I just bought a 66 and it rubs tires and i would like to raise the back up a little to give it that old shool look.

 

air shocks will allow you to control the height of your rear end but if you have a high performance motor, the torque can and will cause those shocks to punch a hole in your trunk due to the high pressure of the shocks holding the rear up.

but if ur engine is stock i wouldnt worry about it. air shocks are a quick fix for poor tire/wheel choices

 

Not so much torque, but simply going over potholes and such. The upper shock mounts are not designed to take any real loads. Air shocks have their uses, but raising ride height in a Mustang is not one of them.

Springs are what set the ride height of a vehicle. If your rear end is sagging, you need to replace the leaf springs. This isn't as expensive or complicated as it sounds. A pair of GT 4-leaf springs and hardware will only run you ~$160, and it's a job easily done in an afternoon with basic hand tools.

That said, what size tires are you using? Proper tires and wheels with the proper backspacing shouldn't rub at all. If you're borderline and are only barely rubbing against the fender lip, you can actually roll that fender lip back to gain an extra 1/2" or so of clearance.

 

Old springs are usually the reason tires hit the wheel well, but leaking shocks can also cause sagging. For a bit more, heavy duty leaf springs keep the height slightly higher, and a bit stiffer (I think they have 5 leaves, but I'm not sure).

When you change the leaf springs, if they are original and 42 years old, be prepared for a possible challenge with the shackle bolts. The rubber bushings (in the 60's it was real rubber, not polyurathane) over time may have stuck to the shackel bolt. Extracting the bolt (which is actually attached to one of the shackles) might require a crowbar to pull it loose.

I have oversize tires, so I use extended shackles, but while you get that dragster look, raising the frame compromises your handling ability greatly. Avoid using extended shackles if you can and you will handle turns a lot faster.

For shocks, I use Konis, which are really the best, but expensive ($125 ea). Most of my driving is city driving with lots of turns at slow speeds, so I have them turned out for a more level, but stiffer ride. If I did mostly freeway driving with few turns, I wouldn't turn them out so much which would provide more cushion over the bumps.

In addition, I have a pair of traction bars, which completely eliminated wheel hop. Traction bars can be purchased on ebay for about $20, and take 5 minutes to bolt on to your springs. Really fast and cheap and very effective.

A rear sway bar is another great way to stiffen yopur ride and help handling. Make sure the bushings are lubed well so they don't squeek.

Good luck.

Carlos

 

Opposing viewpoint: do NOT buy bolt-on traction bars. Real Traction Masters are far, far superior, and are only $100. The cheapie bolt-on jobbers are only good for straight line acceleration, and even then they don't work as well as Traction Masters. They also tend to degrade handling performance.

 

I have kind of a question to add to this. What do you guys [with torquey] engines do to ensure the rear springs don't push into your trunks?

I have a 390 that will be getting refreshed with a stroker kit and I already need to repair a rusted out spring connector. If I could do this while I am under there it'll save me some time.

 

Assuming your car isn't a rustbucket and doesn't have severe collision damage, there should be no chance of pushing a leaf spring into the trunk. The leaf springs mount to the frame rails, which should be plenty sturdy.

 

Oops, when I said spring, I meant shock. I had a rear shock fall off.

 

Oh, that's different. Usually you only get that problem with air shocks, as they put an inordinate amount of stress on the upper shock mount. That said, I'm sure if you've got enough rust in that area, or if your bushings are old and stiff and you're running some stiff shocks you might end up with the same issues.

 

Oh my car hasnt seen the pavement in a few years. I will be doing some work coming up and I need to get that fixed before I put new shocks and rear leafs in. I was just looking to see what people are doing to beef that up if needed.