So I did the Shelby drop when I put in my grab-a-trak. Then when I took the car in for alignment (and other expensive mods), the alignment shop said this was a BAD IDEA (reputable classic Mustang shop in SoCal that regularly writes and contributes our "How To" articles to Mustang Monthly - that's how I found them). Turns out that Carrol Shelby stopped doing the Shelby Drop on Shelby Mustang model #252 (bet you didn't know that - I didn't...). There were constant upper ball joint failures on the cars with the drop. Ball joint life was dramatically reduced to about 1/3 its usual life. If the Shelby Drop is accompanied with a special upper ball joint modification (expensive$$$ part, and expensive$$$ labor), then all is well. However, just doing the drop with no ball joint mod will be detrimental to a regularly driven Mustang.

None of this matters if you only show your car, or "occassionally" drive it less than the maximum miles allowed under a classic car insurance policy. If that's your case, then I wonder why one would go through the hassle and expense of this mod when you won't ever be able to feel the difference, since the car is never run long or hard enough to notice.

As the '67 is my daily driver, I opted for the shop to reverse my Shelby Drop and put the upper control arms back in their factory places. With a 1" coil spring drop up front with the grab-a-trak kit, those upper ball joints are already suffering added stress. And with other mods to stiffen your frame and suspension, your Mustang will feel like it corners on rails without the risk of premature ball joint failure resulting from this "alleged" performance modification.

Just thought I'd share...

 

Yeah, that is true stuff. That is why a lot of us either have corrected Arms or the camber wedge. Opentracker makes a corrected uper arm, you should get the roller perches as well.

http://www.opentrackerracingproducts.com/

 

Those are sweet (and $$$) upper control arms! The '67 already has new roller spring perches. Wish I would have know of those uppers before. But then again, my fiancee, and my wallet, are likely glad I didn't...

 

Hmmm...very good post, interesting information to know.

 

The Shelby drop is an easy and fast do-it-yourself job that will increase handling through corners. At a price of 18$ we replace the upper ball joints when they are worn out.

 

DAMN, why cant anybody have told me this before i did the Shelby drop???? i guess i will just keep putting on ball joints.

 

Yup, or buy a negative wedge kit. But it depends on how and where you drive your car. Mainly higway driving and cruising, keep on buying ball joints, thay won`t wear THAT fast

 

Interesting analogy, and information. I have never heard that about the shelby drop, but we learn something every day. Thanks for sharing.

 

I've heard simialr info regarding Shelby not continuing with the drop, however, I've heard from a number of sources that the reason he stopped doing this was purly due to cost. Ford was screwing him down and the only way for him to continue making a profit was to "drop" a few things. Not due to premature ball joint wear.
Having said that, an $18 ball joint to get rid of the annoying tyre scrub, lower by 1/2" and improve handling is still one of the best and cheapest mods possible.

 

I'm in a similar situation. I thought I had read everything pertaining to the Granada brake swap. Must have missed the part about the Granada spindles having a different ackerman geometry that causes increased bump steer in '65-'67 Mustangs. I wish people would share the negatives along with the positives so that we could make informed decisions.

Rich