Hi Guy's
last year i wrote a basic engine theory article. After receiving alot of positive feed back on this subject i thought i would write a basic overview on front and rear alignment.
You should have a basic understanding of everything that goes into a front end alignment. The three elements are Caster, Camber and Toe in or Toe out. Ford does a decent job of making our mustangs ride and handle in a very predictable manner .
We know what to except when we race around and drive our mustangs hard. Then we are bombarded with lowering our mustangs and installing lowering springs stiffer sway bars high performance shocks and changing rear differential controll arms etc.
All of this sounds good and you can do all of the above Mods and improve the look ,ride and handling of our cars.
Now the draw backs that you do not think about all of the time. By doing these things we greatly alter the front alignment and rear alignment of our car. The front alignment will go out of spec and the rear end will actually shift out of center. Now the handling becomes unpredictable and in some cases very dangerous. Often we do not find this out until our cars wind up in a ditch somewhere.
The fix to these problems the cures are pretty easy when you know what to do. To make the front end go back to spec you should install caster - camber plates these go on top of the upper strut mount. This will make the front end adjustable back to factory specs. In the rear you will need a adjustable panhand rod. This will center the rear axle back to center so your car tracks straight. The sway bars that come stock on our mustangs do a decent job. It is possible to make your suspension to stiff as the mustang is a unibody and has no dedicated frame. The easiest way to achieve all of this (providing you win the lottery) is to buy a Shelby or GT 500 as these cars have all of the these goodies stock from the factory..Thanks for taking the time to read this
Aidenshep
last year i wrote a basic engine theory article. After receiving alot of positive feed back on this subject i thought i would write a basic overview on front and rear alignment.
You should have a basic understanding of everything that goes into a front end alignment. The three elements are Caster, Camber and Toe in or Toe out. Ford does a decent job of making our mustangs ride and handle in a very predictable manner .
We know what to except when we race around and drive our mustangs hard. Then we are bombarded with lowering our mustangs and installing lowering springs stiffer sway bars high performance shocks and changing rear differential controll arms etc.
All of this sounds good and you can do all of the above Mods and improve the look ,ride and handling of our cars.
Now the draw backs that you do not think about all of the time. By doing these things we greatly alter the front alignment and rear alignment of our car. The front alignment will go out of spec and the rear end will actually shift out of center. Now the handling becomes unpredictable and in some cases very dangerous. Often we do not find this out until our cars wind up in a ditch somewhere.
The fix to these problems the cures are pretty easy when you know what to do. To make the front end go back to spec you should install caster - camber plates these go on top of the upper strut mount. This will make the front end adjustable back to factory specs. In the rear you will need a adjustable panhand rod. This will center the rear axle back to center so your car tracks straight. The sway bars that come stock on our mustangs do a decent job. It is possible to make your suspension to stiff as the mustang is a unibody and has no dedicated frame. The easiest way to achieve all of this (providing you win the lottery) is to buy a Shelby or GT 500 as these cars have all of the these goodies stock from the factory..Thanks for taking the time to read this
Aidenshep