KATMAN44

I'm working on restoring my 66 coupe and want to modify the front suspension. Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks.

matcox83

Too many possibilities to list. Tell us what your budget is. You can go stock replacements, poly bushings, upgraded control arms, coil overs, Mustang II. You can add rack and pinion steering and big disc brakes.

Give us an idea how much you want to spend. Have you looked at anything online yet? You may get sticker shock if you haven't.

KATMAN44

I know that I don't want to go back to stock. I currently have drums and want to convert to disk brakes. I have looked at the complete front suspension kits and really do not want to spend that much money (have not set a max though). I plan on driving the car a lot and want a more modern suspension. I have considered upgrading the control arms and the springs. I haven't really looked into Mustang II suspension. I don't want to spend a fortune, but I do want something that will accommodate weekly driving. Out of all the possibilities, which do you think would work best?

houtex

For daily driving, there is nothing wrong with the stock suspension. You're not tracking. You're just moving down the road. Although there is more options with the full 5 lug v8 suspension, even the i6 suspension is adequate for daily use.

The front discs? Absolutely. Get them. But again, options are better with the V8 suspsension. And add a power brake booster, and a proportioning valve, definitely.

The rear drums are just fine. There is no reason to upgrade that except looks or bragging. You will lock up the rears just as easily with the drums... I had standard non-powered drums all the way around on my '66 I6 Sprint coupe, and I could easily lock up those rear wheels with those. Even with 7" wide rims and 205/65r15s BFG Touring TAs... *Skiiiiiid* to a stop in the back, anytime I wanted to for kicks. Fronts had enough weight on the wheels and tires they wouldn't lock though. Had to pre-plan stopping... taught me to leave plenty room in front. Powered brakes would have been a big improvement maybe... discs even more so.

The thing you're probably wanting to do is to get a sway bar in the back, a bigger sway bar in the front, and urethane bushings everywhere. Get more aggressive shocks, maybe some progressive springs in the front, and get new springs in the back, perhaps rearch them a little. You might put traction bars on the rear axle for improvements there, my dad's Ranchero has those... that thing HOOKS... but the truth is, these cars are woefully unbalanced towards the front... the back is just sorta following around back there.

Get some 7" rims and 205/ or 215/ series tires. Perhaps 17"x7" and 215/50R17s. The tires I just checked on were <$100 each. Might *just* rub on a turn... but a stop fashioned on the knuckle or lower arm would fix that problem. These will be about the biggest tires you can get on the front and back, and give you the best traction on turns, plus the 17" rims will mean less sidewall, so you get better feedback and less flex on the turns.

Finally, replacement tie rods, rebuild the steering box, or instead put a rack and pinion kit in for improved steering feel (there are bolt on kits available.)

Overall, this'd be kinda what I'd be looking at for 'inexpensive', anyway. It'd ride a little rougher, actually, but handle a little better.

'Tis but one idea, of course. Look forward to hearing your progress on the project!

dday9

As a II owner, I'd highly suggest a Mustang II front-suspension. We were blessed with one heck of a great front suspension. You can find some on ebay ranging from $100 to $1200.

houtex

The problem with the II suspension is the amount of work to get it mounted on the car is rather exorbitant. There's a lot of welding involved if you want it done right. And there is no way you can get a $100 one of those except to rip it off a donor II and do all the work yourself. Or someone is so desperate/apathetic he/she will take $100 for the kit, which is really.. well, whatever, if you can get it, awesome.

Source: My pop's '64 Falcon convertible with complete Mustang II Fat Man suspension, and 4" box tubes replacing the frame rails. I didn't do it, but I saw it done... *hella* amount of work.

/Does allow the shock towers to go away though.
//They were gonna put a Mark VIII motor in it... then the firewall issue came up and it now has a complete new crate '95 Mustang GT 5.0 drivetrain in it now. Fun car to drive! Way way not stock though.
///I do agree though... awesome suspension in that car. Car drives on rails. But not 'cheap' on a '66.

KATMAN44

Thanks for all the help. I plan on keeping the shock towers on the car but it is not a must keep scenario. Has anyone upgraded the control arms and springs? If so, would you recommend doing that or would you recommend changing to the Mustang II front suspension?

mustang-68

I'm replace my upper and lower control arm right what r u trying to upgrade to

houtex

Your budget will drive the thing. And your desire. But you stated you didn't want to spend a ton of money, and you just want to drive it. Or did I misinterpret?

I myself would use the money elsewhere and just buy all new stock original suspension, new tie rods, and rebuild the steering box. Discs up front with a booster. Much cheaper, bolts on, no gotchas, just get it aligned and you're movin' down the road. The money can then be spent on other things such as interior, paint, engine upgrades if desired. The Mustang II suspension or any other suspension items are for performance handling aspects and are NOT needed for a DD unless you simply want to corner that much better.

The brakes are because discs in front are just the thing to do.

If you want my advice on what to do, that's what you do unless you're going away from stock engines that won't fit with the shock towers. In that case, and that case alone, you get the II suspension.

But that's me.