Staggered shocks

[Austang]

I'm looking at upgrading my rear suspension,and I'm considering going to the staggered shock set up of the Q code cars....mainly due to a planned engine upgrade(4V heads, solid lifter cam,etc).Just looking for some opinions on the effectiveness of this setup in controlling axle tramp under heavy acceleration,as I've never driven a car with that option.Seems to me that the original staggered shock plates are going to be hard to find,and I wonder if is possible to use 2 right hand side plates to achieve the same result?..or I am I better just to forget it..and use traction bars?.I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

 

[73mach1]

I believe thats what the factory did. I have it on mine and its the same piece just turned a different way.

 

[72HCODE]

I believe thats what the factory did. I have it on mine and its the same piece just turned a different way.

I would have to talk to a friend of mine about it again however I do remember there was a left and a right shock mount. That I'm not 100% sure of but I do remember talking about it and being shown a distinct left and right plate.

On the other side of the conversion, you have to make sure you have all the missing chassis cross members to make a staggered shock mount, you would need this from a donor car.

Only factory optioned staggered shock chassis received the cross members needed to install staggered shocks. A lot of people do not realize this they think if a car is a Mach 1 or a fastback body style they all have the same cross members under the trunk floor this is not the case.

The competion suspension package included the mounts for the rear sway bar inside the gas tank mount and the rails, and also included the extra cross members welded to the chassis under the front of the trunk area.

Now all the cars were stamped with 3 holes for rear shock access, 2 are used for the regular shock mounts the third was used in place of one shock access hole for the staggered shock mount. So a lot of guys are suprised on a regular suspension car they pop off the rubber cap over the third hole and there is just a big drain hole there with nothing under it, because the car was never equipped with the staggered shock mount crossmember.

It's funny cause up till a few years ago people would cut that section of the car out on a staggered car and just chuck it out, they didn't know the importance of that area of the car for the option. They just assumed all the cars were setup for staggered rear shocks, and you just needed the lower mounts, that is not the case.

 

[73mach1]

I went and looked at mine again and my leaf spring and shock mount are the same. I painted mine a while back when I put new springs in and I was surprised they were the same. I have the competition suspension and my lower sway bar mounts are also identical. My car was unmolested when I got it so I know this how Ford put it together. My car is a 73 so Ford might have decided it was cheaper to just buy one side and flip them but that's how mine is.

 

[jorgem2]

Sometimes the factory put things on that dont belong by mistake or because it didnt make a difference. My car has a sway bar mount on one side but not the other. It was not ordered on my car as an option but it did have the competition suspension option for automatic cars which does not include staggered shocks.

Anyways the upper shock mount on the car body will be the hard one to find, since it is welded to the trunk floor. If you dont care about originality you may be able to make a mount.

Proably easier to get some traction bars of cal-tracs

 

[Austang]

Well... It looks like the bottom shock plates can be flipped around,so that's gonna be the easy part..I'm not really all that concerned about the non-original thing with this one ,because its under the car well out of sight ,but if I could find a pic of what the top mount is meant to look like...I could fabricate a piece to weld in.Maybe thats the best way to go.

 

[c9zx]

I'll try to get a picture and post it. However, it is a complex formed, bent, and tabbed piece of sheet metal. An alternative I've used with success is adding an extra half leaf (from the axle mounting pad forward) between the top and second leaf, add an extra spring clamp to the forward part of the spring. Change the front spring eye bushing to a very hard bushing, either rubber or polyurethane. Add a good set of adjustable, or less expensive 50/50 shocks. Fabricate an adjustable pinion snubber to mount to the existing yoke cover. A fabricated plate to make contact with the snubber can be mounted to existing holes in the tunnel just above the yoke. Set the gap at about 1- 1 1/2 inches. It sounds like a lot but nothing compared to trying to fabricate the factory staggered shock sheet metal and install it. This set up was good for launching a 72 R Code at 4500 RPM on slicks. It went 12.79 @ 109 MPH (not stock).

Good luck,

Chuck

 

[ManniB]

Well... It looks like the bottom shock plates can be flipped around,so that's gonna be the easy part..I'm not really all that concerned about the non-original thing with this one ,because its under the car well out of sight ,but if I could find a pic of what the top mount is meant to look like...I could fabricate a piece to weld in.Maybe thats the best way to go.

Hope this helps

- Manfred

 

[Austang]

Thanks for everyones input.That's an interesting idea you have there Chuck with the extra leaf spring and the pinion snubber setup and I can see that it would work.Manfred,those pictures are awesome,thank you for posting them.I can now see what has to be done.I think I'll show the pics to a sheetmetal fabricator guy I know to see if he can make the mounting part.Either way..something must be done.No use having all that horsepower if you can't get it to the ground . Lloyd

 

[Luke]

I ran a similar set up to Chucks on a HG Monaro. I used poly bushes in the front spring eyes and pads but I also had tramp rods set up with about a half inch of preload on them as well. It worked pretty good

 

[mustang7173]

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=shelby%20traction%20bars&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CCMQFjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mustangandfords.com%2Fhow-to%2Fchassis-suspension%2Fmump-0701-ford-mustang-traction-bars%2F&ei=4PT3U6j-AbTLsQTI6oHoDw&usg=AFQjCNF8DnKYr38Gg8yF7C_mfTww7BQ-1Q

Here is another option to consider!

