66 Mustang Coupe Suspension Decision

[Crestronwizard]

Just looking for suggestions from those who have used all the various options out there. My car is a 66 coupe that will have a 32V 4.6 all aluminum engine so the shock towers have to go. 99% of the time it will be street driven. It will not be drag raced. Cost IS NOT a factor. I don't have a budget , I am just looking for the best results for my application, period. Thanks for any and all suggestions!

[kiwigt]

44025My 66 Mustang with a 450hp engine has the complete front and rear suspension systems offered by Cobra Automotive (http://www.cobraautomotive.com/). I chose to go down that route because the setup was developed by Cobra Automotive through many years of racing experience, and offers components engineered to work with each other. The system uses original components but roller bushes and reinforces the parts. I also custom valved my Koni shocks, and that plus global west subframe connectors made a huge difference. My car is set up as a 'corner carver' - stiff but not to the point of annoyance. I enjoy working on my car and from time to time consider doing more suspension development, but there's no point because the car currently handles everything I can throw at it going through the twisties. Cobra Auto are also great to deal with in terms of service. In terms of non traditional Mustang setups I really like the TCP Mustang stuff http://www.totalcontrolproducts.com/products.html

[funcars]

I would assume you will be willing to create a new front suspension as well. That would allow you to do whatever you want including front steer and rack and pinion. Do you want to do the fab or will you have someone do it for you?

[Matt@BOS]

If cost is no object, JME would probably be my first choice. Other than the parts that mount to the frame rails, everything is billet. It is lightweight, and has been engineered without much compromise to cost. I plan on running their setup in my Mustang with a mod motor. Besides the benefits of the revised suspension geometry from the double wishbone/short-long-arm suspension with dropped spindles with built in caster, one of the main selling points for me is the fact that the JME setup allows for the removal of the shock towers.

You could also look into Sean Hyland or Agent 47. However, Agent 47 still uses the shock towers and Sean Hyland seems rather expensive for their product when compared to JME.

I've been doing a lot of research in the past couple months after picking up a '65 Fastback, which is getting a mod motor, so if you have more in depth questions let me know. I might not know the answers, but I can probably point you to the people that do.

Matt

[Bryce]

No budget? Nice!

I have a few ideas for a new mustang suspension setups that are not MII.

Matt, can you post those engine dimensions again?

Even though JME is billet it looks heavy and bulky. I think there are ways to make that system a lot lighter. At 10K for suspension I would have made carbon fiber control arms.

I built and designed the front and rear suspensions on my falcon and the front suspension on my 65 mustang, also starting to work on the rear on that one.

[Crestronwizard]

Thanks for the advice so far. I have been reading some other threads and one of the big choices for me is going to come down to coilover or air ride. I sold my 08 M3 to make room for this car and want something that handles at least as well. I apologize that it is the only vehicle I have to compare handling to :-). That is why I am dependent on the wise advice from this great forum. I will drive this car a lot, so ride is important.

[Crestronwizard]

44025My 66 Mustang with a 450hp engine has the complete front and rear suspension systems offered by Cobra Automotive (http://www.cobraautomotive.com/). I chose to go down that route because the setup was developed by Cobra Automotive through many years of racing experience, and offers components engineered to work with each other. The system uses original components but roller bushes and reinforces the parts. I also custom valved my Koni shocks, and that plus global west subframe connectors made a huge difference. My car is set up as a 'corner carver' - stiff but not to the point of annoyance. I enjoy working on my car and from time to time consider doing more suspension development, but there's no point because the car currently handles everything I can throw at it going through the twisties. Cobra Auto are also great to deal with in terms of service. In terms of non traditional Mustang setups I really like the TCP Mustang stuff http://www.totalcontrolproducts.com/products.html

Thanks!

[Crestronwizard]

I would assume you will be willing to create a new front suspension as well. That would allow you to do whatever you want including front steer and rack and pinion. Do you want to do the fab or will you have someone do it for you?

