First post, and yep its about suspension

[tlwilliams]

hello yall ,

its time i stopped dragging ass and got started on this 54 5 window of mine, like a lot of people, im starting with the suspension and frame work, my frame is in super condition for original and do not want to even consider a clip. I'm basically 100 percent set on a MustangII front end, i like the way they look with the tubular arms and with sooooo many different kits it brings me to the reason for this post. I've looked at all the kits, Heidts, TCI, Fatman, Scotts and so on. Majority of the kits look very similar with minor changes, i recently came across performance online who look to be selling from what i can tell is a heidts kit but for only 1499! seems super cheap to me, wanted to get everyone's more updated opinions , most of my searches on the subject are more then a couple years old. I'd like to purchase a kit no later then this week and ALL info and insight is welcome. thank y'all

[tlwilliams]

P.S. general information on ride height, how much does the mustangII swap with stock spindles drop the front end from the stock solid axle? ive read anywhere from 2-4 inches?

[joedoh]

if you want to know how much it will drop your truck, get a measurement from the MII crossmember between where the crossmember attaches to the bottom of the frame and the lower arm mount hole. then subtract 4 inches from that and that will be the center of the MII spindle when installed. record this number

on your current truck measure from the bottom of the frame to the center of the spindle. the difference between the first number and this second number will be the change in spindle height = the amount of drop.

[dsraven]

as a quick response, I would call Heidts or whoever and ask for thedrop dimension. if they can give you the oinfo then that is a good thing, if not, look for a supplier who is able to do that because they will be the company who has customer service. from a guy who purchased a MII from a reputable supplier several years back I can tell you that when I had problems (sent wrong cross member so it didn't fit the angle/slope of the frame) the manufacturer had no clue and was no help. just weld it in was the response. since it had a 1/2" gap in some areas that was obviously not gonna work. I actually got better information from a different supplier who gave me the dimensions I needed even though they knew they weren't the manufacturer. in the end my cross member ended up lower than I wanted due to the issue. the company (middleman) who supplied the parts was no help either.
I guess what I am saying is contact them and ask questions. if you are able to get some dimensional facts or a drawing of what the MII should look like for your track width and frame width then they would possibly go to the top of the list. go with the most heavy duty one you can find (ask about wall thickness on the control arms etc) who use the best parts. try to get a part number or donor vehicle that the parts would be used on, eg, ball joints are stock replacements on xx vehicle. I was not pleased with the way the ball joint rubbers sealed on my front end because the rubbers simply sat on the stud of the ball joint and had no physical seal against the body of the part. that is basically an invitation for road dirt to enter the joint and wear it out prematurely. pics of the assembled parts on an actual model or truck would be good to see so you can check things like that. even better if you could see one in person at a parts store. the other thing to check is the upper control arm mounts because you may be buying an "on sale" older style which uses "T" bolts to mount the upper control arm shafts. the newer style uses a vertical frame mount for the shaft and "T" bolts are not used. the issue is the old style "can" move across the horizontal frame mount for the old style if the truck hits a pot hole hard enough. lots of guys have used the old style with no issues so that is a personal preference thing.
if I was going to do it again I would look for a unit that bolts in instead of a weld in unit. that is simply because of ease of assembly and also ease of rake angle changes after the fact. if welded in you better like the rake angle because thats what you got now. I like the look of the scotts assembly but it is pricey and although it has adjustable heim joints on the upper control arms those joints are prone to wear. as opposed to a solid tubular control arm they are nice because they are adjustable but the front end alignment will cost you more because the arm needs to be removed to adjust the joint I think. I could be wrong because I am just going off a web pic.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Consider Flat Out Engineering's cross member for Corvette C4 suspension.

I WAS going MII too (Fatman, still have the kit too!) and was recommended to go heavier. I feel I made the right choice. I suppose it depends on how you will use your truck afterward.

[tlwilliams]

thanks for the comments,

Dan, so you didnt end up using your fatman kit?

i called performance online, and as i assumed , the guy (who didnt seem very knowledgeable about their products) said they just sale the heidts kit, which somehow they are doing so for 300 dollars cheaper then heidts is selling their own kit, but might actually be a good thing since heidts is a known brand, but im pretty sure that kit uses the old style 2 bolts, but it wouldnt be hard at all to get some 1/4" material and make the 90 degree mounting plate people seem to like and help keeps everything in place, im a pretty good fabricator so not overwelmed if i need to make things fit right

[dsraven]

that is what I meant about getting the drawings from somewhere so you can check your work as you go plus, if you change something like that, you get the shaft centers at the right dimension from each other. there is an anti-dive angle built in, so the upper shaft slopes down at the rear 4 deg or so I think, plus the upper control arm could also slope slightly downhill towards the frame, so as the tire/wheel goes up it also tilts in and misses the fender lip. this is all assuming you start with the lower control arm level with the ground, side to side.

if you are a good fabricator and not afraid to fab from scratch, plus have a good grasp on suspension geometry, there is a home diy kit sold at welders series in Ontario Canada, good rate on the dollar as well. they also sell a whack of other fab parts and brackets for hot rods, like 4 link kits, panhard bars, gussets, bushings etc etc.

