So i bought myself a 200 amp tig a few weeks ago and now i am getting close to ordering a mustang ii front end. I decided not to get the fatman kit because it's too expensive. I intend on taking care of the added chassis rail strain by running tubes up to the firewall. I've read the MII knowledge thread and am concerned with strut bolt and bracket failures, so i think i want to go with a spring cone setup. What do you guys think? I plan on ordering the rod and custom cross member. I noticed there was a thread on this install, but all the pics are missing.
M2 has its short commings but i think its better then the McPherson strut systems(aje) Nothing beats a SLA setup though, Its just way more expensive then the R&C m2 or AJE strut setup when you purchase all the components to make it comparable
I think Hottrod nailed the basic fundamental design characteristics but "whats best?" all really is very subjective to what you want to ultimately do with the car. I would nutshell the usage parameters of the various designs like this. Cruiser/daily driver/mild street strip with plans for larger(wider) than stock motor?.. MII all the way. Hardcore drag racing/street strip?.. lightest strut setup you can afford to buy and build. And although it's not optimum for road racing, a strut setup can be adjustable enough to be competitive if tire wear isn't a huge concern while your tracking it or cone racing the thing around a vacant parking lot for the day. Lighter weights can count for something here too. Good aftermarket SLA rules the roost with roadracers/track cars looking for absolutely perfect geometry but perfection comes at a much bigger price than just revamping the stock suspension engineered for these cars. And no matter how much you spend modding or outright replacing the factory stuff.. good luck squeezing that day-dream of a big Boss motor in there too. Always a compromise somewhere.
I'm a fan of the macpherson strut. Cars that actually go around a corner, use a macpherson or double wishbone setup. Really, I don't think I would ever use a MII on any car that I decided to do suspension mods too. Mustang II is how old? I know others may chime in with hate on the macpherson strut, but it is superior to anything ford had. Also, I dont think I've seen any modern sports car with mustangII anything. You know why? It sucks. If I was going in a straight line and wanted a better suspension, maybe I'd think of a MII, but if I wanted a suspension that could be dialed in, with a shock that has decent travel, again, I would run a macpherson. Yes, the mustangII has tons of support, but why buy something that can't provide proper ackerman angle on steering?
Yet even with a macpherson strut the towers can be shaved quite drastically. The macpherson strut setup will allow the use of a STRUT BAR, and not an export brace or Monte Carlo bar, but I would still use a belly bar.
Lmao really..m2 only in a straight line? McPherson was also done for packageing and also for cheap cost reasons Allot of road racers ditch the struts and go back to a traditional SLA why..because of akerman/camber/ tire patch contact Ive did my own tearing(hatin) into the M2 due to its flaws. Prob the most then any person on this forum.. Id take an M2 setup over strut..only if you bother to get the wildwood pro spindles And also upgrade the wimpy supplied swaybar from R&C But like I said, cant beat an SLA setup.. unless you factor in price per mod...then it fails horribly against M2 or Strut
If you dont mind spending more The best setup stock setup modified with aftermarket tubular control arms with coil overs Id probably go with global west negative camber arms setup for coil overs TCP arms are very popular here A good adjustable strut rod thatll also get rid of the rubber bushing..replaced with spherical end type deal Best coil overs are by ridetech and JRI Followed by viking performance Just about every thing else is junk Go with either unisteer rack n pinion or the borgson PS box conversion The stock ps assist blows Disc spindles with w.e brake package.your willing to spend on Top rangers(board member) chassis upgrades Roller spring perches by opentracker If you go r&c m2 at miniun upgrade to wilwood pro spindles and preferably replace the wimpy 1in fsb for a custom 1 1/8 bar Pm me for place ..its cheaper as a one off then the group buy disaster from addco Main issue with the m2 setup is the roll center migration ..but its still an SLA ALL the mustang guys with factory Strut setups ditch them for SLA/double wishbone cause it makes all 4 tires sit flat in a strait line along with corners improving contact patch inproves traction and doesn't overwork tire compound due to only having