Stance

[PFSlim]

I have seen a couple of folks talking about stance. I thought I would write in what Brian and I did with our car to improve the negative rake the mustang commonly came with. I realize there are some who like the rake the way it came but for those who want to even it out some, here is what we did:

1. We used the optional 3/4 inch longer shackle. These are 3/4 inch longer than the standard length shackle. This included a new set of leaf springs, new shocks.

2. We installed a new Mustangs Unlimited Super Kit front end suspension. As well, to lower, we installed the 600 lb/in coil springs that lowers the car 1 inch.

3. We installed P225 - 70R14's on front and P245 - 70R14's on the back. We feel we picked up another 1/2 to 3/4 inch in tire difference.

We feel this gives us a net gain of 2-3 inches back to front and leveled the car out just fine. However, I don't think you can do only one of these and get there. I think you have to lift some of the back and lower the front to fix the negative rake.

Paul

 

[Mosesatm]

Paul, your efforts have paid off. That must have taken a lot of time to research and figure out.

Like you, I am not fond of the look of a squatting Mustang and will soon be working on the stance of my car.

Two quick questions for you:
1. How did figure out the correct tire size for the front?

2. How did you make sure the front tires would not contact the fenders when hitting a bump in a turn?

Thanks for your help with this.

 

[PFSlim]

Arlie

You are not going to believe this but here was the decision process for all the above. We knew we wanted to get rid of the neg rake, therefore we raised and lowered hoping we were getting enough. We had old mismatched tires on at that point so we didn't know until we put the new tires on that we accomplished our goals. However...... it was difficult to decide what size of tires to put on without knowing for sure what else we needed to raise and lower. We talked and talked before we finally decided to order those sizes.

We were fairly confident that the 225 would sit okay in the front. I think we could have went up to a 235 without it hitting or rubbing. We also knew we wanted the backs to be alittle wider than the fronts - not much- just some. We also thought we still needed help in height, therefore, the 245's we thought would fill the rear quarter fender nicely.

We ordered the tires from our friends at the local Ford Dealership with the understanding that if we did not like the look or fit, we could take them back - no harm/no foul. Once the tires came in, we had them mounted and balanced at the dealership and tried them. We liked the look.

So... Long story short - Trial and error!! That is what we built 90% of our car on!! ;D ;D

Paul

 

[PFSlim]

Arlie

One other thought. We did know that there are conversions out there on different websites (it include this one) where people stated that the 225 was close in size to the originals. Therefore, we had confidence that the fronts would not hit or rub based on other research and posts.

Hope that helps.

Paul

 

[390cs68rcode]

I have 235/70/14's on the front of my 390 and they clear in all situations (just barely).

 

[PFSlim]

Jason

Do you have 235's on front and back?? It seems to me that if I did not have a neg rake problem, that 235's would be the best size tire for front and back (if I wanted to keep them both the same). That they would fill the fender wells better.

Paul

 

[390cs68rcode]

both front and back. the rear end does have a very little bit of sag. will work on it sometime.

 

[Mustanger]

Another trick that can be tried, to lower your car's front or rear end (or both), is to go to a lower profile tire - i.e., 65 or 60 series vs. 70 series on your origional 14" rim. This may lower your car about an inch (for the 60 series), and it can also improve your handling performance 8).

 

[Mosesatm]

[quote author=jbsteven link=board=1;threadid=2203;start=0#msg15037 date=1128620227]
the rear end does have a very little bit of sag
[/quote]

That's the third thing to go!

 

[p51]

[quote author=PFSlim link=board=1;threadid=2203;start=0#msg15022 date=1128609048]
I have seen a couple of folks talking about stance. I thought I would write in what Brian and I did with our car to improve the negative rake the mustang commonly came with. I realize there are some who like the rake the way it came but for those who want to even it out some, here is what we did:

1. We used the optional 3/4 inch longer shackle. These are 3/4 inch longer than the standard length shackle. This included a new set of leaf springs, new shocks.

2. We installed a new Mustangs Unlimited Super Kit front end suspension. As well, to lower, we installed the 600 lb/in coil springs that lowers the car 1 inch.

3. We installed P225 - 70R14's on front and P245 - 70R14's on the back. We feel we picked up another 1/2 to 3/4 inch in tire difference.

