Stance, your thoughts

[roger1197]

I've replaced my original tired suspension with the Laurel Mountain super duper kit including KYB shocks, 5 leaf rear springs, stock height front springs, uprated sway bars etc, I have the original optional Magnum 500 15 inch wheels with P235/60 R15 BFG T/A's all round.

Result = tail dragger ...........................................................STILL!!

Put some mileage down since the suspension rework & the front has dropped & settled as far as I think it will go but I still have a stance I'm not comfortable with that even troubles me when driving the car, its a personal hang up I know but I have to persevere with a fix at all costs!!

I stumbled on this youtube clip which is exactly the look/stance I'm willing to trade vital organs for........



The comments from the owner in the video link are a great help, the guy details his wheel & tire set up as being:

The front wheels are 15x7 with 245-60-15. Out back are 15x10 with 295-50-15. The frontend has been droped 2"

Also says he had to fit air shocks!!

I'm no great fan of air shocks being aware of the pitfalls but wondered what you guys here thought of the rest?

Appreciate any help/comments as always

:salute:

 

[NoLimitssjca]

Looks to me like you're missing the 2" front drop and the wider 295 tires out back.

 

[sm3570]

Yeah, I agree. I'd like to drop the front on mine 2" and the rear 1". All in due time, I suppose.

 

[marks73]

How much do you remove of the front spring to get 2 inches?

 

[sm3570]

I've got no idea on that one Mark. I guess the first step would be to make sure there is enough clearance with the wheels, then trim a few coils at a time until you get the look you like?

 

[NoLimitssjca]

Here's a link that Chuck posted earlier. You can get the exact spring from Eaton.

http://www.eatonsprings.com/64-73mustangfront.html

 

[marks73]

Unfornuatley I have new springs. :s Fortunatley their not installed yet!

 

[droptop73]

It's actually just math. Measure the distance between coils with the suspension loaded (top of one coil to the top of the next coil. If you have 1" from the top of one to the top of the next you need to cut 1 coil to drop the car 2 inches. The spring mount is roughly 1/2 way from the UCA pivot point to upper ball joint. If you want to get more precise calculate the exact difference and do the math on the drop amount. I've donr this many times with good success. Cut the springs with a 4" grinder with a cutoff wheel. NEVER cut springs with a torch. Just an FYI the effective spring rate will go up when you cut a spring.

I hope this helps.

 

[marks73]

Effective spring rate? spongier or stiffer?

 

[droptop73]

Stiffer think of it this way if you have 10 coils and you cut 1 coil off the spring will in essence be 10% stiffer. It will take more weight to compress it an equal amount.

BTW cut the spring from the bottom and heat and straighten the last 3 inches so it fits the spring perch properly.

 

[marks73]

Cool!! That's why I love this sight. You learn some stuff.

 

[Widowmaker00]

I think I am one of the few that actually think it looks good a little low in the back.

 

[cobrajet99]

OK, This might be a stupid question,,, but can you cut the spring while it is still in the car, or does the spring have to be taken out first to do it?

 

[MT91106]

I totally understand your dilemma. Due to the body lines on he car and the sports roof design the car always looks like the front end is higher than the rear. There are a lot of them on the road that have rear shackle kits on the rear leafs however the problem is that they make the car ride like a truck. You can put a cheap set of helper springs that you can pick up at any pep boys for not that much money. They add a small coil spring that bolts on with u-bolts to the top of the leaf springs and sit against the frame to hold the rear up higher without it being to stiff a ride. If i remember when i purchased mine there were three ratings and i picked the middle one. Its a cheap fix. The other thing i did was run a smaller sz tire in the front and taller wider in the rear to give it more "rake". The only other thing you can do is possibly run air bag shocks like they use in street rods that you can air up and down to change the ride height. I would not lower the front end due to mine is stock height and i drag the front spoiler all the time going up steep driveways. I saw the video of the black Mach that he says he is running Air Shocks in it. I have run them for years but my little spring trick (got from a friend with another mach 1) and it rides so so much better. Air shocks do work well but you have to run them full of lots of air and it just rides like super stiff in the rear.

Mike

Reno, NV.

 

[Flatback72]

I cut 3/4 of a coil from my factory springs and it dropped the front approximately 1.5 inches. I cut 1/4 coil at a time because I didn't want to accidentally overdo the drop on the first cut. After dropping the front the ride was noticeably firmer, but this was a good thing as the car felt more solid on the road instead of kinda "floaty bouncy" as it was beforehand. The car seemed to handle corners better too with the firmer suspension.

 

[Qcode351mach]

If your looking to keep the stock factory suspension than your options are to either order front lowering springs or cut the springs you have. With the vast availability of premade lowering springs ..That In my opinion is the way to go since you get the drop you want, in the rate you want. Out back there's no way I would ever run air shocks unless you do a fully engineered system like ride tech has..but that entails replacing the rear leafs with a 4 link setup..& requires some mods to make it work on our carshttp://www.ridetech.com/store/1967-1970-ford-mustang-level-1.html Now if your willing to swap out the front suspension you can do what I did & have the best of both worlds..A fully modern front suspension on par with today's technology & FULLY ADJUSTABLE DROP ! So unless you do the 4 link in the rear your stuck with what you have in the back & have to work from there foreward to get the drop you want.

 

[JimNiki]

Hi mate ...

I never been a big fan of the factory stance.

Mine looked like the nose was pointing up like it was taking off at the lights...and the high stance didn't do the car any justice so I lowered it using 1" lowered GT springs on the front with lowering blocks on the rear. Also added 4 new KYB shocks and even coils over the rear shocks to completely stop any bottoming out...

I'm happy now...

 

[Qcode351mach]

Hi mate ...

I never been a big fan of the factory stance.

Mine looked like the nose was pointing up like it was taking off at the lights...and the high stance didn't do the car any justice so I lowered it using 1" lowered GT springs on the front with lowering blocks on the rear. Also added 4 new KYB shocks and even coils over the rear shocks to completely stop any bottoming out...

I'm happy now...

Just some info about lowering blocks from Eaton Spring

http://www.eatonsprings.com/blocks.htm

 

[luxstang]

Looks to me like you're missing the 2" front drop and the wider 295 tires out back.

Well, the 295/50/15 is the same diameter than the 245/60/15 one, only wider, so that does not make a difference. The 2" drop does.

One thing you may wanna consider is using different tire sizes. For example, a 255/60/15 in the rear and a 235/60/15 up front will give you a +-1/2 inch drop, look good and will not rub anywhere.

That is if it´s legal in the UK to do so, in my country it isn´t, but....

I guess, your main problem are the stock height front springs. By the way, the tail dragging will even be worse as you sit in the car (you just don´t see it), as the car usually only sags in the rear.

Shorter front coils will get you closer to where you want to go.

Check the stance on my car in the vid in the sig and the pics in the garage.

I don´t think you can go much lower than mine without air ride for a normal road driven car, as ground clearance will be a serious issue.

I could measure the distance from the top of the wheel arches to the ground, so you could compare the height.

But a lot of the problem is in the design of the car. The body lines make the front look higher and it takes a lot of lowering to make that go away.