What would these be called?

[66gt350]

Good lord, we have another "skyjacker" in our midst  :amaz

That's a new term for me.  I've always heard that the car looks like a stink bug.

Hmmmm, don't need a trade (having just bought JohnPro's '66) but prices are flexible......

Ummm....Pete, you might need them for your "new" 66, I think that the back end is now held together with duct tape and baling wire :craz

[AzPete]

It rides fine on the street. It is a bit stiffer than others but the springs use the arch to lift, not a lot of stiffness.

As far as handling, it is real good on the street. The car is not built for corner carving. Weight transfer is good as far as straight line racing. I do not run the car hard.....but it will if I want it to. The way this car is set up is much better than those back in the day and I would not be afraid of driving the car in any street situation for handling concerns.

[AzPete]

That's a new term for me.  I've always heard that the car looks like a stink bug.

Ummm....Pete, you might need them for your "new" 66, I think that the back end is now held together with duct tape and baling wire :craz

Damn Ca. bums.........I guess owning a car on each coast helps someone......

[Midlife]

Kat:
You have my permission to raise your rear end to whatever height you wish.  Disregard any bozos that tell you differently.


It'd look even better with you wearing stiletto heels.

[Kats66Pny]

It'd look even better with you wearing stiletto heels.

Keep on dreaming sweet cheeks!  :lol

[66gt350]

Don't worry....you're not his type he's more into:  :ss

[silverblueBP]

That almost made me spit soda all over the keyboard  :lol :lol

[johnpro]

After doing some googling for rear suspension stuff - damn of insomnia  :po I figured I might as well replace the shocks in the rear with the KYB GR-2. As for the leaf springs, I'm not really sure which ones to get. 4 leaf? 5 leaf? Mid eye? Want I would like to do is have the rear sit slightly higher than the front of the car. I think it just looks cooler.  

Edit: Ok I think I know what I need. I'm in love with look of AzPete's pony and it's what I want!  :vic

You will not want anything more than a 4.5 leaf rear spring, unless you are willing to sacrifice comfort for performance.  I have 5 leafs on my '69 for better traction.  It is very stiff, though, and tends to "spring board" when going across bridges.  Long bridges get down-right annoying.

If you want a rake, you need to stay with a standard eye.  My '66 (for another day until the transporter takes it to AzPete) is using 4.5 leaf mid-eyes in the back.  It sits pretty level, with 1" drop springs in front.  If anything, the rear is a tad lower than the front, which is what cause me to use a standard eye leaf on my '69 (wish I'd gone mid-eye, as it came out too tall for me, and I had to use lowering blocks to get it back down).

The 4.5 leaf, though, are the ultimate in crossing performance with comfort.  My/Pete's '66 is about the smoothest riding Mustang I've ever seen, as the front suspension is all put together with OpenTracker and Street or Track parts.  There is a single shim on each side of the front suspension, just to help get a touch more caster, and zero bushings left, with the exception of the lower control arms, which are stock.

[tarafied1]

I've got the 5 leaf "Grab-A-Track" standard eye springs and gas shocks from Mustangs Plus. My car sits at about stock rear height (the front is lowered). It is stiffer ride than stock but not bad at all. Having just drove over 3000 miles on the Hot Rod Power Tour with it on all kinds of road conditions I was pretty happy with it. Keep in mind though I had tools and luggage in it for a little extra weight. Even normal everyday driving though I have been pretty happy with the "Grab-A-Track" suspension parts...

[johnpro]

I've got the 5 leaf "Grab-A-Track" standard eye springs and gas shocks from Mustangs Plus. My car sits at about stock rear height (the front is lowered). It is stiffer ride than stock but not bad at all. Having just drove over 3000 miles on the Hot Rod Power Tour with it on all kinds of road conditions I was pretty happy with it. Keep in mind though I had tools and luggage in it for a little extra weight. Even normal everyday driving though I have been pretty happy with the "Grab-A-Track" suspension parts...

Mine are also the Grab-a-Trak on both cars, both using KYB GasAJust shocks.  I agree with you completely on the 5 leafs.  I really don't mind the 5 leafs, except for certain conditions, but they are definitely not for everyone.  I think if you have a performance car, you at least learn to like the 5 leafs.  If you're going total comfort, though, they're probably not the right spring.

[tarafied1]

If you're going total comfort, though, they're probably not the right spring.

I agree!
I don't like that "mushy" feeling that some people say is a car handling good. If the door handles scrape the ground on sharp curves, it's NOT handling good IMO. The 5 leafs have also kept me from needing traction bars as the rear-end doesn't wheel hop or wind up. I guess I'm weird but I actually like how it rides.

[AzPete]

I also must agree with liking the ride I have on this car. Each person has different ideas about the ride and what is good for them. It also varies from car to car as to how a certain system rides. The last '66 I did with the lifted springs was a bit harsher than this one...but not bad in my view....of course, maybe it has to do with my food intake too....lol

[Kats66Pny]

I'm not extremely picky about the comfort. I don't plan on taking long road trips, and I'll pretty much only be driving it to take kids to school and picking them up, and the occassional trip to a cruise night or to the store. When I want a comfy ride with AC and a radio to listen too... then I'll drive hubbys Lexus.  :lol

Since leaf springs really aren't all that expensive, I guess I can do some trial and error testing and go with one set up, and if I don't like it, later down the road try another kind.

