87 turbo coupe front suspion upgrade question

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87 turbo coupe front suspion upgrade question

December 18, 2013, 11:36:09 PM

Anyone have good tech info on what fox body tubular front K member will work best with my 87 Bird?
Thanks
StratMan

Fast Cars Rock Guitars

87 turbo coupe front suspion upgrade question

Reply #1 – December 19, 2013, 11:00:23 AM

Depends on whether you want engine set back, what control arms you want, and if you want to switch to coil overs.

Some all will move the physical placement of the front wheels forward about an inch, inch and a half.

Also, stuff from UPR/Granatelli has a bad reputation of being cheaply made, and copied from other companies. Personally, I'd rather pay a couple hundred more for something that won't break in 3 weeks time.
Google searching will yield a lot more detailed info.

87 turbo coupe front suspion upgrade question

Reply #2 – December 19, 2013, 09:20:06 PM

http://www.maximummotorsports.com/MM-K-member-for-Mustang-1979-95-P206.aspx

Most tubular K-members will move the control arms forward by 3/4" as does Maximum. The nice thing is that Maximum has three different offset control arms:

The negative offset control arms negate the the 3/4" forward in the K-member which keeps the front wheels in the stock location
The neutral offset control arms add no additional offset to the front wheels so they only move forward by 3/4" due to the k-member
The forward offset control arms add an additional forward offset of 3/4" so when added to the 3/4" offset in the K-member the front wheels move forward 1-1/2" (this can require inner fender tpuppies as well as fender sheet metal tpuppies depending on the diameter of the wheel tire package)

I have the Maximum K-member on my Coupe with the neutral offset control arms with 245/40/17's up front with zero issues lock to lock with no modifications to the inner fenders or sheet metal. I am running the Griggs Racing K-member on my T-Bird with the Severe Duty control arms which have adjustment to make them neutral so that the front tires moved forward 3/4" and the 245/40/17's go lock to lock with no modifications to the inner fenders or sheet metal.

There are several threads on here about how to install a Fox Mustang K-member into a Fox Bird, Cougar, or Mark VII. Do a search and you will have quite a bit to read.

Darren

Darren

87 turbo coupe front suspion upgrade question

Reply #3 – December 20, 2013, 11:42:33 AM

I've never understood the whole "moving the wheel forward" deal. What is the point of it other than looking goofy and tire clearance issues? I have read that it has something to do with the ackerman angles for steering. Is the stock setup so bad that you have to jack up the caster for the sake of the ackerman angles?

87 turbo coupe front suspion upgrade question

Reply #4 – December 20, 2013, 02:31:16 PM

From Maximum's site:

"Lengthens the Mustang's wheelbase by 3/4". This improves the front to rear weight distribution. It also increases the positive caster, which improves cornering ability."

This tech article on their site is pretty informative:

http://www.maximummotorsports.com/tech_front_susp_kmember.aspx

Darren

87 turbo coupe front suspion upgrade question

Reply #5 – December 20, 2013, 02:51:37 PM

Just read the article you linked. Lots of good info, but most of it seems to be in the best interest of the corner carver, not the straight line junkies like me.

With skinny front tires, there won't be any corner carving anyway..:hick:

87 turbo coupe front suspion upgrade question

Reply #6 – December 20, 2013, 03:49:28 PM

Better weight distribution means moving more of the weight of the car off the nose which directly applies to drag racing.

Darren