Anyone have experience with Johnny Law Motors Mustang II front end?

[saleenmav]

I have a 64 Polara I'm looking to upgrade the front end on. I don't need it to be a world beater, but I would like it a little better than stock up front with more modern an easily serviceable parts. I came across Johnny Law Motors on Ebay and saw they have a disc to disc setup shipped for about $1950. Obviously, most of the parts are going to be standard issue Ford stuff for the most part, but I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with these kits. Junk? Decent?
I know about RMS, Bondo Bob, and Gerst, and their stuff is fantastic, but I'm trying to stay away from spending $5000 so I can get the car done and be able to drive it. Thanks!

https://www.johnnylawmotors.com/cat...er-ifs-coil-over-2-drop-5x4-5-manual-lhd-rack

 

[Kern Dog]

If the stock stuff lasted 100,000 miles, do you think you are going to put another 100,000 miles on the car in the time that you own it?
My point: The stock stuff in new condition may surprise you in how well it handles. A few changes like urethane in the bushings, a sway bar and Bilstein shocks can give you great service with factory durability.
I know that the aftermarket stuff looks nice. I have seen a few cars with them and they do look nice. The steering rack gives a more precise steering feel compared to a stock Mopar steering box. There are companies that rebuild steering boxes to better than new condition, companies such as Firm Feel and Steer and Gear.
I used to think that the new stuff made for our cars must be better just because they were new. One of those things was the 8 3/4" axle NON adjustable "Green" bearings. That was proven wrong when I wore out one side at less than 4000 miles.
Lest you think that I am totally against anything new, I did install a Dakota Digital guage cluster in my 70 Charger. I also went with 4 wheel disc brakes, sticky 200 TW tires, a beefed stock based suspension and supportive SRT4 seats. I'm not against deviating from stock, I just try to be sensible about where I spend the money.
Good luck in whichever way you go.

 

[dieseldazzle]

I gotta say this welll just to say it.

I have installed magnum force, rms on mopars.

Griggs, aje, tcp , qa1 on fords.

Dse, global west, on chevies.

They are all great products.

They look awesome.

BUT

When it came time to do my OWN car that I built from the ground up for myself, to race, drive MY family in, give to my son one day if he so desires.... cruise in, hit potholes, drive into county fair dirt lots to paruse the swap meets. Tootle around in the pits...

Well I stuck with ma mopar. Sure the box is reworked and the bars bigger, better shocks , wilwood a hanging on the stock spindles but for my car after having touched, felt and installed, driven nearly all of the available aftermarket stuff.... well, again, ma mopar.

 

[saleenmav]

Thanks for your feedback. Picking and choosing a few individual components to upgrade here and there off the stock K member may be the way to go. I will say, I'm not a huge fan of torsion bars, so maybe I can just go with some coil overs and a steering upgrade. Food for thought I guess...

 

[mmissile]

I did stock k-frame, pittman arm, center link, and idler. Everything else is upgraded/stock type set-up.

 

[bee71]

What gets me miffed is if you are on ebay when they post you have to wade through pages and pages of his listings before you get to what you are searching for.

 

[HYRDGOON]

What gets me miffed is if you are on ebay when they post you have to wade through pages and pages of his listings before you get to what you are searching for.

Looks like he has a website http://www.johnnylawmotors.com/catalog/suspension-parts-kits

This is the first I've heard/read of them so I'm no help with a recommendation. I bought Magnum Force (transformer) only because I already had a few pieces from Clint when I changed my mind so I got a credit for the complete setup. I was really happy how my car handled with the Bilsteins and a bigger sway bar but as I was going to the T56 we just decided the T Bar cross member had to go.

To each their own

 

[saleenmav]

I just found out that the kits are made by Helix Suspension. That's a little bigger name at least. Summit carries a lot of their stuff. That's not necessarily saying a whole lot, but it's something!
Still in the process of pricing out different options with some of the ideas previously listed, however, finding the manufacturer gives me a little more confidence.

 

[HYRDGOON]

Check out Martz too. There's a thread below titled Martz 4 link and inside there are some pics of Average Joe's installation of both the front and rear setup

http://martzchassis.net/catalog-2/chrysler/chrysler-a-b-body-suspension-system/

 

[Budnicks]

I don't know anything about Johnny Law stuff...
Look OK to me...

Mustang II stuff is a big part of the industry today too,
many people use that stuff & have great experiences too...
All my ol' GM stuff was either converted to Lamb Struts
or Mustang II stuff...
Pretty much industry std. today...

Also look at QA1 extremely affordable
& you can do one part at a time if need be
you can keep Torsion bars or go to Coil-overs...
I've done it both ways coil over or torsion bars...
I've actually had several cars with Capps Automotive
{org. Mopar Tubular suspension}& now owned by QA1 for their stuff...
I'm very happy/satisfied, great quality & superior handling over OE style stamped steel flexy flyer, with a sever push & under-steer type suspension
has it's limits & the bonus is Tubular stuff it's, lighter, stronger,
you can actually use coil-overs, if you chose to do so,
beef up the shock towers etc.,
you can do then with rear-steer OE style Moapr stuff,
or converted to front-steer, by flip flopping the lower ball joints forward
left side on the right & visa versa
you can get them with poly or rubber bushed even,
factory style Torsion bars can be used,
you can get them with factory style sway bar mounts too &
also all they're very affordable...

Ride-Tech {coil-over or air ride} is another choice many pro-touring guys
love/rave about the stuff...

Amongst many other brands;

PST is supposed to be great & quality too,
I haven't had any complete upgrades from them yet...

