Does anyone here have experience with Front Steering and Suspension kits for older cars? [1]
I’m helping a friend get a 1966 Mustang he inherited back up and running. The body is in nice condition. He’s looking at it as something to drive around locally, and not as a daily driver or for long trips.
We got it running and it’s now registered. His front suspension is sloppy and loose, and has more steering play than it should, (even after tightening the steering box adj screw).
The car is 1.5 hrs away from me, and we’re doing the work on his garage floor. We work on the car about twice a year. Hence I’d like to optimize what we can accomplish each time I’m there.
I noticed his lower ball joints have excessive play. I didn’t give it a thorough front end check, but am thinking that other components must be worn as well.
I could order just the ball joints, but my fear is that we’ll find other items needing replacement once we we’re in there. Then I noticed various kits like these [1] are available. They may be an overkill, but it would be nice to get everything done all at once.
Does anyone have any experience with kits like these? When I called one of the places that sell them, they said although all the parts are from China, those who buy them tend to not have problems.
Tech Tip, if using polyurethane bushings, make sure you lube them properly or they WILL squeak, poly graphite bushings are much better as they are infused with graphite, which acts as a built-in lubricant to prevent the annoying squeaks and suspension binding that unlubricated polyurethane is notorious for…
My advise would be to check out some of the mustang forums and ask around in there…
Manual or power steering? If it’s the power steering system I’m thinking of, the steering linkage should be checked for slop with the engine running and the hydraulic ram pressurized.
Also don’t forget about the rag joint coupler at the steering shaft.
Eliminate any worn items without the hassle of pressing bushings out of 60 year old control arms. There is nothing high tech in that suspension so creating replacement parts is not rocket science.
There is a fair amount of discussion about this on the various Mustang forums. Some happy with these kids, while others are not. Hence my question here.
Thanks davesmopar: I’ll take a look at the kit on the kanter site.
Asemaster: The car does have power steering. Good point on checking for slop with the engine running. And the rag joint coupler. I hadn’t thought of those two items.
Mustangman: Your comment about the hassle of pressing bushings out of 60 year old control arms is one of the reasons I’m looking to buy a kit. Throw a little more money at the problem to reduce time and headaches.
My first thought was the same suggestion asemaster gave to check the rag joint. I’ve chased these before and while adjusting the steering box helped a bit, it didn’t usually solve the problem. It helps to have one person turn the wheel while another watches the shaft before and after the rag joint. This works good for the entire linkage frankly. Look for the slop, it may just be in the steering box itself. I have that tshirt…
Poly bushings sound great if you’re battling wear slop. But I’ll second davesmopar caveat of lubrication necessity. Get the graphite version. They’ll be orders of magnitude better than OEM and not need any special treatment over time. Straight poly bushings will squeak and stick unless you lube them periodically…
No one here is too young to have heard of Little Anthony, or that song. Thank you for sharing that by the way!
They just delight in negating other’s comments or contributions here, and flagging them for spite. I expect this will be flagged momentarily. I don’t give a ratzass.
My wife has heard that song and she is younger than me, but I don’t remember every hearing it, it was not my genre of music… So do I care if someone likes that song or not, No!
Am I going to argue with somebody or make unnecessary comments over someone’s taste in music just cause it is different than mine, again No!!
To each their own…
