Just curious, struts

Sorry, I was thinking it was a later ball joint car.

Kansas Transit wrote: I think some people would really be surprised to see just how much force is exerted at the steering box and idler points when a car is put through it's paces.

... likewise through the steering knuckle, control arms and frame attachment points. If the part of the frame where the steering box and idler arm mounts are questionable, the remainder may be too?

If upgrading, still like the idea of using the new Mustang control arm with appropriate mounts rather than trying to adapt to stock parts.

I used a sn-95 rack on my Javelin. It was a little too wide so I cut some off each end and rethreaded the ends. I would look into getting the front clip off a Mustang and use whatever you need from it to bolt on the stock Mustang parts to your frame. In order to get all these parts to work well in your chassis you need to figure out where they were mounted originally on a Mustang. If I was going that far I would weld the Mustang mounting points onto the Javelin frame. With this done you will be able to use completely stock Mustang parts in the future if you need to repair or replace something. This will also open up the aftermarket and stock Mustang brake upgrade options in the future. I adapted 13" 2013 Mustang brakes on my Javelin and did so in a way that makes future replacement of these stock parts pretty easy and cheap. Making custom, one off suspension parts might be an issue later if you damage one.

One thing Richard didn't mention -- he's using Pacer steering arms (the arms the tie rod bolts to). Unless I'm mistaken the SN-95 Mustang rack is the same (except for width) as other Ford racks. There are several lengths of tie-rod ends. I'm using a T-bird turbo coupe rack and I think Contour tie rod ends. I had to shorten my ends a bit, but they were threaded enough that cutting 1/2" or so off each didn't require more threads.

The ball joint shouldn't be a big issue. I bet the only difference is the taper on the joint. If the Javelin ball joint will fit the SN-95 strut lower end (or rather the steering knuckle/spindle end) you should be good to go. You can get tools to ream the tapered hole if the Javelin has the older smaller taper (less angle). Speedway Motors sells them, and I bet Jegs and Summit too. I know there was a change from the steep angle to a lesser angle at some point in the late 60s or early 70s. IIRC the early one can be reamed to fit the late, but I might have it backwards.

I made my steering arms from square tubing. It takes a lot of work! I figured out all the steering geometry necessary and made everything. I've got a PDF file of the complete process if you're interested.

The rack has to be mounted so that the tie rod ends follow the exact same arc as the lower A arms. The tie rods have to be parallel to the lower arms. So mount the rack up close to the oil pan (leave about a 1/4" gap) then make the tie rod ends parallel with the rack. You do this with a spacer kit (bump steer kit) at the steering arm end or my making custom arms. Or in your case getting some Pacer arms. If you use the stock Javelin arms it will work, but you'll have the turning radius of a school bus, and not the short one! I did that at first. Making a right turn into a driveway was a three point turn, making a left turn (across a lane) was as tight as it would go. The inner tie rod ends need to be at the pivot points of the lower arms -- pivot of the inner tie rod ends needs to be the same width as between the pivot bolts on the crossmember.

If you don't have everything parallel and the right width rack you will get bump steer. Every time a wheel hits a bump it will steer in or out some, depending on how far off you are. I have just a little bump steer -- just enough to feel, but not enough to be an issue. Can only feel it with a lot of suspension movement, can't tell on a smooth road at all, even with aggressive driving. You may not be able to get it all out, but close will be good enough. Bump steer is only an issue if it's rather severe. If you bear in mind the placement tips above and get close you will be good to go. Many factory installations have a little bump steer.


Edited by farna - Nov/05/2014 at 7:02am

Your right the rack ends WOULD fit the spindle being all sn95, HOWEVER, I would still need to shorten the rod ends a bit as Frank stated because using the AMC lower arms will make the front track width of the AMC narrower than the Mustang.

The struts I am looking to use will be adjustable coil overs because I DO want to be able to adjust ride height, also the coil overs like AJE sells have a much smaller diameter spring and a MUCH more compact bearing plate.

Also looking at coil over strut that incorporate the spindle, such as 4th gen F-body this would save a ton of weight and already has every thing I need, but I called a couple of places for measurements and unfortunately this is SEMA week, so most of the TECH guys are in Las Vegas.

Thanks again for the comments.

Stan

Edited by Kansas Transit - Nov/05/2014 at 9:04am

Avery08 wrote: If you want a pic or 2 of a owner built amc/mustang strut setup give me your email.

Yes Avery, I would appreciate that very much, what I am most interested in is ride height and is the strut in the pic factory length or adjustable?

My email is kte@twinvalley.net

Thanks again,

Stan