Front End Replacement is Complete

[EdM]

Out went the original (literally) front suspension/steering on my 73 Mach 1 and in went a Street or Track coil over system with their strut rods (Shaun was a pleasure to work with during the install and alignment). New tie rods ends via Moog and new idler and pitman arms. New 4 1/2 leaf mid-eyes and Bilstein's for the rear and Global West sub-frame connectors. I sent my steering box and pump to Power Steering Services for their 12.7:1 quick ratio conversion and rebuilds. Again, they were a pleasure to deal with even in times of owner transfer. With the push from a member on the VM forum I did my own alignment using a camber/caster tool from Tenhulzen Automotive (also a pleasure to work with). My 18 year old son and I wrapped it all up today with the following specs:

Driver Side

Camber : .50

Caster   : 4.7

Passenger Side

Camber : .45

Caster   : 4.9

Toe In : 1/8"

A quick drive on one of our Hill Country roads was pure pleasure. Return to center was spot on and the tight ratio was a joy. The Bilstein's did every thing I read that my KYB's didn't. Bottom line is that I can highly recommend every supplier I used.

 

[73pony]

Awesome. Great news. I am curious. What issues were you having with the KYB's? Where they the G2 or the gas-adjust? I'm running the KYB gas-adjust all the way around and am not unhappy with them. To be clear all 4 of my old shocks were completely blown so any change was going to be an improvement.

 

[EdM]

I had the gas-adjusts and they just felt hard, too firm. Now all is very compliant but with such a conversion I do not know that I can really "blame" it all on the KYB's. I ran them many years ago in a 64 and 69 Corvette.

 

[73pony]

Gotcha. Yeah mine were pretty harsh when I first installed them but a huge improvement over the old blown shocks. I have since rebuilt my front suspension and that made a huge difference. Took a lot of the harshness out of them. My wife even commented today how smooth it rides now.