Category: Front Suspension

Questions we’ve been asked about front suspension- Mustang II vs. solid axle, four link, hairpins, etc.

Dear Welder Series… Mustang II control arm holes

Dear Welder Series…
On the coil over shock crossmember it shows a 1/2 hole for the lower a-arm, the lower a-arm pivot bushing on my lower a-arm requires a hole 1 3/8 hole. Is that going to work on this crossmember??

Dear Len…
Len, the 1/2″ hole is stock Mustang II. Many aftermarket a-arms use a 5/8″ bolt and some spacers inside and on the back of the crossmember. Depending on the arrangement of your spacer(s) and bolts, the 1/2″ holes might only have to be drilled for the 5/8″ bolt. If the spacer is 1 piece (on the driver and passenger sides), it can either be cut in 2 to put one section between the front and rear crossmember plates and the other piece on the rear side of the crossmember. Or the rear hole can be opened up to the spacer diameter and leave the spacer as 1 piece.

I hope this answers your question.

Paul Horton

Dear Welder Series… right hand drive Vega bracket?

Dear Welder Series…
Hi Paul

I’m ready to buy all my bits, an NZ freight forwarding company has offered me an introductory 30% off deal. So I’ll give that a go as I think USPS will be a lot.

I will get the rear panhard and the Vega steering but please weld the spacers on the back as it for a right hand drive.

OK. I have been told I need a front panhard, I was looking at your kit, but I have traditional 1930 model a split wishbone radius rods like this

do you think I can just weld a bracket onto the inside of one of the radius rods/arms? And the other end to the chassis rail as per normal, it should be OK. Let me know as  think your kit will be fine if I get the length right.

Cheers  Gary

Dear Gary…
The front Panhard tabs can be welded to the wishbone, Gary.  What axle will you use?  We can weld the Vega spacers on the opposite side for the right hand drive installation.  Please mention this in your order.

Thanks for looking at Welder Series parts.
Paul Horton

Dear Welder Series… custom adjusters?

Dear Welder Series…
I need an adjuster kit, LH and RH (like #ws100720r) for my split wishbone set up but here’s the deal. I have 3/4 threaded bungs in my wishbones and I was going to put heim joints but I’d rather put urethane instead. I need a 3/4″ thread, on a 1 3/8″ wide urethane bushing with a degree on it.

Let me know if you can make that and I’ll measure what degree I need if you can do it.

Thank you very much,
Louis.

Dear Louis…
Thanks for asking, Louis. Yes, we can do this, depending on the angle you need. Please check the angle and get back to us.

Paul Horton.

Dear Welder Series… how do I find axle centerline?

Dear Welder Series…
I have already stripped my truck down to the bare chassis and am looking to purchase an IFS for the front end. With the suspension now out of the chassis and gone to the scrap yard (wasn’t thinking there) can I center the new suspension by measuring from the front spring mounting holes to the rear spring brackets or should I re-position the cab and fenders on the chassis to center the wheels? The chassis goes to the sandblaster on Thursday and then I’m boxing it and getting it ready for your parts to go on. Thanks in advance for your help with this… you are going to make a few dollars off of this build for sure.

Dear Writer…
I always like to mock things up so I know that the look is what I want.  It does take longer, but gives better odds that things don’t have to be undone and redone.
Thanks for asking.

Dear Welder Series… Mustang II installation questions

Dear Welder Series…
I recently came across your MII installation instructions, and I am really impressed. A great tool for a builder!

I have few questions; (The more I study it the more I have questions!)
1. Am I correct in saying that your instructions will only establish the desired ride height, if on assembly,  the lower control arm is positioned as you assumed it would be when you wrote the instructions? What position does the lower control arm need to be in? (The old method of placing a straight edge under the cross member and the control arm resting on it?)

2. I see on your web site you answer questions about maximum outside frame width to avoid frame notching to clear coil springs. You point out that the maximum varies depending on ride height… understood.
I am looking at installation of an MII in a 1934 Chrysler which will need the frame narrowed considerably because it “flares” out to 36 inches- outside width (the existing frame runs to the outside of the existing coils spring.) I am looking at narrowing the “flare” to 29-1/2” (outside) to match the existing frame dimension on the firewall side of the “flare”. I would like to narrow the frame sufficiently to avoid any frame notching for spring clearance. I am not building the car to be super low… a car that will allow me to roll a floor jack under the cross member.
Will 29-1/2” be a fairly safe number to avoid frame notching for MII coil springs on a 56”or 58” system?

3. If the frame dimensions and the cross member dimensions are such that the cross member gets welded to the underside of the frame and the OUTSIDE of the frame, doesn’t the section of the cross member outside the frame interfere with the springs?

4. I see you recommend longer tie rod ends for the 58” system. Does this not create bump steer because it changes the relationship of the hinge points of the control arms relative to the tie rod hinge point?

5. The Internet tells me that the tubular lower A arms are failing where they extend to the rear of the cross member. Do you have experience with this issue?

Thanks in advance for your help.
Keith

Dear Keith…
Keith, what a great list of questions.
1. At ride height, the Mustang II suspension is designed to have the stock spindle 3-1/2″ higher than the lower arm pivot bolt center. This is the dimension used in our crossmember and tower design. Dropped spindles would be 5-1/2″ higher than the pivot bolt center and this is referenced in the instructions.

2. 29-1/2″ will be fine for either the 56″ or 58″ kits.