[tlwilliams]

dsraven- yeah drawings would be good, from what i can tell on say the TCI kit where they have a 90 degree mount service, the fabricated flang for the mount is exactly inline with the old t-style mount slots, the upper a-arm is just swiveled between the two mounts, this is all purely hypothetical at this point and would only look into it if i had issues with my alignment moving like some say they have had

i did see the welder series kit on the powerblock show actually, seems pretty straight forward with just some precut bends that need to be made and welded up , i have welders , tube benders, car lift etc in my home garage, and feel i could do a kit like these, but time is money and for 1499 for a heidts kit it almost seems like the way to go, although i really like the scotts kit, but now at 2500 and i agree i think the a-arm needs to be removed in order to adjust, im just not sold on it yet

[tlwilliams]

as for use of the vehicle, its a budget build at the moment, i want to do air ride in the future but ill prolly wait a year or two before i tackle that route and would just like to get this truck to the safe weekend drive before spring time, i have a ton of other work to do , i picked up a 5.3 for it, which needs rebuild and along with all the wiring steering, rear axle swap still to be had, along with boxing in the frame , think its safe to keep air ride on the back burner for time being

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by tlwilliams

thanks for the comments,

Dan, so you didnt end up using your fatman kit?

No. I still have it in the box. It’s an old kit but was never installed. It’s the 2 bolt type too. I got it from someone who bought a failed project and intended to put a BBC in his truck so he wanted something more substantial.

[tlwilliams]

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

No. I still have it in the box. It’s an old kit but was never installed. It’s the 2 bolt type too. I got it from someone who bought a failed project and intended to put a BBC in his truck so he wanted something more substantial.

well are you looking to sale it? even tho it would be a long shipping distance

[tlwilliams]

still looking for anyone's experience with their mustang2 kits, all info is helpful

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by tlwilliams

well are you looking to sale it? even tho it would be a long shipping distance

Yes, I want to sell it but I think the shipping costs would be too high to make it deal for you. Drop me a PM with your zip code and I can find out.

[CountofMonteCarlo84]

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

Consider Flat Out Engineering's cross member for Corvette C4 suspension.

I WAS going MII too (Fatman, still have the kit too!) and was recommended to go heavier. I feel I made the right choice. I suppose it depends on how you will use your truck afterward.

+1 for Flatout Engineering. My 57 has everything Flatout Engineering offers for the front end and has bags on the rear. It handles just as good as my 2002 Camaro SS, maybe even better if it wasn't heavier than the Camaro.

[tlwilliams]

Originally Posted by CountofMonteCarlo84

+1 for Flatout Engineering. My 57 has everything Flatout Engineering offers for the front end and has bags on the rear. It handles just as good as my 2002 Camaro SS, maybe even better if it wasn't heavier than the Camaro.

sweet! i also have a 98 z28 running a 76mm turbo, i cant even imagine having my truck handle the same way, so basically yall are just running all c4 suspension up front?

[Katrina/10]

I installed a Scott's IFS in my truck, and it does not require any cutting of the inner fenders. This was a big deal to me, since I did not want to cut mine.

[tlwilliams]

Originally Posted by Katrina/10

I installed a Scott's IFS in my truck, and it does not require any cutting of the inner fenders. This was a big deal to me, since I did not want to cut mine.

awesome , any pics of your install or build? i need to give scotts a call and see what their forum discount is

[Katrina/10]

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=582993

If you call Scott's talk to Justin. Their crossmemember is one piece, a very simple installation, and no top bolts to get loose. But you have to specify air bags or coilovers, and it would be hard to change later.

[tlwilliams]

Originally Posted by Katrina/10

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=582993

If you call Scott's talk to Justin. Their crossmemember is one piece, a very simple installation, and no top bolts to get loose. But you have to specify air bags or coilovers, and it would be hard to change later.

yeah thats what i was worried about, since i wanna go with a simple coil spring setup now, and later down the road convert to bags

[CountofMonteCarlo84]

Originally Posted by tlwilliams

sweet! i also have a 98 z28 running a 76mm turbo, i cant even imagine having my truck handle the same way, so basically yall are just running all c4 suspension up front?

Yup and the truck has an Ls1 in it too

[tlwilliams]

Originally Posted by CountofMonteCarlo84

Yup and the truck has an Ls1 in it too

very cool, as of right now it looks like i will likely go with the heidts kit, but im not ordering till monday

heidts has by far been the most helpful and put in the most leg work to get me info i wanted

[Advanced Design]

Originally Posted by tlwilliams

very cool, as of right now it looks like i will likely go with the heidts kit, but im not ordering till monday

heidts has by far been the most helpful and put in the most leg work to get me info i wanted

I've been pleased with their products and customer service over the years.

[mongocanfly]

hard to beat good customer relations...I don't mind paying a little extra just for that reason