarrasing, so it really needs fixing, as you already know. I have Gr-2's on my '68 with stock springs with a full coil cut out and I love them. Having said that, I'd get some stock replacement springs, since you are right about once you take the spacer out, the car will likely not be level. Once you get the springs out, carefully inspect the suspension, the old springs and the shock tower for cracks and my guess is you'll find something obvious. Good luck. Also, why is he taking it to a shop to get the shocks changed? That's a 10 minute driveway job and he'll be able to inspect the suspension himself. I promise that if he takes it to a modern shop, they'll have him talked into $1000 worth of new parts before he leaves, maybe more once thay see that spring spacer.

 

[Rusty67]

I would guess that the springs are whats making the noise but who knows whats causing that. I would replace the perches as well as the springs. Get some Opentracker roller perches and some 520 or original type GT springs. Do not get 620 springs, they are WAY too stiff and it wont be a comfortable ride. That spacer is bad news.

While you are in there, inspect the bushings on the lower arms and see if they are worn out as well. The lower arm bushing can be torched out and a poly replacement can be put in. The lower ball joint isn't serviceable unless you modify the arm and install screw in ball joints in the lower. The ball joint in the upper arm can be removed and a bolt in can be installed. The upper arm shafts can be serviced but somes time the arms are actually no longer structurally sound by the time the shafts need replacing.

 

[grantur01]

well he doesn't work on cars too much himself. I'd do it myself but I guess it's just a thing where he has money to pay for it so he does. I don't have that extra money so I fix everything myself sans tuning. I'm going to go over to his house now and take the wheel off and do some inspecting at least..

I've done several spring jobs on newer mustangs and you don't need a spring compressor to get them out... I'm pretty sure I'd need a spring compressor to get these out on classics.. is that correct???

Thanks for the help.. once I'm in there, I'll definitely check out the ball joints and just the overall condition of the front suspension.. I'll have to refer back to this post about the ball joints and such. I appreciate it!

 

[zookeeper]

Yes, you needa spring compressor, but you can often rent or borrow them from parts stores or freinds. It's very easy to get the spring out if you have one, and getting the shock out doesn't require removing the spring anyway, two nuts on the bottom, a couple bolts on top and out it comes. Things to look for that may cause popping include loose or worn A-arm shaft bushings, bad ball joints, loose sway bar, loose shock, broken sping and possibly a broken shock tower. Taking the wheel off is a good start, and try putting pressure on various parts with a long prybar, if something moves very much or clunks, you've likely found the problem. One thing's for sure, it's NOT the shocks.

 

[grantur01]

well I just got back and saw that the drivers side spring is rubbing against that block or whatever it is that is on the outside "apron". Not sure how to explain it, I'm sure you guys know what I'm talking about.. Just above the spring pearch/seat there is a block, looks to be rubberized or something. The spring is sitting right by it and that is where the spring spacer is. It appears that maybe a coil is grabbing the edge on side loads as it happens in a dip or definitely whilst turning right.

I got NPD and CJ pony parts out and am having him purchase a new set of stock springs tomorrow...

I need to check out the spring seats once it's torn apart however.

Thanks again guys!

 

[zookeeper]

Glad to hear you found it. Sounds like you're talking about the bump stop/tower brace thingie that bolts on to the outside of the shock tower. If the spring's hitting that, it's certainly time for new springs. I'll bet he'll be much happier with how it rides and handles as well. Also, as long as you're ordering springs, spend another $40 for a spring compressor as well. I bought mine from NPD and it was worth twice what I paid just to eliminate the bad words!

 

[Rusty67]

I'm sure the spring perches are shot too. Convince him to buy a set of Opentracker roller perches. And get the GT spec springs =)

 

[rebel65]

opentrackers cost ... more. you could go ahead and get the roller diy set if you feel like a litle bit of .. DIY : )

 

[grantur01]

He got the springs and isolators today... apparently he is already getting them installed, lol. I didn't even get a chance I wish I had extra money to throw around like that

I was looking foward to getting some wrench time in on the 66'... I'll see what happens when it's done and report back the findings in case someone else needs the info down the road in a search.

 

[zookeeper]

It's not that big of a job, so hopefully a pro shop shouldn't charge more than an hour or two. I agree about the money thing, but more than that is finding a shop that I would leave my car in. Most every shop around here is extremely expensive and has a low average IQ.

 

[palerider94]

Should change perches even if you go with stock. Previous ownser of my car replacesd most front end parts but car would pull a little at higher speeds. I had to remove springs to fix shock tower cracks and replaced perches and car drives straight now. The old rubber was shot on the perches and I'm guessing was causing some binding. Stock perches are cheap.

 

[grantur01]

well he got the fastback back this evening.. he took it out and drove it for a while and no popping... guy that did the springs said it was rubbing the crap out of that block towards the outside of the shock tower. My dad is tickled, thanks a lot for your help!!

the left is still about 1/2" higher than the passenger side fender... I told my dad to have the dude check out the spring perches but whatev, lol. now he's taking credit for finding out what the problem was, haha.. gotta love ol' proud pops

But really.. thanks for everyone's help!