Finally, finally, finally my baby is back on the road. after swapping out the front drums to 68 cobra jet mustang front discs, new front shocks, air shocks in the rear, new and refurbished front suspension and bushing/bearing all upgraded, i got her aligned friday may 18th (my 18th birthday). i then proceeded to throw on my fenders and headlight assembly. after tht, i drove it to my graduation (saturday may 19th) only to have a tie rod end fall off haha! i wasnt going fast so there wasnt any damage. but someone pulled over and helped get a cotter pin on it and i was back on the road. again. haha! now she drives like a dream and my next upgrade will have to be the tires.
Congratulations on the graduation and belated Happy Birthday. Having a steering component come apart is no laughing matter. Luckily, u were not going fast and no one was injured. Also, I have read in many places on this forum, air shocks will cause a lot of problems where they attach at the upper point.
yea i was goin about 2 mph around a tight curve and it popped off and i rolled to a stop. im very grateful for how lucky i was. and ive heard a lot of bad rep on air shocks so i am taking it easy but they are heavy duty high performance air shocks so i have a little faith in them. plus theyr only temporary.
haha! hey now my body is veeerrrryyy near rust free it was originally a grandma's car so its been babyed
That's awesome you are driving it! What Craig and Dave mean is, even though your sheet metal is good, air shocks have been known to tear the upper shock mounts loose. The thought is; the air shocks put more force on the mount than regular shocks do, that increased force can push the mount through the sheet metal. Just keep an eye on everything and don't take it over any sweet jumps.
Wonder if that's what happened to my Mavrick before I bought it? After pulling seats and divider between the back seat and trunk I discovered the shock mount on the rear passenger's side had been modified with about a 3/8" plate bolted in from the top/inside (the plate is actually inside the cab of the car) and a shock mount welded on the bottom of that. One more thing to add to the list...
I had air shocks on my fist Maverick and tore up the sheet metal where the driver's side shock bracket bolts onto. A friend welded in a fabricated cross member and solved the problem. After that I used spring leaves from a station wagon to be able to clear the too wide rear tires instead of air shocks. Bruce
well it wasnt loose until we got down the road and went over some railroad racks. after tht i could easily tell something was wrong so i drove very cautiously. even pulling out of the driveway i was cautious, not knowing her limits but tht just set me on edge. the person who ailigned the car is a friend of my dad and does know what hes doing, he just missed that 1 cotter pin instead of all of them. but when it happened i was livid.
haha! i trust u. but i do think going over the railroad tracks jarred it enough to start loosening itself. but im ok and its ok so im not mad anymore. just happy that everyone and everything is ok. and i got a new set of hankook 205/70R14's all the way around so theres that