Total Control & Street or Track & Global West Strut Rod & Lower Control Arms

[mustang7173]

I have been researching for the past week, reading forums after forum threads, and wondering around the internet to find the optimal performance strut rod and lower control for my 1973 Mustang hardtop. The goal here is the have a free moving suspension system without the harshness of the road feedback to the mustang cabin through the new suspension parts. I have looked over the 7173 mustang forum threads trying to gauge what the members have bought and used.

Now, I know some will probably state that you cannot have it both ways. Either you have the rubber bushings for comfort, normal designed driving with no road vibrations through the mustang cabin or solid mount, with the dash and jaw jarring vibration, feel every little rock from the road scenario. We all know that if the mustang is to being used for auto crossing or used on a race track, then this subject will not matter due to the surface of the track being smooth and hopefully being rock free.

To start, I saw several members who install the complete front suspension on their mustangs. Wow, really nice and modern. Qcode351mach installed the full Street or Track kit and responded back that the car drives like a 2014 not a 1972. Fantastic! One area that I cannot find much feedback is the degree of road noise and or vibrations from the open public roads. We all know that when one has the polyurethane front strut rod bushings installed; it is nice until you hit a slight bump in the road. Bam! The whole dash and everything else inside shakes and vibrates.

So, what I have found is that the TCP strut rods and Lower control arms have insulated the noise and vibration energy transferring mounting points much better than the competition.

TCP

The TCP Strut rod is designed with the Polymer Pivot Guide and Load-Bearing races within the aluminum housing.

Source: 2013 Total Control Products - A Chris Alston's Chassisworks, Inc. Brand

The TCP lower control arm has the Billet Steel Spherical Bearing inserted into two polymer bearing races, one on each side that isolates that mounting point.

Source: 2013 Total Control Products - A Chris Alston's Chassisworks, Inc. Brand

Street or Track

The Street or Track Lower control arms are really nice. The only difference that I see with them was the solid mount pivot point.

Monoball bearing with PTFE/Self lubricating lining replaces factory rubber bushing which eliminates deflection yet allows for bind free rotation.

Source:

The Street or Track Lower strut rods are really nice and look well made. The only difference that I see with them was the solid mount pivot point might have the same vibration and noise transfer as polyurethane do. They will allow for free arm moment, though!

Global West

Global West strut rods are really nice looking set of struts. But, they are also solid mount struts.

Global West Lower control arms really arms are a very good choice also. But, they also have the solid mount spherical at the pivot point.

Control Freak

Control Freaks lower control arms designed their arms a little different. The incorporated a custom graphite-poly bushings from Prothane™>

http://www.freakride.com/product/all-front-coil-over-conversion-systems/

From Control Freaks website: There are other-coil over conversions in the marketplace, but ours is designed to carry the vehicle load correctly, just as the manufacturer intended. For example, the early Ford vehicles were designed to hold the vehicle weight on the upper control arm, and that’s where we keep it. Some of our competitors transfer the weight to the lower control arm, which was never designed to carry the weight of the vehicle. Interesting thought here!

Well, there are some really nice kits and parts out there for upgrading the Mustang front end. We all know that each project is different plus it depends on what our purpose of our mustangs will be used for. The big one is though, how much our budget will allow for. Man, this stuff is expensive! I have decided to go with the TCP strut rod and lower control arm kits. I hope to one day provide some real feedback on how well they work in isolation of noise and vibration while driving on our public roads.

Ok! I hope this information will help current and future forum members decide what are the best options available in upgrading their mustang front suspensions.

Let the feedback begin! What are your thoughts on this subject? What have you experienced while driving your mustang with the upgraded suspension parts or kits?

Thanks

Mustang7173


All,

Just received the TCP strut rod and wow, they nice. Very well made.

TCP Lower Control Arms will be here on Friday.

mustang7173


All,

I left out the pictures of the Global West Products.

Source: http://www.globalwest.net/1967-1968-1969-1970-1971-1972-1973-mustang-front-suspension-parts.html

mustang7173

 

[cazsper]

On my '68 coupe, I mixed and matched a little. I used the Global West upper/lower ca's, Total Control strut rods and Maier Racing 600# springs and 165# leafs.. I love it.

