Whats the best weekend warrior suspension?

67coupestang

Founding Member

May 31, 2002

509

2

19

Apr 16, 2004

#1

• Apr 16, 2004

• #1

Not a lot of drag racing, nor road racing, just quick turns on the county blacktops, with a decent ride around town.. modified SLA, Mustang II, or a McPherson strut like a 79+??

 

DarkBuddha

Founding Member

Dec 11, 2001

2,215

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Seattle & Tampa

Apr 16, 2004

#2

• Apr 16, 2004

• #2

I personally feel that the stock suspension, with some well chosen mods, is plenty capable of handling competently and providing a reasonable ride. Admittedly, both the MII and strut type suspensions will provide an improvement, but I wonder if the cost is really worthwhile. This is where you need to make decisions about how the car will be driven, and how often. Based on what you posted, I think the stock suspension will do the job for a long time to come, give decent handling, and do it for a lot less than converting to either of the other types. As I said before, the trick is to choose the right mods...

BTW, something to consider... I personally stayed with a stock style suspension because I designed and intend my car for daily driver capability. This included thinking about where and how hard it would be to locate parts for the car ASAP (i.e. on a Sunday afternoon in Anywhere, USA) should I need to. I figured stock style stuff is still super easy to find, and is typically cheap enough. Depending on how custom the other conversions are, I'd be slightly concerned about locating parts and how much they'd cost.

 

S

Snail50

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Mar 24, 2001

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Miami

Apr 16, 2004

#3

• Apr 16, 2004

• #3

I just installed a full Grab-A-Track setup from M+ on my 67, and so far I really like it. Tonight I'm finishing the install of the rear sway bar, but even without it the car corners very flat, and the ride is not bad at all.

 

66P51GT

New Member

Nov 7, 2003

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Cerritos, CA

Apr 16, 2004

#4

• Apr 16, 2004

• #4

IMHO - the only reason to go to a MII or Strut type suspension is adding the ability to trim the shock towers to make room for a big block. For non-competition weekend warrior type driving, shelby drop, heavier swaybars, drop the car 1" and add HD springs and shocks and call it a day. Oh yeah, don't forget some nice wide rubber.

One additional advantage to the strut type offered by Fat Man is you can upgrade to the late model brakes such as the Cobra PBR.

If you want a little more, add sperical bushings to the front lower control arms (like those from Global West) and get a set of adjustable strut rods. I like the ones from Street or Track.

Add updated steering components, either rebuild your existing stock unit or go with a rack and pinion unit. Flaming River offers one but there are several companies that you can get kits from.

The nice thing about this approach is you can add as you need it. It doesn't have to be an all or nothing deal.

$0.02

 

HistoricMustang

Active Member

Apr 11, 2003

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Confederate States of America

Apr 16, 2004

#5

• Apr 16, 2004

• #5

All of you have it figured out! You do not need to spend big bucks to have fun in these early models. That is why they were so popular 40 years ago and it still applies today.

HistoricMustang
www.historicmustang.com

 

S

Snail50

Founding Member

Mar 24, 2001

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Miami

Apr 16, 2004

#6

• Apr 16, 2004

• #6

Let me add to my previous post. I just installed the rear sway and went for a drive. I gotta tell you it made a HUGE difference. Before I could really tell that the rear was the weak spot when cornering (felt wiggly and would lift a little in sharp corners) but now it's very firm and stable. I can snap it into a turn, and the rear tracks perfectly with no lifting and barely a wiggle. I just got back from a ten minute drive, and I can't stop grinning.

The M+ kit was a very easy install (three of us installed everything but the rear sway in one day; rear sway I did by myself tonight in about an hour and a half).

 

67coupestang

Founding Member

May 31, 2002

509

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Apr 17, 2004

#7

• Apr 17, 2004

• #7

hmmmm... all good input. I just really like the feel of the wheel in say like a 79 and up. The rack and pinion, the fact that the ball joint is IN the wheel, hmmm...

 

DarkBuddha

Founding Member

Dec 11, 2001

2,215

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47

Seattle & Tampa

Apr 17, 2004

#8

• Apr 17, 2004

• #8

67coupestang said:

hmmmm... all good input. I just really like the feel of the wheel in say like a 79 and up. The rack and pinion, the fact that the ball joint is IN the wheel, hmmm...

Click to expand...

Well, if you want the feel of a Fox body while driving vintage, then the FatMan conversion is probably the closest you'll get. Personally, I enjoy the feeling of vintage cars (as long as they're safe and track well)... it is different than modern rack&pinion strut type suspensions, but a classic is still easily and confidently controlled.

 

67coupestang

Founding Member

May 31, 2002

509

2

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Apr 21, 2004

#9

• Apr 21, 2004

• #9

well i think i'm going to go with a fox body strut style suspension... IF i can make it work, it should prove cheaper than redoing my suspenion with say TCP $$$$$$ especially since I'm getting a fox stang for $50 to start with

 

V

vobraman

New Member

Dec 2, 2003

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Apr 21, 2004

#10

• Apr 21, 2004

• #10

What size bar did you go with on the front, 1" or larger ? What leaf springs ?

 

Mach1steve

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Feb 10, 2004

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Burlington, Ont.

Apr 21, 2004

#11

• Apr 21, 2004

• #11

I road race twice a year

I have a 70 mach1 and I road race it twice a year, but nothing competitive, just hobby racing.
I chose to keep my factory type suspension & tweak it a bit.
Here's what I did...........................
-front sway 1-1/8" (no smaller)
- 1 peice export brace
- montecarlo bar (curved type to allow access to ditributor)
- poly-graphite bushings (stiffer than stock rubber)
- rebuilt the power valve in the power steering (less slop)
- KYB gas-a-just shocks on all 4's (street ride hardly suffered a bit)
- Porterfeild High Performance brake pads on stock front discs (stopped brake fade, get em from www.muggziperformance.com)

The car already had a factory rear sway.
I have NOT lowered the car.
With these in-expensive Mods I can easily keep up with the newer Mustangs on a Road Course type track, it corners like it's on rails.
I look forward to this fall when I plan on lowering the car 2"..... then it will be a REALLY hot ride at the track !
Mach1steve