Suspension

Initial plans for the Mustang was for one bad-ass street car.  This worked out well and I was fairly happy with the setup on the mountain roads around my hometown.  Then I started autocrossing.  Needless to say, the car is a bit hard to handle on an autocross course, but as I got better the car’s deficiencies were not as bad as I originally though.  A few changes to the setup will occur in the future, but the streetable theme is going to continue since the Camaro has become my primary autocross ride.

From way back in my college years, here’s a corner weight sheet with my 165lb butt sitting in the seat:
Corner Weights

Quick Suspension Specs:

Front Control Arms:  Reproduction factory ’67 units with greaseable fittings in upper control arms and upper control arm relocated per Shelby specifications.  Bushings are Delrium “poly-like”.
Strut Rods:  Factory ‘67
Front Sway Bar:  Magna 1 1/8” with Poly End-Links
Front Springs:  Generic “610” 1” drop coils
Front Shocks:  KYB Gas-A-Just
Steering:  Total Control Products Manual Rack and Pinion
Rear Springs:  Magna 4 ½ leaf mid-eye leaf springs
Rear Shocks:  KYB Gas-A-Just
Rear Traction Device:  “Shelby” Underrider Traction Bars (mounted to subframe connectors)
Rear Sway Bar:  None
Rear Shackles:  Reproduction factory ’67 units
Chassis Stiffening:  Mustangs-Plus subframe connectors, Monte Carlo bar, Export Brace

Wheels/Tires:  Vintage 45 16×8” wheels with 4.5” backspacing.  Tires are 225/50/16 Avon M-Tech 500s in front and 245/50/16 Nitto Drag Radials in the back.

Future Changes:

Upper Control Arms

The Shelby drop helps the camber deficient Mustang suspension, but causes a bind in the upper ball joint.  A negative wedge kit or Opentracker’s A-arm modification fixes this.  I plan on modifying my upper control arms per Opentracker’s specifications, moving the ball joint and adding an adjustable spring perch.  In addition the bind-prone spring perch will be replaced with a roller bearing spring perch.

Lower Control Arms

Replace these control arms with new arms using a threaded mono-ball at the chassis interface to allow for greater negative camber adjustment.

Strut Rods

Replace with rigid adjustable rods and reinforced front mount.

Steering

Having found out after the purchase of the $1500 TCP rack that manual steering is NOT the best for autocrossing this rack will be replaced by a power unit.  I’m undecided regarding buying a $2000 TCP power rack or fabricating a setup around a J-car power rack…

Shocks

Replace the KYB units with adjustable Koni shocks.

Coil Springs

Replace 610 coils with Maier racing 700 lb race coils

Rear Suspension

I have two paths to take here.  On one hand I want to keep the car streetable and on the other I want it to perform very well at the track.  My “streetable” configuration would include Maier Racing 160lb glass leafs with no traction bars, adjustable sway bar, and Konishocks.  My “race” configuration would be a conversion to a 3-link suspension with spring-loaded upper control arm, adjustable panhard bar, adjustable sway bay, and coil-over Koni shocks.

Both options have their pluses and minuses.  The main reason I’m ambivalent about the 3-link setup is that it would more than likely require the removal of my back seat for mounting of the upper 3rd link…  sorta removing some of the “street” from my car.  Not that I ever use the backseat anyways though…

 

Leave a comment