urban_cowboy

I am dropping in my new stroker next week. From my buildout and design, it should be around 450-475 flywheel hp naturally aspirated. I am not doing a Nitrous install right away, but I have built the motor to handle a 200 shot if/when I want it.

My drag race buddy is telling me that performance tuning this engine is going to be hard until I get the suspension where the beast won't just blast the tires. I have ordered a set of Mickey Thompson Sportsman Pros for the front and back 26x8 on the front and 26x10.5 on the back. I can already tell that the old leaf spring system is going to give us problems.

My question is, has anyone done any homework on coilover upgrades or any other suspension upgrades? My buddy is big on TotalControl Products and wants to help me do a coil over rear end swap out. It looks expensive, so I will wait for a little while after the engine project, but is it worth it? Any help or comments would be great.

FYI, I am building a middle of the road Restomod. Want to stay away from air bags and not super excited about loosing the leaf springs.

michaelricha33

I have a TCP front coilover that I think is very good (you get what you pay for)....I have not looked into doing the rear... I have a friend at work that put a 427 SBC (naturally aspirated 485hp) in his 59 vette and uses traction bars on his leaf springs with BFG Drag radials and thinks his traction is fine, but he doesn't race professionally either. Attached pic of TCP front set-up installed on my car.



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urban_cowboy

There are several options for both the front and the back coil over systems.

The front has one where the shock goes all the way to the lower control arm. The second only goes to the a-arm. You can also get strut rods for the front. I have no idea what advantages or disadvantages of them are.

The rear has two basic options. One is a g-bar/g-link system which is basically a four link. It has verticaly mounted coil overs and is very adjustable. The second is a rear push arm and hasdiagonal coil overs. Again, I have no idea the advantages or disadvantages of either. I like the look of the g-bar system and it will basically bolt into stock locations, but do not know which is really better.

As for leafs vs. coil overs, I have been told that above 400hp or so, many people opt for coil overs because traction bars can only help so much.

67mustang302

A rear 3 link or 4 link would work well for forward bite. The aftermarket 3 link kits are more or less bolt in and will allow for better cornering, but aren't as adjustable as something like a universal 4-link + panhard setup. The universal 4 link kits require fabricating but are also highly adjustable. Avoid an IRS if you're looking to drag race it, you'll have a really hard time getting off the line. Leaf springs actually can work quite well with a good traction bar like CE's Slide-A-Links. There's guys at the track around here putting down 800+hp on leaf springs + traction bars and running 8's with good 60' times. Leaf springs are only so good though, and ultimately you'll get better forward bite with something like a 3/4 link setup. I like a 3 link cuz it allows for better cornering ability. Keep in mind that the new S197 Mustangs have a 3 link and there are guys who have managed to pull 1.7xx 60' times on street tires.

urban_cowboy

Do you have any suggestions on 3/4 link manufacturers that I can start looking into? The TCP g-bar is basically a four link and is a complete kit. Most of my performance is aimed at the street, so I do not want something that will not corner, but I am never going to road race this. I may take it to test and tunes though, so I guess 1/4 mile traction is more my thing.

My plan, orignally, was to install some frame supports, replace the rear leafs with some nice ones, put on some traction bars like CE's and see where I am. The problem with this is then I am half way to a coil over setup.

Question: Don't the Outlaw 10.5 guys run leaf springs? Think they have to be stock suspension and they are running like high 7s. My buddy is big into drag technology, so he is going to lean towards the best stuff, but I want to investigate how far I can take the leaf design if it is reasonably capable of 450-500hp.

michaelricha33

Well I think traction bars will cost around $300 and new leafs through mustangsplus are about $200 with all the hardware.New shocks are about $60-75 a piece. Say $700 for the whole set-up. All of those fancy rear set-ups are all pretty close to $2000 aren't they. Since you are not going to race professionally, I think the traction bar/leaf spring will probably meet your liking.