Stock UCA's and Shelby drop

67topless

Member

Mar 31, 2006

203

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16

Raleigh, NC

May 3, 2006

#1

• May 3, 2006

• #1

Can you use the stock upper control arm and still do the Shelby drop?

 

coolblue65

Founding Member

Jul 26, 1999

1,224

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39

Algonquin, IL

May 3, 2006

#2

• May 3, 2006

• #2

yes

 

mfp4073

Founding Member

Mar 14, 2001

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Hells Ditch, FL

May 3, 2006

#3

• May 3, 2006

• #3

+1, no problems. Just if you are in there, consider replacing some of the front end stuff while you are at it (if its not current)

 

67topless

Member

Mar 31, 2006

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16

Raleigh, NC

May 3, 2006

#4

• May 3, 2006

• #4

mfp4073 said:

+1, no problems. Just if you are in there, consider replacing some of the front end stuff while you are at it (if its not current)

Click to expand...

I actually just installed new coil springs - roller perches and the car is sitting higher than I want in the front. So I was thinking of incorporating the Shelby drop and then if needed cut the coil springs. I've put close to 100 miles on the front end since I changed out the coil springs last week... going to give them a couple of more weekends to settle before I start tweaking.

I just didn't know If there was going to be any binding if I dropped the UCA's an inch... all the marketing on the high end UCA's promote the re-alignment of the ball joint to eliminate binding. Is this just for track conditions?

 

2bav8

Founding Member

Nov 30, 1998

2,511

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47

Mesa, AZ

May 4, 2006

#5

• May 4, 2006

• #5

You will not have any issues with the 1" drop.
I highly recommend this mod for anyone who wants to improve the handling of their Mustang.

Lowering the upper control arm more than 1" does require either aftermarket control arms or the negative wedge kit to prevent binding issues. For the most part, this is only needed for serious track users IMO.

 

rbohm

Founding Member

Apr 12, 2002

6,698

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204

tucson,az

May 4, 2006

#6

• May 4, 2006

• #6

remmeber that the GT-350's kept the stock mustang control arms with the 1" drop. no reason a stock mustang cant keep the stock arms either with the 1" drop.

 

DarkoStoj

Founding Member

Sep 4, 2002

929

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39

Detroit

May 4, 2006

#7

• May 4, 2006

• #7

while the control arm is out, are there any beneficial ways of modding it? Boxing it or something.

 

mfp4073

Founding Member

Mar 14, 2001

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Hells Ditch, FL

May 4, 2006

#8

• May 4, 2006

• #8

the upper control arm relocation will only drop the front end by 1/4 of an inch. I HIGHLY recommend it for anyone wanting better control over the car. If you look at the geometery, the 1 inch drop on the body side will only translate to about a 1/4 inch on the actual ride side. I replaced my springs with 1 inch drop springs and did the shebly drop and only got about 1/2 inch total drop from my worn out springs.

 

LMan

Founding Member

Aug 10, 2002

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Mom's basement

May 4, 2006

#9

• May 4, 2006

• #9

DarkoStoj said:

while the control arm is out, are there any beneficial ways of modding it? Boxing it or something.

Click to expand...

Sure, Opentracker (John) has an entire writeup on this.

 

zookeeper

Founding Member

Aug 25, 2001

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109

Rogue River, Oregon

May 4, 2006

#10

• May 4, 2006

• #10

mfp4073 said:

the upper control arm relocation will only drop the front end by 1/4 of an inch. I HIGHLY recommend it for anyone wanting better control over the car. If you look at the geometery, the 1 inch drop on the body side will only translate to about a 1/4 inch on the actual ride side. I replaced my springs with 1 inch drop springs and did the shebly drop and only got about 1/2 inch total drop from my worn out springs.

Click to expand...

I gotta disagree here. I did the A arm drop a week or so before I cut my springs and I measured a 3/4" drop at the fender for a 1" drop at the A-arm.

 

B

BornInAFord

Member

Apr 22, 2005

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Bend, OR 97701

May 4, 2006

#11

• May 4, 2006

• #11

zookeeper said:

I gotta disagree here. I did the A arm drop a week or so before I cut my springs and I measured a 3/4" drop at the fender for a 1" drop at the A-arm.

Click to expand...

Did you re-use your stock spring perches? If so, I suspect the perches being stuck at an angle may have given you your results since the angle of the back of the stuck up perch WRT the ground is more horizontal. If you think about it, the spring perch mounting point on the stock control arm is around 2/3 of the way along the control arm toward the wheel. If you drop the mounting point of the arm 1", the actual relocation of the spring perch mounting point drops 1/3 this amount or so, since the ball joint remains at a constant height because of the spindle (actually the spindle may move in if you increase your camber, affecting the height a fraction of an inch).
Make sense?
Daniel

 

zookeeper

Founding Member

Aug 25, 2001

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109

Rogue River, Oregon

May 4, 2006

#12

• May 4, 2006

• #12

Yes, I did reuse the spring perches, and no, they weren't stuck in any postion. I know you won't get a full 1", but I kept track of what I did get and it was 3/4".