While looking for suspension components to upgrade the front suspension on my mav i came across somthing the mustang guys call the shelby drop. Basically its just a pattren to relocate the mounting holes of the upper control arms to give the car a 1" drop. heres the link to the patteren. http://www.mustangdepot.com/graphics/up-cnt-temp.pdf since our cars are basically 68-73 mustangs should work on them as well. Has aonyone done this and if so what do you think about it.
This mod works for Mustangs to 1970. Ford incorporated it into Mustangs in 71. I figure whenever I do a complete Maverick suspension rebuild, I'll do the mod. However, and obvious question would be 'Did Ford incorporate the geometry into all it's cars after 70, or just the Stang, or maybe the Stang and the Maverick... If the geometry is already there, you should not do the mod as it will overstress and bind the ball joints.
Google the term "arning drop" and get info on it as well. It's not really a 'Shelby' innovation. Folks just stuck his name to it because he performed the mod to his cars.
I see well i am redoing the front suspension on my car. all new control arms which im going to reinfoce before installing 1 inch lowering springs and some good shocks as well rack and pinion and few other things. Im prepping the car to be a fun daily driver and on heck of a track car when i decide to do so. The drop thing i hadnt heard mentioned on here before so thought i would ask. I will take a bunch of measurements and go from there. thanks for the reply. i cant wait to get at least half way done to post some pics. its going to be cool. Im really excited about the project.
It drops the control arm 1"...not lower the car 1". You might see 3/8" drop. The later model Mavericks has a brace in this area and can not be drilled for the Shelby Drop.
The 1" figure is just one option. They say on a car that doesn't have the geometry built in, you can safely go 1.25". You can also go less than 1" if need be.
I went for the gusto and installed the Pro-Motorsports wedge kit. the lower control arm dropped the full 2" and lowered the ride height about an 1.25". If I had it to do over again, I would just do the 1" drop and for go the kit. I personally wouldn't drop the arm more than 1" just to be on the safe side for ball joint life. I did this mod 12 years ago when I bought the car. btw- the 1" drop is almost free and you can do it to the 73 and later cars with the brace. I did it to a 73 in 1993
As has been stated - the drop is already incorporated in our cars. All you need to make it perform is to use the Shelby alignment specs. It works very well on my 73. I do wish I had used one of the locking adjusters (uses a saddle and a square block to lock the adjustment) on it because it came loose and I had to reset it.
1. NO more than .25 degrees difference between driver’s side and passenger’s side. 2. +2.0 to +3.5 degrees caster. 3. -.5 to 0 degrees camber. No positive camber, please. There is no problem having a slight variation from driver’s side to passenger’s side to account for the crown in the road. 4. 1/16" to 1/8” toe in FWIW mines +4 on the caster,-2* on the camber and a 1/16 toe in. does great
I did not know that... http://mmb.maverick.to/showpost.php?p=742358&postcount=139 Oh well, and it does fit with the brace. MOOG's redesigned upper control arm mounts are spaced off the tower with a washer. MOOG #K8142. Good thing I kept the original holes.
Joe Dirt has it nailed with what he is running. If you have a power steering car you can add a little more caster but without it your going to catch hell trying to turn into a parking space or anything related to that. You can add a little more to the one inch drop but your going to have to either add a neg wedge kit or cut the end of the upper control arm and change your ball joint angle or have major problems. Keep in mind the more camber you put in the car the quicker your going to wear the tires out. I still think Joe D has the best all around set up in his car....