 

[mustang7173]

Hello cazsper,

Good to hear. According to Total Control Products, when the TCP strut rod are properly instructed, the road feedback is greatly reduced. Can you tell us how much, if any, do you feel any road feedback or noise?

Thank You for your response.

mustang7173

 

[protouringstang73]

Very interesting tread! I want to upgrade my suspension to, so this is a perfect tread for those who wants to do that and don't know which way to go I hope you get some more feedback on this

 

[mustang7173]

protouringstang73,

A lot of the forum members here have installed really nice front suspension upgrades. Forum Members can find a lot of information on how to install vendor made and DIY suspension parts. The one area that I can not find much information on is, "How does it feel?", "How does is handle?" "What is the ride qualities?" "Do you experience any harsh road feedback through the new suspension?" Now, if the particular mustang is being raced or auto crossed, then these questions are mute. The goal of this thread is to get real world feedback that will help forum members decide what they want to do with their front suspension.

Make sure you do a search in this forum space. There are several member YouTube videos that are really good and provide a lot information.

Thank You!

mustang7173

 

[protouringstang73]

protouringstang73,

The one area that I can not find much information on is, "How does it feel?", "How does is handle?" "What is the ride qualities?" "Do you experience any harsh road feedback through the new suspension?" Now, if the particular mustang is being raced or auto crossed, then these questions are mute. The goal of this thread is to get real world feedback that will help forum members decide what they want to do with their front suspension.

Make sure you do a search in this forum space. There are several member YouTube videos that are really good and provide a lot information.

And that is the same information I miss to.. This is why I think this is a great idea with this tread! Can't wait to hear some feedback from you, when you have installed your goodies

I have seem some of the videos, they are really good and useful, everything is just useful on this site!

 

[Qcode351mach]

Real world feed back..I took my 72 out the other day for a short test hop even though I'm still waiting to get on the alignment rack..Smooth as silk..very little road noise through the strut rod into the crossmember if any..I think this whole idea that the aftermarket strut rods will produce more noise is a bunch of poppycock that came from users of polyurethane strut mount bushings. If you think about what the strut rod does & a stock strut rod the rubber bushings are what provide the ability of the stock rod to move up & down they aren't there to provide noise reduction, Thats your hinge point..In a matched system most of your road noise is going through the spindle into the control arms..the lower REAR crossmember..shock tower..very little is left for the strut rod. I will post up some video take you guys for a ride in the next few weeks so you can see for yourself.

 

[Total Control Products]

Just a quick point of clarification; the end of the TCP strut rods is machined from billet steel. It's not aluminum. Thanks for saying so many nice things about our parts though!

Also, rubber is the most quiet bushing matieral, then polyurethane (which can be squeaky). Anything with a traditional rod end, aka heim joint, at the end is going to be the loudest and will usually wear the fastest. The TCP connection point on the LCA and STRD straddles the line by isolating the chassis mount from the control arm with the polymer bearing race.

 

[cazsper]

Hello cazsper,

Good to hear. According to Total Control Products, when the TCP strut rod are properly instructed, the road feedback is greatly reduced. Can you tell us how much, if any, do you feel any road feedback or noise?

Thank You for your response.

mustang7173

Well, as far as road noise, it's difficult to tell. I have a 393w with a 232/240 cam and mid length headers. Also, I don't have any sound deadening so my car is loud inside. A&a for road "feel", it is very tight (handles very well) but not bone jarring. I drive my car every day rain or shine. I hope that helps..

Mike


I almost forgot, I have a 1 1/8" front sway bar and a 3/4" in the rear. I really like how my car handles. Like I said. I drive my car every day (even in the rain). I also have the TCP subframe connectors as well as the brace that connects them.. My next purchase will be shock tower brace for my '68 and then tackle my '73 Mach-1

 

[mustang7173]

All,

Maybe the road noise is not really significant as much as the vibration and the bump energy that is transferred through the steering/front suspension system with solid mounted struts. I found this thread at MustangSteve's discussing the same question here. Really interesting discussion.

http://fyi.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?id=2935

There is one person (lowercasesteve) in this thread that has installed the TCP strut rods and is seriously thinking about returning to the stock struts and bushings. This makes me pause about the TCP struts that I just bought.

