Help with coil springs!!! PLEASE!!

[jcwhite1288]

I have a set of global west control arms with the required 1 inch "drop" installed on my 66 coupe and have had ZERO luck finding a pair of springs to give me at least a normal stance. i can pretty much fit my fist between the tire and my fender .i'm striving for a 1" lowering but even a freakin stock stance would be fine by be now.. my camber is messed up and i'm getting horrible tire wear. also my lower control arms are not even close to parallel to the ground . is there anyone out there who has experienced the same problem as i'm having with these control arms? if so please gimme some advice on what springs to try...

btw i've installed my original springs, a set of global west comp springs, and a pair of concourse 1" drop springs, all to no avail.

thanks

 

[SNAKEPILOT]

The "drop" is not required with Global West arms but necessary if you want to get the negative roll. The GW recommended drop is more than the standard Shelby drop, I believe it is 1 1/2" vs 1". The GW arm ball joints are angled to prevent binding at that height (drop).

On my car with the GW drop and GW arms using GW small block springs my front end is too low and that is with 3/4" poly spacers. It actually looks great but the tires rub on large bumps. I am looking at going to GW big block springs to raise the front slightly and that, with the stiffer spring rate will hopefully keep my tires from rubbing.

My driveway slopes up, so the front end looks a little higher than it actually is. The top of the tire (245/45/17) is about 3/4" inside the wheelwell. Or I may go to a 235/45/17.

 

[66Runt]

If your alignment is off (especially if toe'd in) the front end will not settle. So, If you put the stock springs back in, and it's too high, go get an alignment. As for the after market springs, you need to let them settle for about a month, then cut to your desired ride height. BTW: this increases the spring rate, so I always start a little softer than I'm looking to end up with.
Good luck,

 

[jcwhite1288]

Thanks for the quick replies.. well i did cut the new drop holes using the template given. Ok so i should reinstall the original springs and if it still doesnt sit right, get it aligned? that makes more sense b/c i tried to get the car aligned with the comp springs installed and they said they couldnt even get get it right. one more thing, being as my camber is so badly toed in, and the front end won't settle if it is, could i possibly remove that 1/2" solid shim that came with the control arms? because right now the bar-shim is on the control arm side of my wheel well...

and if it came down to me cutting the coils, would i be playing it safe enough if i cut like a quarter of a coil at a time??

 

[mustangdave]

First, read the instructions. Second, you can NOT tighten all the suspension while it is in the air. A good shop would have known to loosen the mounting points and retighten to TORQUE SPECS b4 trying to align it. Youy will not be aligning to factory specs, but rather those given by GW.

 

[SNAKEPILOT]

I agree with MustangDave, I think you have some binding which is preventing the suspension from settling.
During my first alignment, I could only get 0.5 negative camber. I wanted to run -1.0 to get the top of the wheel to tuck a little more. I called GW and they said I could remove the 3/8" spacer that goes between the upper control arm and the shock tower. That put me at about 3 degrees negative camber but I had enough adjustment on the lower control arm to get the camber where I wanted it. As a plus, the shortened upper control arm really helped tuck the tire in.

 

[65 fastback]

I have Global West UCA's with their recommended drop and 1" lower 620 springs. When I initially installed them, my ride height was also higher then what I wanted. I had to remove the springs and cut 1/4 of a coil at a time, then reinstall until I had the ride height that I wanted. I ended up cutting 3/4's of a coil from each side.

Also, check your spring perches. The spring perches must be installed "backwards" on the Global West UCA's.

Mustangave makes a good point about not tightening the suspension components while the car is in the air.

Tim

 

[nugget68]

I have a set of global west control arms with the required 1 inch "drop" installed on my 66 coupe and have had ZERO luck finding a pair of springs to give me at least a normal stance. i can pretty much fit my fist between the tire and my fender .i'm striving for a 1" lowering but even a freakin stock stance would be fine by be now.. my camber is messed up and i'm getting horrible tire wear. also my lower control arms are not even close to parallel to the ground . is there anyone out there who has experienced the same problem as i'm having with these control arms? if so please gimme some advice on what springs to try...

btw i've installed my original springs, a set of global west comp springs, and a pair of concourse 1" drop springs, all to no avail.

thanks

I have a set of 65-66 620's that were suppose to be 67-68, but I bought them from a foru member who thought they were for 67-68. they are too low on my car, but should work out on yours. let me know if you are interested...

 

[nugget68]

I have Global West UCA's with their recommended drop and 1" lower 620 springs. When I initially installed them, my ride height was also higher then what I wanted. I had to remove the springs and cut 1/4 of a coil at a time, then reinstall until I had the ride height that I wanted. I ended up cutting 3/4's of a coil from each side.

Also, check your spring perches. The spring perches must be installed "backwards" on the Global West UCA's.

Mustangave makes a good point about not tightening the suspension components while the car is in the air.

Tim

Whick way is backwards on the perch? I may have mine in wrong...

 

[jcwhite1288]

i'm almost 100 percent certain the perch is on backwards.well i have some 1" drop 620 springs installed right now but i thnk my best bet is going to be cutting them, which i was trying to avoid. Mustangdave, what mounting points are you taliking about not torqing down, because the only ones i can think of would be the control arm lugs but could my suspension possibly settle out correctly if i took that 3/8 spacer out, so i wouldn't have to cut the springs?

thanks for all the help

 

[jcwhite1288]

thank you all for the quick and helpful support. i finally figured it all out! ended up cutting a 1/2 a coil off and got the perfect hieght and pretty much the negative camber i was looking for! im still taking it in for an alignment but its much much better than it was. thanks again!

 

[65 fastback]

DO NOT let the alignment shop align your car to the factory specifications!

The original stock alignment setting for '64 - '66 Mustangs are:
Caster: -0.5*
Camber: -0.5*
Toe-In: 9/32"

The Performance alignment settings for the "Shelby" drop are:
Caster: +1.5° to +2.5°
Camber: 0 to -.5°
Toe: 1/8"

Tim