I've heard lots of rumors on what was done to the 68/69 T/A cars. all I can comment on is what I've tried.

One idea I had was to add a spherical bearing to the horizontal mount point of the trunion.

I went over many options, including replacing the vertical ball bearing with a tapered roller bearing, but all that is not as elegant as the simple upper ball joint solution.

 

In tearing down my front suspension I just found another problem caused by trying to add too much caster

Here is the passenger side lower control arm. Looks like pushing the control arm toward the front of the car exerted extra pressure on the bushing at the connection point to the chassis. Over time it looks like it broke the lip of the bushing as it was pushing forward. Booo!

 

OK,

Is that a custom torsion sway bar? Been thinking of doing something like that for my car.

Would it be possible to bore the horizontal pivot point at an angle, say 3 degrees.

The bore would then be over size by about 3mm, faces would need to be squared up to the bore.

Then machine new bushings to fit the over size bore and with thicker shoulders to maintain original width.

This method would increase caster be a set amount and would also mean you have LH and RH trunions.

The spring would also sit on top of the trunion at an angle of 3 degrees, not sure if this would be an issue. 

Concept photo.

http://s574.photobucket.com/user/jbmustang/media/Javelin/IMG_1971_zpsfwes4uge.jpg.html" rel="nofollow">

Dragging this up from way back. I've been SLOOOOWLY working on this for a couple years. Finally got to building and installing it.

I will be very interested to hear how these perform also! I want them just cause they look impressive.

But, what are the advantages we may see with them?

What is the hex piece welded to the side of the round tube? Also, could you get the shock mount and the gusset laser cut from one piece? To not have the additional weld?

Looks awesome so far. Please keep us updated.

Thanks...Ty

It's a stronger,much more rigid replacement, and it has more adjustment available.

There are really 2 parts to this.

Strut Rod: I had replaced the strut rod bushing with the rod-end about 4 years ago, and despite the theory that this would cause some harshness, it did not. I also liked the ability to change the caster by simply spinning the strut rod. The stock strut rod has vary little adjustment.

Control arm: The lower control arm has the exact same pickup points as the stock part. However it has additional adjustment where the rod end attaches to the control arm. So you have more adjustment for camber and track width. It also uses a screw-in ball joint so I have the option to use the stock K719 ball joint, or the QA1 or Howe racing ball joints with a variety of lengths to change geometry.

The hex part is for the connection to the anti-sway bar.

With the suspension installed and no coil-over or sway bar in place, the suspension can be moved through the range of motion with two fingers. This allows the suspension to react much better than with tight bushing everywhere.

This is pretty much a prototype, I just used off the shelf tabs to start locating things, so all the brackets will be laser cut down the road.

Truth is I basically copied the suspension used on modern TA2 race cars.

While this is not completely Pre-70 front suspension related, I thought I'd share some upgrades I've made to try and improve my overall balance. On my last autocross the back of the car could use a little more traction. 

For a decade now I've had the 17x8 (4.5 inches of backspace) Torque Thrust wheels with 245/40-17. The look and fit were excellent. I had been thinking I could go to a larger rear tire out back, but how much more, and how do I avoid spending big money on custom wheels?

Long story short, after much measuring and tire size chart research I was able to fit a 17x9.5 (5.560 inches of backspace) Torque Thrust II. Tire is a 275/40-17.

In order to get the two different styles of wheels to match I painted the centers black. this also gives it a bit of a different look which is nice to do once in a while.

I'm also going to increase the spring rate up front to a 500 lb spring on the coil-over, and see what that does. I've been very happy with the on-road manners of the 400 lb spring, and it works great on the track as well, but I think a heaver spring will reduce body roll and keep the front tire more flat when cornering.... We will see.

What tire brand are you running and what is your front wheel and tire size?

Also, the panhard rod in the rear looks nicely packaged, can I ask where you got that from and what you think of it overall? Tried google searching Maien and Malen and struck out.

I’m not familiar with 343’s build...but taking a shot in the dark...I’d try...Maier...as in Mike or Charles Maier...California fellas heavy into early Mustang suspension and body works.

Good luck!

That panhard bar setup with the integrated sway bar mounts along with their rear springs look pretty sweet, I don't know how the length of a Mustang spring compares to an AMX, but can certainly ask.

343SharpStick, did you just use the panhard bar setup or did you use more from their collection?

I got my kit from Maier Racing years ago. The business changed a little and is now Mike Maier Inc.

https://mikemaierinc.com/product/mustang/mod1-front-suspension-package/" rel="nofollow - https://mikemaierinc.com/product/mustang/mod1-front-suspension-package/

I've followed his cars for a long time because he is a top level autocross competitor, and I built my car to also perform better than any other Javelin. Basically copy what's working for someone else.

The Maier kit is a very clever design, the spring plate/panhard bar adjuster is excellent. I had to cut the front to accommodate the stock AMC shock mount.

His new design is a bit different than what I have. Actually my kit was very close to the Fairlane Kit he currently sells.

https://mikemaierinc.com/product/mustang/fairlane-panhard-rod-kit/" rel="nofollow - https://mikemaierinc.com/product/mustang/fairlane-panhard-rod-kit/

If you want to do what I have, I would recommend asking if you can purchase his kit with the chassis parts loose in the box.

Found my picture of the car up on the lift.

With the car at ride-height the bar is horizontal. This is an older picture, now I have a Moser9 rear axle with disc brakes and an aluminum third member.

I have the stock-style rubber bushings so the axle can move slightly right-left to work with the arc of the panhard bar without binding. In my opinion using poly bushings could potentially bind.

I hope this doesn't drive a debate weather panhard bars a good or bad, if you don't like it, do something better and beat me on the track .

For tires I've been using the Falken Azenis RT615. Front is 245/45-17 and rear is 275/40-17. Both are 26-inch diameter.

Perhaps I should do a torque arm next...

Thanks for sharing your details, definitely some things to think about. I see you are not competing for space between the exhaust system and the panhard bar & mounting brackets, was that unworkable or you just decided to make it easier?

Can I ask what rim width and backspacing you are using on the front? My AMX is a '70, and I have control freak upper A-arms, so I'm thinking I can squeeze the 245-45-17 tires you are using in as well. Did you have to push the fender edges around any or roll any lips for clearance?

My front tires are 17x8 with 4.5 inches of backspace, no fender modification needed. I have a 245-45-17 up front with no problems.

I had the side exhaust from day-1 with the car, it's just what I like. A full exhaust would be tricky but possible. I don't think an out-of-the-box system would work, you would need to do a custom system to get over the axle and out the back.

Thanks for your feedback on the rim size and backspacing, so I was poking at the Tire Rack for these tire sizes, looks like their "rating system" suggests the Firestone FireHawk Indy 500 ranks the highest in this category of tires, so is there a particular reason you went with the Falken's? Are they better for autocross, or is there some subtle size difference that is important to the fitment or looks?

I've been using the Falken Azenis RT615 mostly because it's what all the fast Optima Ultimate Street Car guys have been using for a few years now, and the prices are reasonable.

Both that series, and the rules for the CAM class in SCCA autocross dictate a 200 tread wear tire... Monkey see, Monkey do. 

Another great day auto-crossing the car, its so much fun!

I hadn't been able to get out there since 2018, so some cob-webs to clear out, but my times did get better and better through the day as I got my head properly dialed in. 4th in CAMT behind 3 "door-stop" Camaros with LS Power. (Those Cars were moved from CAMC to CAMT this year). I feel like if I were driving better I could have moved up to 3rd. The larger tires, and some changes I made to the brakes did help. I now have an adjustable brake proportioning valve, and I do need to dial in more rear brake too.