65 Mustang Front Suspension Problems

Thomas Williams

New Member
Sep 20, 2017
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Rebuilt my front suspension, dropped the UCA 1 inch, roller spring perches, everything that had wear was replaced including steering box.had the car alignment done, when I drive the car fwd the front rises, goes down in reverse. Moved the UCA back to original holes, set toe at zero, checked camber best I could with a level, one side 0, other slight negative camber, still when I drive fwd front come up, goes down in reverse. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
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First lets get this over to the tech section to get you some help.
Second are the control arms spring perches and springs stock replacements?
I don't remember them being side specific but I have a feeling something is either backwards or on the wrong side.
It's been a while since I fooled with a first gen car.
@Rusty67
 
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Rebuilt my front suspension, dropped the UCA 1 inch, roller spring perches, everything that had wear was replaced including steering box.had the car alignment done, when I drive the car fwd the front rises, goes down in reverse. Moved the UCA back to original holes, set toe at zero, checked camber best I could with a level, one side 0, other slight negative camber, still when I drive fwd front come up, goes down in reverse. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Did you install new UCA's? They might be binding in the big nuts. Should move freely with the A arm without the coil springs being installed.
 
First lets get this over to the tech section to get you some help.
Second are the control arms spring perches and springs stock replacements?
I don't remember them being side specific but I have a feeling something is either backwards or on the wrong side.
It's been a while since I fooled with a first gen car.
@Rusty67
Stock Springs, roller spring perches, stock control arms, everything moves freely.
 
First lets get this over to the tech section to get you some help.
Second are the control arms spring perches and springs stock replacements?
I don't remember them being side specific but I have a feeling something is either backwards or on the wrong side.
It's been a while since I fooled with a first gen car.
@Rusty67
Stock Springs, roller spring perches, stock control arms, everything moves freely.
I would think that would be toe in ,it sounds like as it roles forward the wheel track width is closing causing the front to climb...if i understsnd what you are talking about here
I thought the same thing, set toe at zero yesterday, still have same problem.
 
A silly question , but did you put the shocks back on it? Also I have read that the front end is supposed to be supporting the weight of the car when the sway bar is hooked up. I put a new front suspension under my Gt last year with no problems except some bushing squeaks.
 
Could you take a few pics of the suspension on both sides and post them? That might help us figure this out. Pics of the strut rod where it hooks up at the front and pics of the coil sping, upper arm and spring perch would be good as well as a pic of the lower arm.
 
Hi, just a question, did you happen to put front disc brakes on when you rebuilt the front end ? I've known several who used disc and spindles from Granada or others that have a way oversize lower control arm bolt hole in the spindles, and had similar problems. Even the allign shop didn't catch it. Just asking.
 
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Hi, just a question, did you happen to put front disc brakes on when you rebuilt the front end ? I've known several who used disc and spindles from Granada or others that have a way oversize lower control arm bolt hole in the spindles, and had similar problems. Even the allign shop didn't catch it. Just asking.

I have Granada spindles/hubs on my '65.
My car was lowered at the front so I replaced the springs and afterward had the 'front rise' problem.
I adjusted the toe to standard settings and the rise problem was still present, it would go away if I reversed the car.
I found the driverside outer tie rod was tightened fully but still had some slop. I dropped the tie rod and the taper was different to the spindle. Someone had put a Mustang tie rod in the Granada spindle so I swapped out the outer tie rods to Granada, reset the toe and bingo !, problem solved.
 
Good going guy, Thought maybe that's what you had. I've restored Mustangs since late 1977 and have found that several times. Now at 81, I still have 15 Mustangs but can't do the work like I used to so, most are now for sale. Also have several thousand good original parts that must now go. Another problem with swaps like that is dragging or sliding one front tire when cornering, had a friend who was driving his car like that and squealing a tire every time he turned. Lots of Ford spindles will bolt up the same but have small differences in the geometry and will cause some serious problems down the road, Good luck, be careful. Glad I could help, Mustang Harry Oakdale Ca.