3. The 56″ crossmember is 30″ outside the “wings”. The spring almost always clears the crossmember wings, even when they are on the outside of the frame. We used to taper the outer edge of the wings up and in towards the frame more for cosmetics than clearance. Although the 58″ crossmember is wider than the 56″ (32″ vs 30″), the upper towers mount 2″ farther apart when the 58″ crossmember is used so the clearance stays the same.

4. The geometry does change, but in the “real world” the bump steer is not noticeable. I try very hard to steer clear of discussions about this because the difference MIGHT be noticed by Tony Stewart, but not by me. Rack extensions are the correct way to go.

5. I have read about this on the internet but have no personal or business experience with this issue. I do believe the people who say they had a problem, did have the problem. I have tubular lowers on our ’40 Ford with about 50,000 miles on them over all types of roads.

Thanks very much for your questions. I hope we can help with your project.
Paul Horton

Dear Welder Series… front shock mounts?

Dear Welder Series…
Hi I bought a tube front axle for my model a street rod and it has welded on hair pin brackets but nothing to mount a shock. Do you sell a lower bracket that welds to or bolts to axle or hair pin mounts for shocks? thank you

Dear Leonard…
There are a couple of ways you could mount shocks to the tube axle…

Go to our web site, http://welderseries.com, and type “threaded tube” in the search box. This will bring up a lot of threaded tubes and some parts that are related to them. A threaded tube, with the appropriate thread size, could be welded to your axle as the lower shock mount.

Another way would be to use the sway bar mount,

welded to the axle. (It doesn’t know it’s a sway bar mount and will be quite happy known as a shock mount on your rod.)

There are several other brackets in our store that could also be “shock mounts”, with some imagineering.

If you would rather mount the shock to the hairpin, please reply with the diameter of the lower shock eye and the bushing hole size. I’ll think about brackets that would work with that.

Thanks for looking at Welder Series parts.

Paul Horton

Dear Welder Series… 1952 Chevy pickup Mustang II kit?

Dear Welder Series…
Hi there. Just now found you guys on the web. I am garage building a 52 Chevy pickup. I’m interested in picking up your IFS set up and a good 4 link for the rear. I have the body of mine stripped off the chassis and am getting ready to send it to be blasted and have the chassis boxed. Can your IFS be bolted or welded in with the frame boxed or should I have your parts put in and then box it? Does your IFS kit come with the motor mounts as well or are they separate? I could also use a trans crossmember as well. I’m going with a 454cid and a 700R4.

Dear Zane…
Our Mustang II kit welds into a boxed frame, so you can go ahead with that. If you followed the instructions online, be aware that it will almost certainly be necessary to trim the top of the frame rail for upper arm cross shaft clearance. This can be done after boxing.

We have 2 types of motor mounts for your 454:

 

These would have to be trimmed to fit your frame (the way the boxing plates are installed will affect the frame width) and to put the engine at the height you want.

I’d suggest transmission crossmember 2115:

This adds strength to the frame and lets you drop the saddle without removing the exhaust.

Thanks for looking at Welder Series parts.

Paul Horton

Dear Welder Series… 1937 Stude MII?

Dear Welder Series…
We are building a 1937 Studebaker 2dr president coupe. I’m helping my dad build and am talking him into the mustang front suspension. I talked to a friend of mine at air ride tech and he pointed me in your direction. We are dropping an lt1 and auto in it. Going for an comfy driver with a nice stance. Please let me know if any if your front suspension will work. I’m gonna get some frame dimensions measured up and I will look more into your site.

Dear Jason…
Jason, our kit is easy to fit to lots of frames. Decide what track width you want to use and if you want to use stock-style springs and shocks of coil-overs with an eye mount top and bottom. If you are looking at conventional air springs, use this:

If you want ShockWaves, use this

We also have mounts for LS series engines (listed below) and they are easy to adapt to most frames.

Thanks for looking at Welder Series parts. Please get in touch again if you have other questions.

Dear Welder Series… 1937 Studebaker Mustang II crossmember?

Dear Welder Series…
We are building a 1937 Studebaker 2dr president coupe. I’m helping my dad build and am talking him into the mustang front suspension. I talked to a friend of mine at air ride tech and he pointed me in your direction. We are dropping an LT1 and auto in it. Going for a comfy driver with a nice stance.
Please let me know if any of your front suspensions will work. I’m gonna get some frame dimensions measured up and I will look more into your site.

Dear Jason…
Jason, our kit is easy to fit to lots of frames. Decide what track width you want to use and if you want to use stock-style springs and shocks of coil-overs with an eye mount top and bottom. If you are looking at conventional air springs, use the kit for stock springs. If you want ShockWaves, use our coil-over kit.

We also have mounts for LS series engines and they are easy to adapt to most frames.

Thanks for looking at Welder Series parts. Please get in touch again if you have other questions.

Paul Horton

Dear Welder Series… Lower control arm spacing?

Dear Welder Series…
I am interested in your Mustang II cross-member. I have a 1954 Ford F100 with MII, but the frame is pretty butchered so I plan on building a new frame. My question is what is the spacing on the lower control arm holes on the three different width cross-members? Thanks in advance.

Dear Kevin…
Kevin, the lower holes on the 56″ crossmember are on 22-1/4″ centers. They are 24-1/4″ on the 58″ crossmember and 26-1/4″ on the 60″.

Thanks for looking at Welder Series parts.

Paul Horton