I have a 65 mustang coupe and want to know what leaf springs to use. I want to put traction bars that bolt from the shock plate and weld into the subframe. I also want to put on subframe connectors. The goal is to make it a street and performance car. I want to have fun with it but take it to work sometimes. Can anyone help?

 

You don't really want those traction bars if you can afford something better. There are better options for road racing setups and better options for drag racing. They're decent to prevent wheel wrap up, but they can bind the rear end.

What do you want to do with the car? Drag race and drive it? Corner carver? How you set up the suspension is based on what you want it to do.

 

im not so much into taking turns fast. so a street drag car.

 

Competition Engineering Slide-A-Links or Caltracs would work much better. And you can run a softer spring for a more comfortable ride.

 

i have 5 leaf springs which avoid wheel wrap, but are stiff. if you have one of the above 4.5 or 4 leaf should work great

 

The Traction Master™ control arms are what you describe, and they are the best thing since sliced bread. I have put a couple hundred thousand miles on a set on my own car. I have also run the car in autocross competition. I can tell you they virtually eliminate 'wheel hop', and I noticed the rear of the car actually rides a bit smoother because the twisting of the axle (due to the weight of the diff on the front) is reduced. Avoid the cheaper knock-offs, they are poorly made, get the real thing.

Now, if you are using subrame connectors (which I do not have) these typically attach in the same place. TM used to have bars meant to attach to subframe connectors, I don't know if they still have them. You could contact the manufacturer. Of course, it would be a simple matter to modify the front bracket to attach to whatever subframe connector you might have.

http://www.tractionmaster.com/

Leaf springs are a snap, just get replacement GT springs. These will cost you Less than $200 including the eye bolts, U bolts, and shackles.

 

I'm using Maier Racing 165# leaf springs and Bilstein shocks. I bought them after posting questions on other forums. Mike Maier said they don't recommend traction bars (except maybe the Cal-Trac type) since they cause the rear end to bind (the spring and bar are not moving in the same arc) and give a stiff ride. With their springs and Bilstein shocks (required - I found out running cheap KYBs) you don't need traction bars and I don't have wheel hop (I did with the KYBs). They are not cheap - about $600 with springs, shocks, poly bushings, and shipping - but you get a nice ride, no wheel hop (even with 500 HP and Nitto drag radials), and since Maier Racing does SCCA racing, the car handles turns like a dream (very flat and sure). This might not be the best setup for all-out drag racing, but it is a very nice street combination that hooks up well. I think the next step up from this would be a 4-link.

 

Or a canted 4 link like what TCP makes. Or their 3 link. A properly setup 4 link kit(like the do it yourself low cost CE one) with something like w Watts Link would handle pretty well and hook like a beast.

Again, like with EVERYTHING on cars, how much are you willing to spend? For traction devices, the Traction Masters are the lowest cost and work, but can cause issues(depending on how much suspension travel you have). Slide A Links and Caltracs work better(arguably the Caltracs are the better of the 2 due to their adjustable IC), but cost quite a bit more money(about 3x the cost iirc). And the the best performing is a total suspension swap like from TCP or RRS, but those run into the thousands of dollars.

For a leaf setup that drag races, something like a 4 or 4.5 or GT spring, with Traction Masters for low cost, or SAL/Caltrac if you're willing to spend more.

 

so gt leaf springs and traction bars will work just fine? How many leaf is the gt springs? how will that affect the ride height. I want to give it a bit of a stance. Maybe just bigger tires?.

 

I think the GT spring is a "soft" 4 leaf. Most standard 4 leaves are a bit stiffer than stock GT springs. 4.5 is somewhat stiff, and 5 leave is road racing stiff...after 5 leaf is custom rate race only springs.