As always, thanks for responding.

mustang7173

 

[Qcode351mach]

Well I had the alignment done today & got to drive around a bit on some country back roads..Like I said no real perceivable road noise, harshness, bump or vibration..Getting ready to head out again on some highway..Video coming soon Just dialing in the tranny calibration..Keep in mind though that I'm using the entire conversion package NOT JUST the strut rod with stock arms or bushings

 

[Total Control Products]

A key to creating a stable and predictable handling vehicle is precisely controlling the spindle position. Soft rubber bushings and weak stamped components of the factory suspension do a poor job of this, allowing erratic handling during braking and cornering. The biggest improvement comes from deflection free TrueCenter pivot points, A TCP exclusive design.

Our adjustable length strut rods with TrueCenter pivot socket is the only product available that maintains correct suspension geometry without the increased resistance found with rubber and polyurethane bushings. The pivot stud features concentric bearing contact surfaces, 13/16” hex and a caster adjustment range of 3-4 degrees, depending upon application. This unique concentric arrangement avoids compromising the suspension geometry; unavoidable when using a standard rod end and clevis mounting method. A maximum of 12-degrees misalignment is possible in any direction and allows the strut rod to rotate beyond the limits of a standard rod end.

Ride quality is a product of many different factors; mostly the spring and shock combination. If any vehicle rides rough the most likely culprit is either a broken component, incorrect spring rate for the application, or the shock is not valved/adjusted to the optimal dampening.

I am active on almost 20 different car forums and I have never seen that message-board referenced before. There is a lot of inaccurate information and several bad analogies in the thread you linked to. There is some good stuff too, but I would take anything written there with a grain of salt.

 

[mustang7173]

Qcode351mach,

Alright! Just what the doctor was looking for. Thank you for providing the driving feedback. This, I hope, will help other forum members make good choices when it comes to their front suspensions. I look forward to see your latest video when it comes out.

mustang7173

Well I had the alignment done today & got to drive around a bit on some country back roads..Like I said no real perceivable road noise, harshness, bump or vibration..Getting ready to head out again on some highway..Video coming soon Just dialing in the tranny calibration..Keep in mind though that I'm using the entire conversion package NOT JUST the strut rod with stock arms or bushings

All,

Just received TCP's Lower control arms and they are thick as Brick. Man, these arms are mighty heavy duty and make the factory arms look really small. I was real hesitant about installing the TCP strut rods, but after reading Qcode351mach alignment, driving down the road, proving feedback, and reading Total Controls Products response thread, the TCP struts along with the Lower control arms, will be install on Sunday, Aug. 17.

TCP Lower Control Arms

mustang7173

 

[Qcode351mach]

This unique concentric arrangement avoids compromising the suspension geometry; unavoidable when using a standard rod end and clevis mounting method. A maximum of 12-degrees misalignment is possible in any direction

Are you saying rod end= heim joint ?

 

[Go Time]

Good thread, thanks for all the posts

 

[mustang7173]

All,

I was successful in installing the TCP struts and Lower control arms. Just placing the TCP arms next to the OEM arms is, "wow, look at the difference!".

mustang7173

 

[Qcode351mach]

All,

I was successful in installing the TCP struts and Lower control arms. Just placing the TCP arms next to the OEM arms is, "wow, look at the difference!".

You are installing the entire kit ? Not just the lower arms strut rod..Don't expect much without the rest of the components..

 

[mustang7173]

Qcode351mach,

Yes, eventually. Strained my budget a bit with this add on.

mustang7173

 

[Total Control Products]

Are you saying rod end= heim joint ?

Yeah, that's what I'm referring to. Rod End is the proper term. They were devised in Germany and appeared during WWII. Heim was the original US manufacturer. In the UK they call them 'Rose Joints.' There endeth today's history lesson.