Mustang II front suspension recommendations needed

junkyardjeff · May 22, 2005, 11:47:25 AM

Since I have had enough with the ride and handling on my basicly stock 37 chevy p/u I am going to put a IFS under the front and I need some input on what brand crossmember and componets to use,what I am looking for is the best for the least money. Jeff

Bib_Overalls · May 22, 2005, 12:55:05 PM

If you are really trying to save money look for a complete Pinto or Mustang II IFS in a salvage yard. They are getting hard to find but they are out there. Heck, I know folks who have gotten complete cars just for hauling them out of someones back yard. Buy an application specific economy Heits crossmember, the one you grind yourself. Rebuild the salvage yard A arms and replace the ball joints. Cleanl up the spindles and the strut arms. Discard the rotors and calipers and buy an 11" upgrade kit. Depending on what you pay for the salvage yard stuff (no more than $200-250) you can save about $500 over a hub-to-hub. But you will not have dropped spindles (you may not want them) and you will have to keep the strut rods. And the springs may be to stiff or to soft for your taste.

tomslik · May 22, 2005, 06:39:04 PM

Quote from: "Bib_Overalls"If you are really trying to save money look for a complete Pinto or Mustang II IFS in a salvage yard. They are getting hard to find but they are out there. Heck, I know folks who have gotten complete cars just for hauling them out of someones back yard. Buy an application specific economy Heits crossmember, the one you grind yourself. Rebuild the salvage yard A arms and replace the ball joints. Cleanl up the spindles and the strut arms. Discard the rotors and calipers and buy an 11" upgrade kit. Depending on what you pay for the salvage yard stuff (no more than $200-250) you can save about $500 over a hub-to-hub. But you will not have dropped spindles (you may not want them) and you will have to keep the strut rods. And the springs may be to stiff or to soft for your taste.

i'm with bib and i WOULD keep the strut rods.

but i'm a cheap basstid..

junkyardjeff · May 22, 2005, 08:01:56 PM

I would think cutting the mustang crossmember out and adapting to my truck would not be worth the effort as I have seen bare crossmembers go for less then 400 dollars,I want to go on the cheap side but I think I will but a bare crossmember thats made to fit my truck and buy all the rest of the stuff from a junkyard except for the brakes if i dont find a real good deal on a hub to hub assembly. I was hoping someone knew of a company who sold a complete setup for a reasonable amount,I guess I will need to go through all the hotrod magazines and get all the companies websites and study them all and go from there. Jeff

enjenjo · May 22, 2005, 08:11:38 PM

If it was me, I would get a crossmember kit for your truck, and pick up a set of spindles at the junkyard. Speedway has new stock type A arms, black powder coated, for just slightly more than the cost of ball joints. they also have tie rod ends, and strut rods, I like the tubular struts myself. For a steering rack, get one from an 80's Tbird or Cougar, they will bolt in to the kit crossmembers, and are a better rack than the Mustang II. Get new springs, and rotors, rebuilt calipers. Doing it this way, it costs about $800, and you have mostly new parts.

alchevy · May 22, 2005, 08:40:23 PM

I have a friend in Vicksburg that has a '37 Chevy Pickup. He extended the truck 11" as seen in this picture: http://www.vicksburgcruisers.com/images/rras05079.JPG

He used a real Mustang II front suspension and with the 11" extension, the truck rides great. Longer wheelbase helps. He used to have a '34 Plymouth Coupe that he built before this truck.
AL

junkyardjeff · May 22, 2005, 09:20:19 PM

If I had to do it all over again I would of found another roof and set of doors so I could extend it about 6 inches and not make it look like a cab and a half,it would look like a stock body but have more room inside and make people wonder what I did to it. Jeff

Bib_Overalls · May 22, 2005, 10:00:18 PM

Quote from: "junkyardjeff"I would think cutting the mustang crossmember out and adapting to my truck would not be worth the effort as I have seen bare crossmembers go for less then 400 dollars,I want to go on the cheap side but I think I will but a bare crossmember thats made to fit my truck and buy all the rest of the stuff from a junkyard except for the brakes if i dont find a real good deal on a hub to hub assembly. I was hoping someone knew of a company who sold a complete setup for a reasonable amount,I guess I will need to go through all the hotrod magazines and get all the companies websites and study them all and go from there. Jeff

Don't think anyone recommended cutting a crossmember out of a Pinto/Mustang.

There is a lot of competition in the Mustang II crossmember market. It is going to be hard to find a deal that is significantly cheaper than the rest. I'd go with a name brand.

Also, when you are at the junkyard get the rack. You can use it as a core if it is not servicable.

paul2748 · May 22, 2005, 10:52:59 PM

Try Chassis Engineering in Iowa. Nice product, great people to deal with. I haven't checked out their prices lately, but should be competitive. I think there setup is height adjustable.

Bib_Overalls · May 22, 2005, 11:55:26 PM

And then there is this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=42609&item=7974875849&rd=1

Phil1934 · May 23, 2005, 05:55:30 AM

If you go to Zeke's HAMBer chat, there is a tech section with a set of blueprints to makew your own crossmember and hats. Had I had this when, I would have gone this way instead of spending a few hundred bucks for a piece of rect. tubing, two hats and no instructions.

Bruce Dorsi · May 23, 2005, 06:56:05 AM

Quote from: "Phil1934"If you go to Zeke's HAMBer chat, there is a tech section with a set of blueprints to makew your own crossmember and hats.

Can you please post a link to that info?

Thanks!

Phil1934 · May 23, 2005, 07:25:37 AM

Can you please post a link to that info?

Right now it scrolls through several somethings, usually just opens up, but

https://login.passport.com/login.srf?lc=1033&id=24002&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fgroups%2Emsn%2Ecom%2FZekesHAMBerChat%2F%5Fhomepage%2Emsnw%3F%26pps%3Dk&tw=43200&kv=6&ct=1116847385&cb=wscontext%3D%26wscommname%3D%26wsredir%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fgroups%252Emsn%252Ecom%252FZekesHAMBerChat%252F%255Fhomepage%252Emsnw%253F&kpp=3&ver=2.1.0173.1&tpf=f0e8d2e06a97ee917475dc82d1bfd2fd

Dirk35 · May 24, 2005, 09:29:48 AM

I have a set of MII stock spindles Ill give you (for a good donation to the RRT) and you cover shipping by the cheapest way possible.

For the crossmember, Id get a good quality aftermarket one. Dont waste your time trying to make a MII stamped original fit. Their stamped from three diferent peices if I remember right. Get one of the good heavy ones. Not one of the ones made from Steel tubing.

You DO want the speedway control arms like enjenjo said. Youll spend as much/or more to replace the bushings and ball joints than to get the speedway or any other aftermarket ones.

Strut rods, get cheapest, get stock ones from salvage yard.

Rotors, youll have to switch to 5 lug rotors anyway