Mustang7173

 

[Kit Sullivan]

It is not as easy to just say "some cars had competition susension, and some did not".

There were variations on what Ford called "Competition Suspension", and it all depended on what drivetrain was installed.

A 302 or 352-2v with CS came with revised springs, shocks and brakes but no rear bar or staggered shocks.

4V cars added the rear bar and staggered shocks to the CS package.

 

[mrmach1]

Sometimes the factory put things on that dont belong by mistake or because it didnt make a difference. My car has a sway bar mount on one side but not the other. It was not ordered on my car as an option but it did have the competition suspension option for automatic cars which does not include staggered shocks.

Anyways the upper shock mount on the car body will be the hard one to find, since it is welded to the trunk floor. If you dont care about originality you may be able to make a mount.

Proably easier to get some traction bars of cal-tracs

That's a great picture beautiful car beautiful background.

 

[jbojo]

I went and looked at mine again and my leaf spring and shock mount are the same. I painted mine a while back when I put new springs in and I was surprised they were the same. I have the competition suspension and my lower sway bar mounts are also identical. My car was unmolested when I got it so I know this how Ford put it together. My car is a 73 so Ford might have decided it was cheaper to just buy one side and flip them but that's how mine is.

I just looked at mine and they are the same too, just rotated to fit the shock setup. These are original to my car.

 

[bkdunha]

Another option but cost may be a consideration. Plus a shout out to one of our vendors.

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

Thanks for everyones input.That's an interesting idea you have there Chuck with the extra leaf spring and the pinion snubber setup and I can see that it would work.Manfred,those pictures are awesome,thank you for posting them.I can now see what has to be done.I think I'll show the pics to a sheetmetal fabricator guy I know to see if he can make the mounting part.Either way..something must be done.No use having all that horsepower if you can't get it to the ground . Lloyd

We use to do the 1/2 leaf spring back in the 60's and made nylon bushings to make them solid. Also made better clamps to make sure the springs stayed together in the front as the axle is trying to wrap them up.

My Mach 1 came with comp sus. and I never had any issue with wheel hop and I ran G-60's back then. I would put the brackets on I see them on ebay and should be easy to find on the many rust buckets out there.

I will have to look at my Q vert with auto someone said they did not have staggered shocks. Just got the car and waiting for winter to pass before getting into it.

David

 

[mustang68]

I went and looked at mine again and my leaf spring and shock mount are the same. I painted mine a while back when I put new springs in and I was surprised they were the same. I have the competition suspension and my lower sway bar mounts are also identical. My car was unmolested when I got it so I know this how Ford put it together. My car is a 73 so Ford might have decided it was cheaper to just buy one side and flip them but that's how mine is.

I had to go look at my car out in the garage, took a couple pictures and you can see that there is a slight difference, also you can see the crossmember You can see in the pictures the capital LS for left side and the capital R for right side. You can also see the marking MUSS for Mustang so they could tell them apart for the Cougar parts that were made on the same line at the same assembly plant.(which were slightly different than the Mustang.)

I know people that have used two right hand when they took off the traction bars. With traction bars you don't use the shock plates.

 

[mustang68]

I went and looked at mine again and my leaf spring and shock mount are the same. I painted mine a while back when I put new springs in and I was surprised they were the same. I have the competition suspension and my lower sway bar mounts are also identical. My car was unmolested when I got it so I know this how Ford put it together. My car is a 73 so Ford might have decided it was cheaper to just buy one side and flip them but that's how mine is.

I had to go look at my car out in the garage, took a couple pictures and you can see that there is a slight difference, also you can see the crossmember You can see in the pictures the capital LS for left side and the capital R for right side. You can also see the marking MUSS for Mustang so they could tell them apart for the Cougar parts that were made on the same line at the same assembly plant.(which were slightly different than the Mustang.)

I know people that have used two right hand when they took off the traction bars. With traction bars you don't use the shock plates.

As a follow up from my post, I know this information (about L & R) is correct.Because I worked for FORD at a huge stamping plant.I was hire for the production Lines.After a few years I took a test for an apprenticeship. Four years (8,000 hours)I graduate as a TOOL&DIE maker.We made some of our DIES and some for other FORD plants.We stamped floor pans & rail and welded sub assembly to ship to assembly plants.We also stamped roofs, doors,quarter panels and truck parts.So L or R is on some parts for assembly workers to identify easily (so they get put on the correct side) I hope this post helps if you have any questions.I might have an answer.I work for FORD for 38 years Larry

 

[mustang7173]

Hello mustang68,

Nice! Good to have forum members who were actually there during the manufacturing process. Question, what did Ford do with the dies once the production run was over? We all know of the original tooling Label that some parts are made from. Are they purchased from Ford or their vendors who supplied parts?

Thank You!

mustang7173