Adjusting ride height w/ an MII on an AD

[jrdamien]

Knowing full well there is a 2 to 4" drop built into the crossmember/suspension, is there any combination of springs, blocks and shocks to get the truck to stock ride height with an mii ifs?

[Hampshire]

....perhaps you will get abetter response than I did:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=601930

Most of the talk is about lowering. Most who aren't into that are into correct restorations. If your interest is doing mods while maintaining stock height it is hard to find information or an audience.

...however, I have had some modest luck. After talking to several custom shops and dealers around the country, there is apparently a growing interest in (more or less) maintaining a stock look while improving handling, braking and doing V8 conversions.

I am happily compromising to a max of a 2" drop. I decided to do it that way for a few reasons: A modest drop looked close enough to stock, the lower center of gravity could only be a plus in the handling department and (after Photoshopping the change) it looked cool without being "down in the weeds" ( not that there is anything wrong with that! ).

Now, as far as I have been able to find, to stay at a modest drop or stay at stock height, you have to use a system where the upper A-arms will be moved out slightly so that they can be moved down & mounted on the side of the frame. So far, I have found two systems that can do the vey modest drop I want - the Must ll IFS offerd by JW Rodgarge and the one offered by Gayleco (who uses the JW Rodgarage cross member).

If you do this you will have to accept a slightly wider track width to about 59". Gayleco does offer slightly narrowed A-arms to reduce this -if you want. BTW, this used to be done on request by some of the "big" companies some years ago, but not anymore.

There are some other ways to the drop less - clips, frame swaps (S-10) a couple other iFS manufactures - but I am leaning towards the JW Rodgarage kit.

[lazypineapple]

Stock right height ?
That's gonna be tough.

[1 bootlegger]

jrdamien With a MII suspension the normal ride height is best achieved with the lower A-arm is level with the road. I had a dummy shock made with pipe and bolts to the right length to simulate height.

[Hampshire]

....not mine, but the owner did a must ll suspension on this. He said it lowered it a little.1 bootleggers post is another good way to look at it.

[jrdamien]

Originally Posted by 1 bootlegger

jrdamien With a MII suspension the normal ride height is best achieved with the lower A-arm is level with the road. I had a dummy shock made with pipe and bolts to the right length to simulate height.

I thought the proper set up for the mii, regardless of ride height, is to have the lower arm parallel to the road.

So the pipe you used...how high were you trying to get?

[mr48chev]

Not to be facetious but I thought the whole concept of running an Aftermarket MII front end was to get the front of the truck low. A guy might order a front end that allows the truck to set higher.

The other one could do is buy one of the "universal" cross members and when you tri m it for the frame of the truck trim it so that you get about and inch and a half added height rather than having it set low. That is gong to get the tops of the top spring pockets pretty close to the frame rails though and you would have to leave room for the control arms and bushings above the frame rails.

You can see on this Heidts front crossmember that you can within reason set it at the ride height of your choice. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hd...FQN1Qgod7xIAdg It's a lot more hours of fitting and fussing to get done though. As long as you keep the difference between the pivot points of the upper control arms and the lower control arms the same as specified you can change the ride height a bit.

[_Ogre]

my mustII x-member dropped the front of my tf truk 6'' to 7''
like others have mentioned; typical reasons for installing mustII is to lower the truck
your a-arm should be level for proper ride height; adding big springs or blocks will fu your ride quality
i'd start calling vendors to find out what they offer for stock ride height
you get better responses by posting in one thread, posting multiple threads doesn't help

[jrdamien]

Hey all. I fully understand the idea of a crossmember is to drop the truck. I am asking: If a frame already has one on it, and you want use that frame and maintain a stock ride height, how do you do that? And removing the crossmember isn't an option.

[jrdamien]

Hoping for simplicity I called Heidts. They said the member is intended to install at the axle center line. The guy I talked to said the intention is to allow you to tweak ride height from stock to low based on spindles on springs. Stock does drop the ride 2" which can be compensated for by spring but this is a complicated combination of motor and tranny.

So, if anyone has a recommendation of what setup to shoot for (spring length?) that'd be awesome. I'll be using a 235 and T5.

Edit: Also, this may be handy for me and others. Eaton has a variety of springs for MII's to tailor ride height.

[mr48chev]

There are several factory Ford MII, Pinto and Bobcat springs that have different rates depending on which engine came in the car and if it had ac or other accessories.

Here is one example From the Mustang II tech site.
Date 24-OCT-94
1978 Mustang II Fastback
Stock 302V8, half tank gas, no spare tire, car cleaned out...

