Jacked up mustang?

[troubadour89]

so i bought a 2.3 for dirt cheap awhile back, rebuilt the engine, got cold air intake, k n n filter and a new exhaust system for a bit more power(not much tho haha). invested into some esthetics and the 87 2.3 purrs like a kitten and doesnt look half bad. its no powerhouse but its my first mustang (acctually my first ford)and so far im enjoying it.
a buddy of mine has an el camino and just got a 3" lift put on it, which gave me an idea of maybe doing that to my mustang, for no other reason just that its a project car and i wanna do something different. has anybody here ever jacked up a mustang? i would like to install a 2" body lift so i could possibly fit some offroad tires on it. i do have some questions about it tho. such as what would be effected by this lift? steering, breaks? would i need different shocks or to extend any lines? its not a significant lift and i know most trucks got a bit of play to them so they can take a 2" lift without any major changes, but this aint no truck so i would like your guys input on all this. this idea would mostly be for looks and would more than likely have no other effect other than turn a head or two(in either good or a bad way). let me know what u think

aaron

 

[skypilot]

What you do is put the body on a truck frame. The unibody contruction simply does not lend itself to that. I know there are a few AMC products sitting on a F250 frame floating around. better off just make a roundy-rounder out of it.

 

[troubadour89]

damn. its quite the project that i signed my self up for. i have never done anything this extreme so i will definitely have to do some research on how to put the body on a truck frame(if i still decide to go that direction). i would really like to tackle this one bit by bit, with the right information.
would it be possible to install a suspension lift, or to gain more clearance without swapping the frames?

thanks for the reply skypilot

aaron

 

[Red_LX]

First off, you can't do a body lift on a Mustang because it is a unibody car.

Second, the main problem you run into with any sort of "lifting" is that the front suspension obviously has some limitations.

Anyway, on my old mustang, when I had relegated it to beater status, I was playing around with it trying to get it a little better to drive during the winter. I put 5.0 Mustang springs in the front, and some rear coils out of an '84 Thunderbird in the back, which lifted it at least an inch. I thought it was actually pretty cool like that, I kept the swaybars, and if I would've had it in the budget I would have put small mud tires on it (I just had some knobby snow tires on there).

To be honest that is probably the max "lift" you can do with the stock front suspension and retain good driveability. Surprisingly, after doing that I didn't run into any issues with camber or tire wear.

 

[troubadour89]

yeah i understand that its a unibody i was wondering if there was any ways around it. i think that putting the body on a truck is way to much work then i signed up for and am not willing to take up that project yet. but your reply gave me exactly what i was looking for. enough clearance to put on some muddn tires. next month when i get some time off ill be looking into puttin in 5.0 springs. just out of curiosity(because it is my first mustang and im just learning) whats the difference in the 5.0 springs, and how big were the coils from the thunderbird you put in? this sounds like something i can tackle and come out on top with. thanks a lot for your reply its exactly what i was hoping to get.

aaron

 

[Red_LX]

The 5.0 springs are several inches taller than the 2.3 front springs, so they will jack up your front a bit (and you will need a spring compressor to get them in most likely). I don't know the height on the rear springs, I had a junker '84 Turbo Coupe that I pulled the engine out of, so out of curiosity I put the rear springs from it in my stang and I liked how it sat.

I did have a picture of it after I had put the springs on but I don't know where it is.

BTW the fenders will be your main limitation on tire fitment, if you can trim the fenders you could probably get a 30 or 31" tire on there (but , you might want to check before you go buying any tires or cutting anything)

 

[65ShelbyClone]

I could have sworn I saw a pictured here on Stangnet of a Fox3 that had been lifted enough to fit something like 22 or 24" wheels under it. I don't remember what suspension it had, but I think there was still a stick axle under the back. Not much help, I know, but it can indeed be done.

 

[Red_LX]

Yeah I've seen that picture...I can only assume they built some kind of a "drop frame" for the front crossmember or something. I really don't know how they make that stuff work.

 

[SVO1]

Yeah I've seen that picture...I can only assume they built some kind of a "drop frame" for the front crossmember or something. I really don't know how they make that stuff work.

Around here it's with the scariest crappiest hacked up cobble jobbing one could imagine.
I had seen a caprice or something of the like with 24's or something rediculous on it like that, and they had cut the factory control arm and welded some plate to it to lengthen it. when I say plate I really mean some like 15ga sheet metal! and the weld looked like someone put chewing gum on it. horrid horrid abomination. Thankfully I have not seen the car on the street yet, just sitting at the local ghetto wheel place

 

[Flyin2.3]

I've been thinking about this since I read this post a few days ago. OK, here goes.

The back is easy, longer springs. To do it right You'll want longer & adjustable control arms to keep the drive shaft angles right. Possibly a longer drive shaft but @2-3 inches shouldn't be needed. watch the brake line flex hoses.

The front is more of a challenge. I'm not sure if its possible but if you could mount caster/camber plates in the fender well instead of in the engine bay you should move the struts down 2-3 inches. Once you know how much the struts drop, space the K-member the same amount. Might need to lengthen the steering shaft but all the steering/suspension geometry should not change. Any spacers should be thru bolted & welded to the K-member or the body so they can't move/come out & high strength bolts would be required to be anywhere near safe.

I'm not suggesting that someone should actually try this & I take no responsibility for your actions. But if you do...I WANT PICS.

I've always wanted to do something like this to a Pinto. Tall skinny snow tires in front & wide mud tires in back. Junkyard mod 2.3 (125HP should be plenty) & a T5, make it as light as possible for summer 2 tracking & add weight where required for winter drift bustin'.