Ford Mustang Suspension Guide - Suspension Dimensions - Tech

While there are a couple of companies that offer aftermarket K-members that can be used with stock front control arms, most usually require you to use their own tubular units, many of which require a switch to a coilover-shock setup. Again, you'll want to ask questions and decide what's best for you.

With the S197 Mustang, Ford went through a lot of time and effort to pare down the chassis to a suitable weight. Some have found that there's more weight yet to be shed.

"Tubular A-arms are a lightweight alternative to your factory stamped steel arms," says BMR Fabrication's Brett Rockey. "We offer them in two styles: standard and adjustable. Both models feature CNC-machined rear pivot points, heavy-duty 1.25-inch DOM tubing, and new ball joints sourced from Ford's OE supplier." BMR's front control arms are a great example why you should do your homework before plunking down your cash, as the company claims theirs are the only ones that can be bolted to the stock K-member.

"The standard version is what we recommend for street use since it will produce the least amount of road noise, as it is assembled with high-durometer, internally fluted polyurethane bushings with grease fittings at both mounts," Rockey says.These are 11.2 pounds lighter than stock. The adjustable version is recommended for drag-race or road-race applications due to the elevated noise transmission from spherical rod ends and Delrin bushings. This version allows camber and caster adjustment not possible with OE arms, and they provide enough adjustment for up to 1.125-inch overall narrower track width (91/416 inch per side).

Rear Suspension
When the popularity of the 5.0 Mustang took off, so did the aftermarket support. The 5.0L Mustang is probably the only late-model EFI car to have its aftermarket intake-manifold choices rival those of carbureted cars from the past.The same can be said for rear-suspension components, as there are a ton of companies helping you put the power to the ground.

The '79-'04 Fox-body and SN-95-chassis Mustangs all share the same rear-suspension arrangement. Out back are four rear trailing arms (mounted between the rear housing and the unibody) along with rear coil springs (mounted between the lower arms and the unibody), and there are also two rear shocks and an antiroll bar (this differs from IRS-equipped Cobras). The rear trailing arms (also called control arms) are formed from stamped steel and can also twist, or deflect, thus leading to unpredictable handling. That said, the Mustang's rear-suspension design is probably more to blame than anything.

To get a little more insight on the Mustang's rear suspension, we called on Ford Motor Company's Jeff Feit, a suspension guru, road racer, and former Lightning engineer, who had this to say about the Pony's rear suspension setup.

"The Fox and SN-95 four-link suspension used two upper arms that were angled in rather than being parallel to themselves and the axis of the car," Feit says. "The idea was that the same arms that locate the axle fore and aft also locate it side to side. Just like most other multipurpose devices (calculator watches, Swiss army knives, combination toaster-coffee makers, and so on), they did two jobs lousy rather than one job well. Because of the extreme angles of the arms, the bushings bind in both ride and roll motion. This meant the car was prone to snap oversteer at high roll angles, so to be safe, it had to be tuned for lots of initial understeer. You ended up with a car that was an understeering pig, but if pushed hard enough, it would snap around on you. In addition, the bind meant that to keep the ride decent, the suspension had to be fairly soft to counteract the bind as the axle moved. You end up with a mushy car that still rides poorly. To top it off, the arms were so short that the suspension geometry changed drastically as they moved, and the way they were attached forced a high roll center.