1965 Mustang front suspension upgrade?

Question

I have a 65 Stang, and I took it down to a family friend who races and works on old Mustangs. He said that my front end is shot, and I need all new bushings. I have alot of extra money, so if I wanted to upgrade the suspension, what should I do? Should I put in a Mustang II front suspension, I've always been told that they were the best of the classics. Any help/opinions would be great.

I found a Mustang II suspension kit for about $1,900 here. What else would I need? How much am I looking to pay a place to put it in? http://www.heidts.com/heip17.htm

Its the Deluxe Mustang II Suspension Package with Deluxe Crossmember

Answer 1

urethane bushings are the way to go...to use mustang II suspension you would need a specialized shop and about $10,000...the stock suspension is great ...just reset control arms to shelby specs by relocating upper control arms..(easily done) template comes with most new suspension kits...

Answer 2

1965 Mustang Front Suspension Kit

Answer 3

1965 Mustang Suspension

Answer 4

Agree with Grasshopper, urethane bushings, relocation of upper a arms for better camber settings, 7/8 sway bar, hiper lower arms and a Monte Carlo bar.
Of course progressive springs along with Kony shocks.
Don't forget a set of Baer or Brembo disk brakes and you are done!!.
Theres a good susp kit at www.mustangsplus.com (1-800-999-4289) called Grab-a-trak, including about 10 -11 components with tubular upper and lower a arms for about $2 000.00 shipping included, much less expensive than the Mustang II kit and better performance.

Good luck with your proyect.

$1 900 sounds like a good price for the Mustang II kit but I think a mechanic would charge at least some $1 500- $2 000 for the labor so I still recommend the aforementioned kit.

Answer 5

I also have a 65 stang,GT convertable myself being a Ford mechanic also helps but if you are not looking to race it just enjoy driving it just get a deluxe front end rebuild kit from any of the many mustang parts houses, I use Dallas mustang parts, the regular bushings offered today are still far above what came in it for 65, I have plenty of friends in the North Texas Mustang club who have poly other than some of them squeaking a little from the hardness of the bushing I have not heard any bad reviews, it really all comes down to your intent with the car. going to the expense of mustang II seems a little much, I would just rebuild the original & enjoy the car....

Answer 6

DO NOT use polyurethane bushings on your front end, you will end up switching back to rubber i promise you. If you decide to use polyurethane for some reason DO NOT use them on the strut rods. People are literally breaking strut rods on vintage stangs because the poly bushing is too rigid.

Look into a new set of upper and lower control arms, roller spring perches, coil springs, shocks of your choice, sway bar, export brace, monte carlo bar, roller idler arm, relocate your upper control arms (also called a shelby drop).

Front and rear suspension go hand in hand, you don't want to do one and not the other. Look into rear leaf springs, rear shocks, sub frame connectors, rear sway bar (maybe),and traction bars (if you want them).

As far as the sway bars go, you will want a 1" sway in the front and if you put one in the back you will want a 3/4" to match the 1" bar in the front. If this car will see track time then you will probably find (after spinning out a few times) that you will want to take the rear bar out.

If you are looking for a firm ride that sits at a nice ride height you will be looking for:

Sub frame connectors (a MUST for vintage mustang handling-do not bolt them in, weld them in)
Shelby drop on your upper control arms (great improvement)
1" sway bar in the front, no bar in the rear
Roller spring perches
Monte carlo bar
Export brace (goes hand in hand with the monte carlo bar)
620 1" drop coil springs
KYB gas-a-just shocks front and rear
Mid eye rear leaf springs
If you don't have at least front disc brakes, now is the time

Here is a place to start: www.opentrackerracingproducts.com

The mustang II front end is an option but in my opinion it is $ that you don't need to spend. A lot can be done with your current set up to make it ride and handle MUCH better than it currently does

Answer 7

Try Griggs engineering,, they are a shop that is located at Infineon raceway.. and deals mostly with fords.. I bought a disc brake and lowered spring conversion from one of the engineers that works there. it came off of his 65 stang... these people are very helpful and dont act like they know it all..

Answer 8

you've got a pretty good answer, but don't forget to lower it using short prgressive springs, large sway bars front and rear, and adjustible gas shocks, but for more help check with this group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/classicmustang

Answer 9

check out these web sites in australia [e-mail] or www.rrsonline.com.au your mustang front end is the same as our xw xy falcons.

Answer 10

I was wondering much the same question