We feel this gives us a net gain of 2-3 inches back to front and leveled the car out just fine. However, I don't think you can do only one of these and get there. I think you have to lift some of the back and lower the front to fix the negative rake.

Paul
[/quote]


This thread comes at an opportune time...

I've also been looking at a way to flatten the negative rake on my GT/CS. Right now the rear is down only about 1/4" to 1/2" from the front and I'm really looking to *just* take out that much of the negative rake - make it completely flat. I dont want to lower the front, so, the question is what is the simplest/cheapest way of raising the back ~1/4 to 1/2 inch? From the thread the shackles sound like the easiest. Some questions:

(1) How much do the 3/4" over standard shackles raise the back?

(2) Are the shackles very visible from behind (I'd like them to be hidden if possible)?

(3) Who makes these shackles?

(4) Has anyone put on stiffer leaf springs (4.5 or 5 leaf) to raise the back? If so, any suggestions on which ones to use?

As an aside I did an online search on shackle lift kits and found this. Probably raises things a bit too much...

 

[PFSlim]

If you are only trying to raise it that much, I would try the 3/4 inch shackles. They were not that expensive, as I remember. We bought ours at our local Mustangs Plus for around $20.

I have attached a picture of our restoration process. I think you can see that the shackles can not be seen. As well, you are welcome to go to our gallery page (page 4 Paul & Brian Stevenson) to see the finished product.

Paul

 

[Mosesatm]

[quote author=P51 link=board=1;threadid=2203;start=0#msg15112 date=1128718632]
[quote author=PFSlim link=board=1;threadid=2203;start=0#msg15022 date=1128609048]
[/quote]
Probably raises things a bit too much...

[/quote]


Naw, never mind. That's too easy.... I'll let others say it.

 

[p51]

[quote author=PFSlim link=board=1;threadid=2203;start=0#msg15115 date=1128720832]
If you are only trying to raise it that much, I would try the 3/4 inch shackles. They were not that expensive, as I remember. We bought ours at our local Mustangs Plus for around $20.

I have attached a picture of our restoration process. I think you can see that the shackles can not be seen. As well, you are welcome to go to our gallery page (page 4 Paul & Brian Stevenson) to see the finished product.

Paul
[/quote]

Thanks much for the info. Beautiful car! Exactly the look I'm after. Do the pictures in the gallery also reflect the tires you described - P225 - 70R14's on front and P245 - 70R14's on the back?

Thanks again....

 

[PFSlim]

P51

You bet. Same tires (white letter). I only had to replace one rear tire due to a misfortunate burn out competition.

Paul

 

[68MustangHCS]

[quote author=PFSlim link=board=1;threadid=2203;start=0#msg15115 date=1128720832]

[/quote]

Thanks much for the info. Beautiful car! Exactly the look I'm after. Do the pictures in the gallery also reflect the tires you described - P225 - 70R14's on front and P245 - 70R14's on the back?

Thanks again....

What width are those rims you have those tires mounted on...any issues with that setup?

 

[nfrntau]

[quote author=PFSlim link=board=1;threadid=2203;start=0#msg15247 date=1128951434]
P51

due to a misfortunate burn out competition.

Paul
[/quote]

I thought this only occured when given an exhibition of speed ticket right after the fun stops. Oh yes, I have one of these under my belt. ;D ;D
16 years old, drivers license for 2 weeks and driving my Sisters 69 Mustang coupe.

 

[PB gtcs]

The rims are the standard 14 inch argent wheels for the car. We sand blasted them down to bare metal and I primed them in our garage. After the priming, I sprayed them with what I thought was the correct Argent color that I bought off the shelf. They are a little dark, but we were ok with the look and frankly, this was about the last thing to get done. We had a little "Channel Fever". You Navy boys will know what that means.

Brian for Paul

 

[PB gtcs]

[quote author=PFSlim link=board=1;threadid=2203;start=0#msg15027 date=1128612706]
Arlie

One other thought. We did know that there are conversions out there on different websites (it include this one) where people stated that the 225 was close in size to the originals. Therefore, we had confidence that the fronts would not hit or rub based on other research and posts.

Hope that helps.

Paul
[/quote]

I will also add that all of the tire shops/sites will have the tire height listed for the various tire sizes. We did look at that when we bought the tires. In short, if you need two tires, check the height of the different tire sizes when you go to buy new ones.

Brian for P.