inner tire doing all the work like with the strut setup More stability when acceleration and braking.. Only way id take a strut/mcpheason setup is if I had 3 grand to blow on the cortex racing spindle...which 99% of us wouldnt even if we did have that type of green Id take the flaws of the M2 setup over the McPherson setup .but if you can swing it while also sticking with smallblock cant beat aftermarket upgrades for factory SLA BTW ive probably hated on the M2 the most over anyone on this forum yet id still recommend it over the McPherson So put that in perspective Ps the m2 only in a straight line quote is a joke ..ignorant to say. .not anyones preference on protouring board but still a joke to say ALSO Car manufacturers switched from SLA to McPherson due to simplicity, lower cost and more space..so that argument is also void.. Speaking of protouring.com I never see anyone bothering to do McPherson its either traditional SLA or C6 based and sometimes m2 based If its abput mcphearson its usualy about removing it for above mentioned The M2 setup is used in alloot of real pro tour companies When people talk bad about the m2 its typicaly the factory m2 setup not the aftermarket kits with wilwood pro spindles through companies such as AME, chassis works, freak ride, alterkation,magnum force, nor xv racing
I agree with most of what is said here. See additions below: Also look into the new Hotchkis upper A-arms. They have caster built and wedge built in. Great looking pieces. They will modify them for a pass through style coil-over if you ask them. I really like my Steering rack from RRS (now Gateway Mustang). I've not noticed any reduced turning radius and its a solid piece. The only problem is that it extends outside the frame rail ever so slightly on the drivers side. This is limiting me to running a 275/35-18 up front. The TCP and unisteer racks have the mounting position further forward thus eliminating this interference. I hear the unisteer has limited turning radius though due to a mount interference issue. Maybe they resolved that. Not sure. I've been researching the Borgeson option lately. From what I have read, users say its better than the stock power steering but still unsettling at higher speeds due to on-center feel. The rack still provides better steering response and stability especially at high speeds with wide front tires. I really think the MII style suspensions should be renamed. There are soo many of them out there that are labeled as such without consideration of the geometry changes in the design. Many of them start with Corvette C4 or newer geometry and package it around a MII style cradle/cross member. As far as the R&C MII setup is concerned, we plan to find out soon enough. My Dads spent the better part of 2 years installing his along with a torque arm suspension and wider tires. I guess you could say that he is a drag racing convert. He'll be ready to start autocrossing his pretty soon. He plans to bring it from FL to TX for the Spring Lonestar Goodguys and USCA events for some tuning and head to head comparisons against my car.
Whoever.. can say whatever they want about struts.. but some VERY VERY FAST.. and record setting cars have used them to beat the living snot out of MUCH more expensive cars utilizing more elaborate and considerably more expensive double wishbone setups. Just like quarter mile time slips.. lap times don't lie. Granted.. when the rules allow race teams to pull out all the stops.. you'll never see them used. But saying their flawed to the point of being considerably worse than the others just points to biased favoritism without understanding the mitigation processes being used to limit those particular shortcomings. Always have to keep in mind that some racers/teams are forced to maintain stock suspensions for the spec racing they do and certainly aren't what most would call slow. In fact, they(strut cars) routinely beat cars using those other "vastly superior" suspension designs.. that are classes above them . A car, racecar or otherwise, is much more than just the suspension itself.
Good points all. I would also like to state that most MII suspensions are not bolt in, where I've seen three companies that offer a bolt in strut setup, two which replace the upper control arm, and one that keeps stock upper and lower control arm. I'm m just that kind of guy who like something different, weather it be a minor or major mod. This mod, however, has me on the McPherson side of things. It's a biased opinion, but it's hard to change ones mind when that's what they've been driving/racing in for years.
Yeah ive seen two bolt in struts Fatman and AJE Id avoid fatman on both their m2 and their strut kits
