best way to lower car

[68_stanger]

Well, Im looking for ideas on whats the best way to lower my car. I hear alot about the shelby drop. all this requires in drilling holes in the a arms correct? What would I need to do about springs and shocks? Are their other ways that may be better. What would you do if you had to do it? Thanks

 

[gp001]

The SHelby Drop (1") will only lower ride height approx 1/2"

Look into lowering springs (front & rear)

 

[6Stang7]

Negitive wedge kits work well too.

 

[Hack]

IMO the Shelby drop is the best way to lower your car, because it also improves the suspension geometry. You have to drill two holes in each shock tower, however. So if you've got a perfect restoration and plan on selling the car that way - the drop isn't for you.

The negative wedge kit is available from Pro-Motorsports or several Mustang vendors. It allows you to do a larger Shelby drop than the 1" max normally available. A Shelby drop more than 1" will bind your upper ball joint if you don't install a negative wedge kit.

I did a 2" drop with shims, and my car is quite low now (stock springs). I think 1 3/4" is the max recommended for the earlier cars.

 

[68_stanger]

So what if I went with just lowering springs? Would I still have to do the shelby drop or just put the springs in and go? (w/an alignment)

 

[65mistress]

Hack- how difficult was it to align your front after that much of a drop and do the wheels sit flat on the ground?

 

[Hack]

Hack- how difficult was it to align your front after that much of a drop and do the wheels sit flat on the ground?

Well, I replaced the entire front suspension at the same time. Everything was as out of alignment as it could possibly be. I drove it around the block and decided that the drive to a shop was a bad idea. I also ran out of steam and motivation on the project (did the Granada front disc swap and bent all new brake lines at the same time) So I had the car towed to an alignment shop.

edit: I think you could say it was a difficult alignment. The shop kept the car over a week. They worked it into their dead times so they didn't have to charge me their hourly rate. They also had their "expert" do it. I didn't go to a top notch shop or anything though. Just a Precision Tune.

I had the front end aligned to these specs
0 degrees camber
0.14 to 0.29 degrees toe in (1/16" to 1/8" with my 195 70 14 tires)
1-3 degrees caster

I think these are the numbers suggested by one of Shelby's engineers that first came up with the idea of the drop. I believe you'll also find these numbers on the Pro-Motorsports web site.

I have my original front springs, so they probably sag some. My front wheel openings are 24 1/8" off the ground. My front tires are 24 3/4" diameter, so it looks pretty good to me. I haven't had problems with ground clearance or bottoming, even with a couple passengers. Now that I had subframe connectors welded on, I found one place near my house where they touch. So I avoid that spot. I plan on fabricating connectors through my floors when I fix the rust in the car, then I'll dump the GW connectors.

 

[VictorII]

Well, Im looking for ideas on whats the best way to lower my car. I hear alot about the shelby drop. all this requires in drilling holes in the a arms correct? What would I need to do about springs and shocks? Are their other ways that may be better. What would you do if you had to do it? Thanks

I dropped my '65 convert. 2" by using coil spring clamps on the front and aluminum lowering blocks on the back. Before someone says something about the coil spring clamps, they've been on there for 155,000 miles with no problems. The other way is to cut the coils, about 1/2 a coil at a time and then when you have the front where you want it, get the right lowering blocks for the rear. Beware of the rear end hitting the exhaust though. You can minimize this with KYB gas shocks. They are stiff and will limit movement, but if the pipes are close they'll hit.

 

[UNVMATT]

Go 21st century and put on an Air Ride!