I was reading the "How To Make Your Mustang Handle" book by Willam R. Matthis when something occured to me.
As many of you know the SVO has a narrower K-member and longer 14" long A-arms as opposed to stock Mustangs 13" long A-arms. The point of the long A-arms is to reduce the amount the suspension cycles up and down. On a Mustang when the suspension compresses the geometry changes for the worse so the long A-arm reduces the amount the suspension compresses.
The SVO is a sort of band aid fix from the factory to improve the Fox bodies handling defects that can only be cured by a double A-arm front suspension(very expensive).
The modified K-Member in Matthis book relocates the A-arm mounting bolt holes back and up 3/4".
What got me wondering was the pre-'88 K-members are 1" narrower than the '88-'93 K-member. So why not install 87-88 Tbird 13 3/4" long A-arms to get the improved length? You would still need to use caster camber plates and notch the K-member mounting holes to move K-Member forward 5/8" to improve braking anti-dive and braking squat.
The main reason for doing this would be to keep a stock looking front suspension because some racing classes dont allow aftermarket K-members.
It would not be as good as a SVO but it would use all stock Mustang parts and brakes so no custom parts and you would get some of the advantages of the SVO design.
So whats your thoughts?
As many of you know the SVO has a narrower K-member and longer 14" long A-arms as opposed to stock Mustangs 13" long A-arms. The point of the long A-arms is to reduce the amount the suspension cycles up and down. On a Mustang when the suspension compresses the geometry changes for the worse so the long A-arm reduces the amount the suspension compresses.
The SVO is a sort of band aid fix from the factory to improve the Fox bodies handling defects that can only be cured by a double A-arm front suspension(very expensive).
The modified K-Member in Matthis book relocates the A-arm mounting bolt holes back and up 3/4".
What got me wondering was the pre-'88 K-members are 1" narrower than the '88-'93 K-member. So why not install 87-88 Tbird 13 3/4" long A-arms to get the improved length? You would still need to use caster camber plates and notch the K-member mounting holes to move K-Member forward 5/8" to improve braking anti-dive and braking squat.
The main reason for doing this would be to keep a stock looking front suspension because some racing classes dont allow aftermarket K-members.
It would not be as good as a SVO but it would use all stock Mustang parts and brakes so no custom parts and you would get some of the advantages of the SVO design.
So whats your thoughts?