Question about MK1 rear suspension.

[mabbott74]

Hello fellow enthusiasts. I am currently going through and making some upgrades to a MK1 Roadster I acquired this past summer. I am in the process of upgrading the read drum brakes to discs from a 94-04 Cobra setup. I noticed that there are two struts that connect to the rear end from behind and sit outboard the shocks. My concern is that there is very little clearance between these and the wheels/tires. Does anyone know the recommended minimum clearance? Thanks in advance for the info.

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[AC Bill]

Are you planning on keeping the coil spring suspension, or upgrading to coil over shocks?

[mabbott74]

Are you planning on keeping the coil spring suspension, or upgrading to coil over shocks?

I haven't given it much thought. I searched some of the Mustang forums and it seems pretty common to just remove the 'dogbone' which is there to prevent harmonics. What would be your suggestion?

[Ray]

You can take those off and install a good set of coilovers. I've installed a complete set of QA-1 double adjustables from Breeze along with Mark's adjustable lower rear control arms.

Several of our vendors (Levy, Forte, Breeze etc.) have got shocks available so check with each of them and find something that fits your needs and budget.

Ray

[CraigS]

They are referred to as quad shocks and were used on the Mustang to reduce axle hop on hard off the line acceleration. Either remove them or you can flip them end for end which will move the narrower shaft end near the tire.

[PG_Cobra]

Welcome to the MK1 world
Wheel hop is a really bad issue with the Mk1 due to the UCA location. I kept the quad shocks and used Auto Weld UCAs to eliminate the wheel hop. I would be wary of removing the quad shocks completely on a Mk1 unless you go to coil overs. In answer to your question, IMO any clearance is a good clearance.

[mabbott74]

They are referred to as quad shocks and were used on the Mustang to reduce axle hop on hard off the line acceleration. Either remove them or you can flip them end for end which will move the narrower shaft end near the tire.

I will check to see if flipping them provides more clearance. Thanks for the input.

[mabbott74]

Welcome to the MK1 world
Wheel hop is a really bad issue with the Mk1 due to the UCA location. I kept the quad shocks and used Auto Weld UCAs to eliminate the wheel hop. I would be wary of removing the quad shocks completely on a Mk1 unless you go to coil overs. In answer to your question, IMO any clearance is a good clearance.

I definitely laughed out loud at the closing comment because I think I've used that line a time or two myself. My precision calibrated eyeball tells me I have about 0.125" of clearance to the wheel and the tire. I would probably be comfortable with 0.25". I think for now I will upgrade the brakes, pull the quad shocks and take it for a spin. If the wheel hop is bad we'll go from there. BTW the worst wheel hop I've ever experienced was in my 2005 CTS-V. No joke I set off an alarm at a bank trying to do a couple of donuts in an adjacent lot. Got out of there in a hurry!

[AC Bill]

I haven't given it much thought. I searched some of the Mustang forums and it seems pretty common to just remove the 'dogbone' which is there to prevent harmonics. What would be your suggestion?

Since your going to the effort of doing the changeover to disc brakes, I think it would be a good time to switch to the coil-over shocks.
Budget consideration need to be taken onto account of course. That could be put on your wish list, and done later. You might find some items needed for sale on this, or the FFCars forum "Parts for sale" postings, and save a few bucks. I see coil overs come up on them from time to time.

[CraigS]

Coil-overs will have no effect on wheel hop. That is all in the control arms and how soft the rubber bushings are. Back in the day I had the problem w/ FFR lowers and stock uppers. Gordon Levy suggested going to mustang Cobra uppers. They still had rubber but it was harder rubber. Unfortunately the 4 link suspension binds in roll if you put solid bushings everywhere so the FFR lowers and the Cobra uppers were the best combination. The FFR 3 link is the optimum solution.

[Gordon Levy]

There is a ton of updating that can be done. FFR 3 ling or my 5 link rear suspensions with rear coil overs is your best upgrades. Much really depends on what you plan on doing with the car. The nickname for the Mustang 4 link is the quadrabind. It had this name long before FFR came about and adding tubular arms and urethane bushings just makes it worse. Feel free to give me a call some time and I would be happy to talk over your best options for fixes as well as brake options if you like.

[JohnnyB]

I’ll toss in another vote for switching to coilovers. It will give you a better ride and make adjusting the ride height much easier. As for not fixing wheel hop I guess your mileage may vary. I had pretty bad wheel hop with the donor springs, quad shocks and FFR lower and upper control arms. Since removing the quad shocks and switching to Koni coilovers I haven’t found a road surface yet that induced wheel hop. Adding coilovers and dialing in the front end to reduce bump steer were the two best bang for the buck modifications I’ve made over the years.

[CraigS]

...As for not fixing wheel hop I guess your mileage may vary. I had pretty bad wheel hop with the donor springs, quad shocks and FFR lower and upper control arms. Since removing the quad shocks and switching to Koni coilovers I haven’t found a road surface yet that induced wheel hop...
That is interesting John. It was reduced but I still had hop w/ coil overs. Maybe shock valving varies between brands. A 3 link fixed mine completely.

[mabbott74]

Definitely some great food for thought. I really appreciate all the input and will update on my progress and the results. Have a great day all.

[rich grsc]

Even if it doesn't completely stop the the wheel hop, it does help, changing to coilers will give you a better riding car.

[NiceGuyEddie]

With the 4-link and donor springs my car did some sort of weird hippedy-hop thing when going around street corners. VPM Coilovers solved the problem. Not sure if they are still in business though. I can also speak to the 5-link being an amazing upgrade, although it's quite a bit of work.

[R. Button]

Agree with all the others remove the springs, put on shocks with coil overs, and either Gordon's 5 link or FFR 3 link. Way better ride!!
Then you can get rid of those extra "shocks" you are referring to.
The hardest part to installing the rear coil overs is drilling the hole for the upper bolt. The rest is easy.
I got my 4 bolt rear disk brake assembly from Gordon! He has great advice and stuff that works!

[mabbott74]

Good afternoon everyone. I reached out to the guys at VPM about their coilover kit. Great price but unfortunately Carrera is no longer making the shocks and they couldn't source a comparable part elsewhere so that's a bust. Right now my first and second choice disc brake kits I've landed on are back ordered. Definitely running into some 1st world problems on my upgrades!

[Scotty's65]

I'll second or third the recommendation to go to 3 link - not too expensive and will transform your driving experience.
The Panhard Rod system is light years ahead of the oem 4 link "interference" set up.
http://www.factoryfiveparts.com/13181-3-link-retrofit-assembly/

Scott