Suspension upgrades?

[DownwardFlame]

http://www.opentrackerracingproducts.com/products/
I found this the other day when researching options for my mustang, and I was wondering how much of this is compatible with our eagles. The front ends are very similar.  In fact, the only major difference is that the strut rods on the ford go forward and the rods on the eagle go back. How much effect would going to roller bearings instead of bushings have on the eagle?

[carnuck]

Harsher ride. That is mostly for racing on flat track I'm pretty sure. I went to poly swaybar bushings (impregnated with graphite) on mine.

[Baskinator]

Harsher ride. That is mostly for racing on flat track I'm pretty sure. I went to poly swaybar bushings (impregnated with graphite) on mine.

I disagree. While I've never personally used these with roller bearings, the whole point of these is the exact opposite. The roller bearings allow a more smooth distribution of shock to the coil, as well as better suspension travel. The stock rubber bushing in the spring perch creates more bind in the upper control arm, which in effect gives a much harsher ride. Polyurethane bushings will make the suspension even more stiff.

AFAIK, he is talking about roller bearings being put into the AMC spring perches, which are similar to the mustang's spring perches: http://www.opentrackerracingproducts.com/amc/rollerperch/

I've been looking into these as well. This appears to be the most significant upgrade that could be done to improve ride quality and handling on an Eagle. The down side would be a decrease in strength for any kind of off road terrain and reliability past ~100,000 miles. However, they do seem to be plenty strong for most purposes and should be reasonably reliable, especially if the bearings are sealed and/or greasable.

[carnuck]

I thought the ball style strut rods were what was linked and not the upper pivot? I agree on rollers being better there.

[captspillane]

The roller bearings we're talking about are in the spring perches. They cut off the stiff rod through rubber that heavily resists motion and weld in precise pipes meant to press in roller bearings. Basically the spring perch rotates freely below the coil spring as the upper control arm moves, which I think would be a big improvement.

I think there is some confusion here because strut rods got mentioned. A big upgrade that may be slightly harsher is the heim joint style strut rods. Those have a huge impact on AMC driving precision because the big rubber junk lets the lower control arms move considerably in and out of alignment. A guy sells them on ebay for AMCs and I see that this link has the same thing available for Mustangs too. I personally think that making the lower control arm rotate precisely should not make a harsher ride because your suspension is still doing its job, just doing it without floppiness front to rear. I'll find out once I pony up and pay $230 bucks for a pair.

[Baskinator]

D'oh! You're right carnuck, I see now he mentioned strut rods. I got mixed up because he said roller bearings. The strut rods they sell have pivots, not roller bearings. They do have roller kits for mustang control arms too, but not AMCs.

[DownwardFlame]

I was mostly referring to to the roller perches, but I know that some of the mustang guys also replace the upper and lower control arm bushings with  bearings. I've seen at least one guy put his own together from scratch which I assume would be what would have to be done on the AMC arms.

[DownwardFlame]

Here is something else I found the other day

It's a hybrid coil over set up that still uses the factory upper spring mount. It would give you a couple inches of adjustable ride height and roller perch (kinda). I've been considering going this route on my mustang. The guy made a list of part numbers, and I looked them up on summit racing. It would cost about $560 to get the parts (free shipping!). The cool part, is that since your not making any changes to the factory components, i could have them installed in a couple hours and could easily have it back to stock just as quickly.

[captspillane]

Oh that is awesome. I want the list of parts and to do this in the near future. The ability to adjust can help vary the preload to compensate for heavier engines and also help level the car from side to side.

[eaglefreek]

WSC offers coilover kits for AMC. http://www.classicone.com/wsc/catalog/amc/amc_per1.htm Since custom coils springs are needed to fit the upper spring seat and the bottom seat of the new shock, it might be tough to figure that out for less than what they are charging. I suppose you could make a top bracket that will support the load of a standard coil over shock that has the spring attached to the top and bottom of the shock.

[DownwardFlame]

Oh that is awesome. I want the list of parts and to do this in the near future. The ability to adjust can help vary the preload to compensate for heavier engines and also help level the car from side to side.

Here is the part numbers that the guy on the mustang forum listed. Obviously, we would have to set it up to mount differently at the upper shock mount on an eagle.
Quote:
Originally Posted by res036  View Post
would you happen to have a parts list with part #s that you used from summit to make your setup?
2 x HAL-BAR500K (T-Bar for mounting loop style shock to UCA)
2 x HAL-BAR350K (T-Bar for mounting loop style shock to top of tower)
2 x HAL-US404 (Ultra-ride single adjustable Coil-over 11/15")
2 x HAL-10gbF450 (450# 2.5/4.1 coil spring. They sell other weights as well)

[DownwardFlame]

Here are a couple pics of how the shock mounts on the mustang.