rear suspension options

[zm830101]

getting a lillte more serious about my '66 these days and i am trying to settle on suspension. i am pretty well set on the griggs stuff for the front. i would go with their watts link 8.8 in the rear but the torque arm hangs SO low. the car is essentially a clean slate as of right now.

i have looked at the dvs IRS option, the aforementioned griggs equipment. and some others. all i know for sure is the leafs have got to go!!

i wanna know what you guys are running, what you have run, what you have heard about. let me have it

 

[fvike]

I'm running the TCP rear pushrod suspension on my '69 Fastback. It's a bit harsher ride on the street than the leafs, but nothing brutal. On the road course, it preforms beutifully, and I have no problems hanging with, and overtaking modern cars like the Nissan Skyline and Mazda Rx-7, which are both cars that handle extremly well. For dragstrip duty, I haven't tried it so much, just a few passes, so I really can't say. The car ran good, but I think I got more in it on the suspension tuning. Street preformance; well, you'll drive thru the twisties with a big smile on your face.
If the tail gets loose, it's not a problem controlling the car in a powerslide. It's very stable.

The installation was a walk in the park, mostly bolt in, except for removing the parking brake wire brackets, and welding in 4 brackets for the suspension cradle.

Just for reference, I'm running a Detroit TrueTrac diff.

 

[Hack]

That TCP rear suspension looks nice. Do you have any comparison of your lap times with the stock leafs versus with the TCP setup? $5k is a lot for rear suspension IMO. Compared to my 1989 Fox Mustang's stock 4 link suspension, my '70's rear leaf suspension is MUCH better. Now I've upgraded the Fox's suspension and it's a lot better than stock (rear LCAs and panhard). It might be a little better than the '70, but not dramatically. I'm just wondering how much value there is for the $5k.

 

[fvike]

Sorry, no lap times. But they wouldn't mean anything because when I last was at the road track with leafs, I had stock brakes and an open 2.79 8". This time I had 13" Wilwoods in each corner, new suspension and an 3.70 TrueTrac 9". So there are to may changes to say what the rear suspension did for the car. But it's a lot, it feels more stable and balanced. It's just more fun to drive.

 

[zm830101]

any body used the g bar set up?

 

[fast_back_gta]

any body used the g bar set up?

Yes, I'm sure people has used the g-bar, maybe they havent tested it more than driving it on the streets.
Maybe Reenmachine would know how it handles some spirited driving, I too would be intersted.

 

[68EFIvert]

I have the Gbar but haven't taken it to the track. The ride is much more sure footed than the leaf spring suspension that was in there. I still need to play around with the shocks to adjust the ride quality. I am perfectly happy with it so far.

Install was easy but I did have to run the exhaust under the axle. I put in flanges at the back of the muffler so that I could remove the tailpipes if I need to service the axle.

 

[fast_back_gta]

68EFIvert, I see you've done many nice upgrades to your car so here's the million dollar question, does it handle like a modern car?

 

[68EFIvert]

It will drive circles around my Toyota Sequoia. It handles great. I haven't had it out much. Still just a few hundred miles on the car since I have completed it and most of the time I have had my family in the car. I also own a Lexus IS300 which has pretty darn good handling characteristics and I think the Mustang will hold its own against it. Much better than stock or the performance stock suspensions I have used in the past. I still need to play with the shocks to get the ride quality I want. I have adjusted the rear coil overs and it feels great but the front shocks are a bit stiff. Once I get some more miles on the car and the tweaking done I would like to take it to an autocross course to see how it really does. Because of the power and the handling components, I would wager a large bet on the Mustang over the Lexus on a road course any day.

My biggest problem is traction. The car would be very easy to drift (controlled if there is such a thing with a driver of my skills) while cornering and under boost from the blower.

 

[fast_back_gta]

Cool, thanks!
Looks really good

 

[zm830101]

I have the Gbar but haven't taken it to the track. The ride is much more sure footed than the leaf spring suspension that was in there. I still need to play around with the shocks to adjust the ride quality. I am perfectly happy with it so far.

Install was easy but I did have to run the exhaust under the axle. I put in flanges at the back of the muffler so that I could remove the tailpipes if I need to service the axle.

got any pics of the install?

 

[68EFIvert]

I have some pictures of the completed install. I will post them later tonight when I get home.

 

[68EFIvert]

This was before the exhaust. I have one with the exhaust in but can't seem to find it right now. I think there is a post I put on here a while back about Gbar exhaust that has a photo.

 

[fast_back_gta]

It's hard to see in the picture, but did you go with the poly-bushing one?
If so did you have to do a lot of wrestling to connect the control arms to the axle/frame?

 

[68EFIvert]

Yes I did get the poly bushing kit and it wasn't difficult to connect. The car was on a lift and the axle was also suspended while this was done.

 

[Marshall]

I can recommend a jaguar IRS, requires a small amount of underside modifications however the ride is truly excellent, corners like a todays car. I dont know about in the US but here in Australia a jag diff can be bought for around $1000.