Can you guys help me with front bushing suggestions. About 14 years ago I went with some poly and some rubber (not everything was in poly if I remember correctly). What do you suggest nowadays:

Poly
Prothane
or thermoplastic

Not everything is in the thermo, but I thought about doing what I could with it like strut rod bushings and lower control arm.

Thanks for the help.

 

Have you given any consideration to eliminating all the bushings (sans sway bar bushings)? Or do you prefer to stay stock?
If you are staying with bushings, I'd suggest a high durometer rubber over any other other. A little compliance in the bushing limits the amount of stress applied to the stock strut bar. Less chance of bending, or breaking, a bar that way.

If you don't mind updating, I'd suggest taking the time to read over the information at Opentracker's site. This is a great way to go, and still maintain a pretty much stock appearance. Works exceptionally well in my '66 convertible. If you'd like to see a couple of examples, check out 2baV8's web page, and the web page in my signature. Also I think Dodgestang has some of these components as well.

Good luck!

 

Well it depends how you want to use the car. If its just a cruiser with occasional spirited driving, I would stick with all stock stuff. I bought a new set of complete upper and lower control arms with spring perches on ebay for $219. It also depends whats bad/worn out on your car. If you do more spirited driving (aka drive it like you stole it) or actually race it I would start looking at offerings from Opentracker, which look like some of the best quality stuff Ive seen. Specifically I would recommend the roller spring perches. While I dont have the roller perches (found out about them right after I redid my suspension), I have heard nothing but great feedback from them. Others will chime in with other suggestions, but basically your options will be: 1.) stock 2.)polyurethane 3.)polygraphite (from PST) 4.) other. Whatever you do, I would strongly suggest doing the shelby drop while you have everything apart. Its free, and will really help the handling of your car. Just look in the FAQ section here on MF for the template to do the shelby mod. Dont forget to change your alignment specs with the shelby mod. Your new alignment specs should be: caster; +2.0* - +2.75* Camber; 0* - -0.5* toe; 1/8". In the name of better handling, dont forget about your rear suspension. If the bushings are original, new ones will make your car handle better and ride smoother, and its not expensive to do. If you dont mind a little stiffer ride, go with polyurethane or polygraphite in back. Last but not least, dont forget about shocks. Many people here (myself included) have and are happy with KYBs.

 

Go roller and you'll be smiling every time you take a corner, everytime you hit a bump in the road.
Both rubber and polyurethene suck as a bushing.
Heim joints and roller bearings take the suspension to a new level.
Best part about is its really easy to upgrade and not that expensive to do as well.

 

2bav8: I want to rollerize my front end, but how much difference does it make? I hear everyone raving about the roller perches they just bought, but do you feel more harshness or vibration or anything? How about with the heim joint on the strut rod? I know they help performance a lot, but will it make it any more harsh? After those 2 things, how about the lower control arm bushing? Ive never heard a bad word about either modifications, but I just wonder because the factory wouldnt put the bushings there if they werent necessary. And lastly, is the roller idler arm worth getting? Ive never been impressed with the way my car handles. I rebuilt it a few years back and had a lot of problems with it, then after I got a little wiser went back and fixed my mistakes and had it re-aligned, and its much better, but its clearly not designed to give high speed stability in stock form (even a 1" sway bar doesnt help much).

 

oh, and for whats its worth, I dont have a mustang, I have a 65 comet wagon. Also FWIW, between any mustang, falcon HT, sedan, or wagon, the wagons had the lowest front spring rate of all of them.

 

Decurion,

The beauty of the roller parts is it reduces road harness in addition to increasing grip.
So, not only are you improving the handling of the Comet wagon, you're making the ride even smoother as well.
Best of both worlds.

Ford did actually have a bronze bushing in some early Falcons spring perches. They were cut from long-term production to save costs.

 

where do you get these heim joint pieces that you can include into your suspension

 

Brandontyler65,

I bought my suspension from Opentracker.
He's got a site on the web at: http://www.opentrackerracingproducts.com

Owner's name is John, really helpful and actually cares about selling you the right parts.
If somebody else sells a part that's better for your ride he has no problem saying so.
That's honesty that's missed in a lot of companies these days.