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front end

ord27

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any opinions on aftermarket coil over, rack and pinion front ends?

which one to go with....

Mine will be a highway cruiser, maybe some roll racing

Alterkation

Gerst

Mr. Norms....
other
 
Never understood changing parts from a solid design to something inferior for the sake of change...

Most of the coil spring suspensions are based off "Mustang II" components.... Mustang II suspension was actually released three years prior to the Mustang II in a different chassis.... The Pinto.... I wonder why no one calls it what it is????
 
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any opinions on aftermarket coil over, rack and pinion front ends?

which one to go with....

Mine will be a highway cruiser, maybe some roll racing

Alterkation

Gerst

Mr. Norms....
other
NONE of the above. You can reinvent the wheel but these are just a newer and fancier way to roll, not a better way.
The advertisers will be glad to tell you that they are better. What sort of motivation do you think they have for that? ($$$)
Rebuilding the stock suspension with decent parts along with some upgrades is a way to retain the factory durability and engineering while bringing the performance abilities up to modern standards.
 
The cars I drove with mustang 2/ pinto suspension drove horrible. If you want better handling start simple. I wouldn’t give up a oem suspension for a fab kit at all sure it’s lighter but what’s missing.. better handling starts at the tire, shock , front and rear sway bars , bigger torsion bar and finally heavier leaves. You can make drive really good for a lot less and everything will fit just like it supposed to. I also recommend a firm feel gear box and quick ratio pitman and idler arms.. then a very good alignment by a seasoned tech ..best of luck
 
I would also recommend upgrading the stock front suspension for a highway cruiser. The first item would be to select the tires you want to use, if you want sticky ones, you will probably need larger wheels. Replace all of the wear items (unless they are already new) such as ball joints, tie rod ends, and bushings. In order to improve the front end alignment, you will probably want to replace the stock upper control arms (I went with Firm Feel) as the geometry on the originals does not allow as much negative camber and positive caster as you will want with modern tires. Upgrade the dampers (shock absorbers) and add anti-roll (sway) bars front and rear. You may wish to get somewhat stiffer torsion bars which would allow you to lower the front end of the car to improve the handling, but avoid going too stiff as it hurts both the handling and the ride of the car. I swapped to the Borgeson power steering box to replace the 50 year old one in my car (rack and pinion would be nice, but I haven't found a good way of putting it in the stock suspension). I would also recommend getting Andy Finkbeiner's book "Mopar B-Body Performance Upgrades 1962-1979" and read the chapter on handling. Upgrading the OEM suspension has the big advantage of making use of a system that was designed and tested to work safely and reliably for 100000 miles. Have fun with your car. Cheers!
 
Just call Firm Feel and talk to them about your performance requirements (cruiser) and they can set you up with parts that bolt right on and work without having to reinvent something. The CO systems are all the rage and perhaps in some applications they are beneficial for one thing or another but for a street car its not necessary but worse is that it brings with it a cascade of other issues that have to be addressed (all of which can be overcome). I am not at all bad mouthing some of the better systems out there but based on what the OP is saying he want's it for, it is completely unnecessary. Now, if you "just want it" then by all means do what you want. I am going to be building a CO front end for my 70 RR because it is already highly modified (tilt front end) and because I can, not because it is better.
 
any opinions on aftermarket coil over, rack and pinion front ends?

which one to go with....

Mine will be a highway cruiser, maybe some roll racing

Alterkation

Gerst

Mr. Norms....
other
You don't need any of that for what you're talking about. Just put the heavy duty factory stuff on there and you'll be fine. If the car has a lot of power then upgrade the brakes to a 13 inch rotor with 17 inch tires.
 
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