Weights:
Front Total: 830Kg / 1826Lbs
Rear Total: 570Kg / 1254Lbs
Grand Total: 1400Kg / 3080Lbs

Balance:
59% front 41% rear
The Mustang II wheelbase is 96.2". The CG is located 39.2" rearward of the front suspension centerline and 56.2" forward of the rear axle centerline.

Coupes are lighter on the rear and should have an even heavier weight bias towards the front.
Date 24-OCT-94
1978 Mustang II Fastback
Stock 302V8, half tank gas, no spare tire, car cleaned out...

Weights:
Front Total: 830Kg / 1826Lbs
Rear Total: 570Kg / 1254Lbs
Grand Total: 1400Kg / 3080Lbs

Balance:
59% front 41% rear
The Mustang II wheelbase is 96.2". The CG is located 39.2" rearward of the front suspension centerline and 56.2" forward of the rear axle centerline.

Coupes are lighter on the rear and should have an even heavier weight bias towards the front.

That came from here http://www.mustangiitech.net/index.p...hts&Itemid=142
Note that they says the car weighs 3080 with a V8 which is pretty close to what a stock AD truck weighs and the weight on the front is 1829 which is 59% of the car's weight on the front wheels where the trucks are closer to 50/50.

[jrdamien]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

There are several factory Ford MII, Pinto and Bobcat springs that have different rates depending on which engine came in the car and if it had ac or other accessories.

Here is one example From the Mustang II tech site.
Date 24-OCT-94
1978 Mustang II Fastback
Stock 302V8, half tank gas, no spare tire, car cleaned out...

Weights:
Front Total: 830Kg / 1826Lbs
Rear Total: 570Kg / 1254Lbs
Grand Total: 1400Kg / 3080Lbs

Balance:
59% front 41% rear
The Mustang II wheelbase is 96.2". The CG is located 39.2" rearward of the front suspension centerline and 56.2" forward of the rear axle centerline.

Coupes are lighter on the rear and should have an even heavier weight bias towards the front.
Date 24-OCT-94
1978 Mustang II Fastback
Stock 302V8, half tank gas, no spare tire, car cleaned out...

Weights:
Front Total: 830Kg / 1826Lbs
Rear Total: 570Kg / 1254Lbs
Grand Total: 1400Kg / 3080Lbs

Balance:
59% front 41% rear
The Mustang II wheelbase is 96.2". The CG is located 39.2" rearward of the front suspension centerline and 56.2" forward of the rear axle centerline.

Coupes are lighter on the rear and should have an even heavier weight bias towards the front.

That came from here http://www.mustangiitech.net/index.p...hts&Itemid=142
Note that they says the car weighs 3080 with a V8 which is pretty close to what a stock AD truck weighs and the weight on the front is 1829 which is 59% of the car's weight on the front wheels where the trucks are closer to 50/50.

Right, so a 235 should be in the ballpark of a 216 (although some ad's had 235's, no)? Seems like I would be shooting for a 1500 lb spring weight. Although do I overdo it to account for the addition of future accessories and additions?

[53 Jimmy]

Check out Scottshotrods.com ... they say you can mount it at different heights

[jrdamien]

Originally Posted by 53 Jimmy

Check out Scottshotrods.com ... they say you can mount it at different heights

They say you can mount any MII at different heights or Scott's member?

[53 Jimmy]

scotts member ... Its a nice unit check it out

[lazypineapple]

I have dealt with Eaton Springs,
the were very helpful in choosing spring for my MII setup .except i wanted Low.
Eaton will exchange the springs if you are not satisfied with your ride.
you will need to know corner weights of your truck.
they make front and rears for these trucks.
you want tie rods level , and lower arms level at ride height
new springs settle a little.
( i get and error Gallery Down for Maintenance ) so i can't post of my truck)

[_Ogre]

no matter what springs or modifications you make, the lower a-arm still needs to be level.
from what you say, you already have the heidts x-member welded in your truck.
the first thing you should do is call heidts and talk to their tech support

[jrdamien]

Decisions decisions. I really want to blast it for simplicity and cleanliness sake. But I want to stay true to this being a budget build in the old school sense of scrounging parts and using elbow grease in place of $$$ grease.

A cheap HF blaster if $60 plus media is about $100, but that could be used for the brakes or the springs or...

I have to pick up the frame on Sunday and have to use a Uhaul to do it. Might just swing by a car wash on the way, give it a once over with degreaser and a scrape down and then just angle grind and sand it down.