[AzPete]

Just buy mine.....saves the entire restore thing.....oh, off track.....sorry.

As to the springs....once you have removed the old set, the swap for the next set is easy. You may need a sawzall to remove the front spring bolts the first time. Use plenty of PB Blaster.

[Jonk67]

If it helps you any (each car seems to sit a little differently) this may give you an idea of ride height. Mine is a '67 and I installed 4 1/2 leaf Mideyes on the rear, if I wanted it to sit ~2" higher I would have gone with standard eye leafs. I would suggest the 4 or 4 1/2 leafs for you.

I drove my wife (front seat) and 11yo daughter and friends(back seat) around quite often and had no complaints of jarring/sharp ride, it was comfortable for a 40yr. old car but still sporty enough for me. I used KYB GR-2's on all 4, for <$100 I think they're great low pressure gas shocks, the gas-a-justs are a higher pressure and stiffer.



The front has the 1" drop and 1" drop springs, I wanted my car level and tire tread just at the fender lip so it came out perfect so far.

Jon

[johnpro]

Jonk67, I love the stance of yours.  If I can ever get out there and get that last brake caliper working, I can drop my daughter's '67 onto it's new suspension, and hoping we'll have a similar stance on her car.  We haven't done the rear springs yet, though.  I can't wait to see what her new stance looks like.  Before I started it had the classic nose in the air stance, because of the monster springs from hell in the front.

I thought I was going to have a great excuse to work from home tomorrow, and start to finish it up, but Nooooooo, AzPete's auto transport company is running behind, won't be showing up yet for a couple of days, and is going to force me to go work out of the office instead ... those bastards!  *LOL*

[Jonk67]

Thanks John, quiet a compliment coming from you, the front has the Shelby/Arning 1" drop with 550 1" drop springs. It ended up about exaclty where I wanted it, almost no space surrounding the 15" fat tires. I'm going for the TransAm series look but streetable so I didn't want to tuck up into the fender yet.

I'm adding ORP's roller perches so I'll have to see if that changes it any and adjust from there if I can. I like the level stance too, looks hunkered w/o being slammed. The rear leafs also have Energy poly bushings F/R which seems to cut down on sway w/o being any harsher than the rubbers, guess the shocks take it up. I lubed the bushings with plenty of dialectric grease, no squeeks over a ~yr. of driving before I tore it down.
Jon

[Kats66Pny]

Well after I lowered the psi in the air shocks... the back end is now a few inches lower and wow, talk about bouncey. When the engine is running, you can now see the whole car moving back and forth. The front sits up higher than the rear now too. Not really liking that at all. 

[AzPete]

They sat that way from the factory. I never cared for that look much either. At least level or real close. You might want to run 5-8 psi (or just enough to put a touch of lift to it) just to eliminate the real bouncy ride until you get the rear suspension completed.

[tarafied1]

They sat that way from the factory. I never cared for that look much either. At least level or real close. You might want to run 5-8 psi (or just enough to put a touch of lift to it) just to eliminate the real bouncy ride until you get the rear suspension completed.

+1

[johnpro]

They sat that way from the factory. I never cared for that look much either. At least level or real close. You might want to run 5-8 psi (or just enough to put a touch of lift to it) just to eliminate the real bouncy ride until you get the rear suspension completed.

+2, but I'd make it a high priority to change the shot rear leaf springs and get those air shocks off of there!

[Kats66Pny]

Mine is a '67 and I installed 4 1/2 leaf Mideyes on the rear, if I wanted it to sit ~2" higher I would have gone with standard eye leafs. I would suggest the 4 or 4 1/2 leafs for you. The front has the 1" drop and 1" drop springs, I wanted my car level and tire tread just at the fender lip so it came out perfect so far.
Jon

After thinking about it more, I do like that look but I want it slightly higher than yours, but not too much. So I guess I'm leaning towards the 4.5 leaf standard eye. I have the 1" drop springs in the front that were replaced last month. That would still give it a little more height in the back but not make it look like a "stink bug" right?

[johnpro]

After thinking about it more, I do like that look but I want it slightly higher than yours, but not too much. So I guess I'm leaning towards the 4.5 leaf standard eye. I have the 1" drop springs in the front that were replaced last month. That would still give it a little more height in the back but not make it look like a "stink bug" right?

You're definitely on the right track there, and sounds like you know the look you're going after.  If you plan to have some rake to the car, though, I would run taller tires in the back.  Otherwise, you're going to have a goofy looking gap between the tops of the rear tires and the wheel well lips.

[Kats66Pny]

Thats the plan,go a little larger & wider in the back. The PO actually cut away lips to be able to fit larger tires so atleast that part is done already.