Magnumforce is great, a tad bit pricey but quality

Reilly Motorsports is great too, a tad bit on the pricey side also, but quality...

Gerst look great, I haven't used them "yet" &
we have a couple members that have used them too...

The OE Mopar stuff can be made to work far better too,
enough time & effort cleaning welding bracing etc.
Larger torsion bars & larger sway-bars front & rear
some good quality gas shocks & better wider tires
lighter rims, less reciprocating weight, less sprung weight,
better brakes {S/S Teflon lined brake lines}all, at a min.
will do wonders, for feel & handling...
Get it a little lower will help a lot too...

More than one way to skin a cat...
Too each their own...

Build your car how you want it, don't be detoured...
Just do your research/due diligence...

 

[ckessel]

Here is some interesting information for you to digest on Mustang II stuff that I recently experienced at my 8-5 job. The car is a shoebox 52 Chevy that has the Stang based components on it like what you see advertised from various companies. He brought it by recently for us to inspect and we found it needed ball joints, arm bushings, tie rods and rack mounts. Supposedly this stuff was replaced 2k or so before the current owner bought the car and has since put less than 5 k on it. The components were toast. Probably write that off to poor quality stuff. Ok. Get the car in and start disassembling the lh side. After I clear components out of the way, I see that the lower control arm mounting bosses don't look kosher. They are bent. Had to knock the long bolt out, which was fun, and found it was bent almost 1/2". The mount bosses only have a horizontal gusset welded to them, no vertical. Ok, make a couple of them so each side can have one. Place a screw jack under the tube so it gets squared up and I weld the gusset on. Go to start adding the arms back on after joint and bushing replacement and run into my next hicup. The upper control arm ball joint boss is hitting the spindle and I can't swivel the spindle if I tighten the castle nuts. Not cool. Turns out that the ball joint stud between old and new are different as old ones had a longer stud with the taper starting farther away from the main joint which in turn would give more clearance between arm and spindle. Granted at this time the suspension is at full droop but I could see that there was an interference problem from before. What I elected to do was blend back the step thats machined for the joint to fit through so there would be no more clash and the owner and us would not have to chase down special ball joints. Get the left side done, hop over to the right side and see its a repeat of the left especially the arm mount. Go to remove the lower long bolt and see the boss flexing up and down. I decide to get it squared up and weld the gusset on while its still together. When I go to remove the bolt, this is after the gusset is welded on, the boss is still flexing up and down as the bent bolt is turning. The crossmember is flopping around in that area too. Can you say "lack of structural ridgidity"??? These arms, lower, should be mounted in a double shear with short lower bolts like you see on a production vehicle. Instead the bolts are not supported very well and bend. When would they end up breaking from lack of proper support? The weight of this car is probably lose to the muscle cars which is most likely still to heavy for a Stang suspension to safely support. Rods, roadsters etc maybe but I would still redo that lower arm mounting. Anything else, for me, not only no but hell no.

 

[440jimr]

You will find the OEM Mopar suspension is hard to beat when considering price and quality of ride.
As mentioned, when in new condition, it will last 100,000 miles with little fanfare....

 

[ckessel]

Oe may not be the trick of the month but its proven. I think if you are going to do a switch out, you should go with the full frame units that use Vette, cough cough, based suspension or circle track/NASCAR stuff. Those are way better mounted and built than the Stang stuff. In case anyone wonders, the owner of the car did not learn how to drive at the Braile institute. He babies that thing. Also, watch who you source your replacement ball joints from The chinese replacements were shorter than the NAPA unit I got to compare with. Shorter overall and shorter on the area where the taper begins on the stud which will affect geometry and who knows what else.

 

[saleenmav]

Budnicks, I appreciate your insight regarding the various options. I was interested in the QA1 tubular k-member, but I don't see it listed for a 64 Polara. Is there one available that you know of?

 

[Greg55_99]

2003 up Ford Crown Victoria.

What's in your wallet....

 

[Budnicks]

Budnicks, I appreciate your insight regarding the various options. I was interested in the QA1 tubular k-member, but I don't see it listed for a 64 Polara. Is there one available that you know of?

Not sure, you could contact them directly...
Only stuff I've used was 1966-70 B & E body stuff from them
I can't say on the rest...

good luck

 

[Budnicks]

Budnicks, I appreciate your insight regarding the various options. I was interested in the QA1 tubular k-member, but I don't see it listed for a 64 Polara. Is there one available that you know of?

@65RoadRacer
IIRC used QA1 stuff before he switched over to
Speed Freak stuff, on his 65 Belvedere, maybe check out his threads
on here "My Road racing Belvedere II" & over @ Street Muscle Magazine
great write ups too, his car an early 60's B-Body has some really trick pieces on it...

 

[72Fourspeed]

2003 up Ford Crown Victoria.

What's in your wallet....

If I could get the Crown Vic stuff hung under my 72, it would be. Love that front end.

 

[Bb70charger500]

I'll say this the mustang 2 conversion is a cheap upgrade for the early hot rods. Yes it was an upgrade to them not so much to a muscle car . It's OK I guess I've seen them fall apart quick and I've seen them get driven hard and hold up . I'm looking for a up grade my self for my 72 charger but reality is they were purity good new . I was looking at a full K frame with a steering rack ect. But honestly a set of beefier torsh bars and energy suspension bush kit ,gear reduction steering parts ect. A few bolt ons will do wonders and be more then enough upgrade . When you buy a cheap upgrade you get what you pay for cheap stuff. I wouldn't waist my money or time with a mustang 2 setup in anything but pre 60's cars

 

[Kern Dog]

That is my contention too. Some cars were built with primitive suspensions that leave a LOT of room for improvement.