I want to try and do the fab myself........It has been awhile since my last project though so should be interesting. If there is someone in NC , within 60 miles of Raleigh, that does this sort of thing I may entertain having a shop do it.

[Matt@BOS]

No budget? Nice!

I have a few ideas for a new mustang suspension setups that are not MII.

Matt, can you post those engine dimensions again?

Even though JME is billet it looks heavy and bulky. I think there are ways to make that system a lot lighter. At 10K for suspension I would have made carbon fiber control arms.

I built and designed the front and rear suspensions on my falcon and the front suspension on my 65 mustang, also starting to work on the rear on that one.

Bryce, I went over to JME and talked with Julio at length about their setup. I also got to see it and pick up various parts of one that was being put together. It is surprisingly light, I thought the control arms would be much heavier. The ease of adjustment on it is amazing too. You can pretty much bolt on whatever brakes you have. You can adjust the control arms all you want, etc. I think it also uses self lubricating heim joints that have a delrin or similar lining. From what I remember, it starts at $7000, however that price does not include shocks! So customers can easily run up the tab to 10 grand if they want Penske, JRI, JRZ, or similar shocks.

With all of that said, that is a ton of cash. I've been considering it partially because I've got parts lying around like brakes, and also because there are some old Lateral Dynamics 3 link parts lying around the shop, which would allow me to keep my overall suspension budget a little more reasonable.

As nice as the JME setup is I'm not sure it is vastly better than other offerings out there, especially when considering our own limitations as drivers. I'd like to see more testing against the likes of Art Morrison, TCI, TCP, etc. and right the pro touring cars (not race cars) that have their suspensions are mostly trailer queens at this point, i.e the Ring Brothers' and Anvil's Mustangs.

Anyway Bryce, I'd love to hear your ideas for a front setup. Let me give you the measurements again:

5.4 4V:
L - 24"
W - 29"
H - 29"
I believe I rounded those numbers up to the nearest inch.
Crestronwizard, you might want to store those numbers away. The 4.6 has a slightly smaller deck, but is still a fatass engine.

Matt

[Crestronwizard]

Thanks Matt, I will. Your right , it is huge......might tear it down today. I still need rods and pistons for it if anyone has any for sale.

Geoff

[Jeff70]

DSE will have 1st gen Mustang stuff soon.

[Matt@BOS]

DSE will have 1st gen Mustang stuff soon.

Really? Last month Kyle said that they were thinking of building Mustang parts. They're building a car for a customer, but want to do some more market research before committing. He said they were about a year out from having a product ready, but that is only if they think there is enough interest.

DSE would be my first choice, but right now I'm not going to put my project on hold for a year to wait for a product that may or may not ever come to the market. However, Geoff, since you're from NC (DSE is in Mooresville) it might be worth calling DSE to see if they would build a front suspension for your car alongside the one in their shop.

Matt

[funcars]

I think it's great that you areconsidering DIY. You will develop a better understanding of suspension tradeoffs if you go through the process. The only thing to be wary of is that it will take more time than you think. I would recommend getting a suspension analysis program and doing simulations of the various options before you commit to a final design. There is nothing really special with the construction of the front end components - just good engineering. What does really matter is all of their relative locations and lengths. If your budget allows, you can get custom made spindles to put your geometry exactly as you want, with hubs of your choice and you can also get whatever brakes you want with whatever rotors you want. I did that years ago when I moved everything around on my Mustang front end. There is a chapter in the Miliken book that has some guidance on the sequence to follow when laying out a new front suspension.

Good luck with it

[GrabberGT]

Check out Griggs.

[Crestronwizard]

Check out Griggs.

I looked at Griggs..........are they still in business?

[MrForce]

We are doing something simiar to this http://www.totalcostinvolved.com/mustangf&r_intro.cfm for a customer.

Rob

[Crestronwizard]

We are doing something simiar to this http://www.totalcostinvolved.com/mustangf&r_intro.cfm for a customer.

Rob

Hi Rob,

Josh is helping me out. I am leaning towards you guys. Main decision is going to be air ride or not.

Geoff