Question for the suspension guys. Found a set of tubular upper control arms for a 72-78, manufacture states it will add 4 degrees of caster to the front. Assuming they can not hurt, but alignment is not one of my strong points. In the process of rebuilding complete front suspension. Thanks for the help.
From my limited knowledge of alignment, my understanding is more positive caster helps with straight-line tracking and stability, while more negative caster does the opposite. And more positive caster= harder steering; less positive caster= easier steering. I had been running these Open Tracker "Street Specs" (at +3˚) for my manual steering Ranchero, and while it did track nice & true, it was pretty tough steering in parking lots or parallel parking. I just had it aligned this week, and reduced the positive caster to +2˚; the steering is noticeably easier at slow speeds, but probably doesn't matter as much if you have power steering.
Alignment is basically just some physics, nothing voodoo about it. Look at motorcycle front fork rake and trail and it will give better understanding. More positive caster you will have less bump steer as well. 4 degrees sounds a little much but with PS maybe not? Hopefully you can find a guy with "old school" knowledge to do your alignment...they are getting harder and harder to find...
With my 20 over, rake and trail is language I speak. I do worry about finding some to dial in my car, hard to find these days! Much appreciated, thanks for the help.
It is likely the manufacturer of the control arms added extra caster to improve handling, I remember caster being a component of increasing the contact patch of the tire to the road surface when hard cornering , the wheel with negative camber in the turn will have a larger contact patch with the road. tubular control arms look cool, but the reason for them is that they are stiffer than oem, power steering will be a must with an extra 4 degrees of caster
Strength and the fact they exist is the big reason I'm thinking of buying. Advertised for better handling which can't hurt and I do have power steering so may give them a shot. here is the link if anyone else is inerested and thanks for your help. Search by Vehicle - Ford - Cars - Little Shop Mfg
Will be placing order next week. I'm thinking about getting the strut rod isolators as well. Owned the car since 1980(its a 78), will be my sons car when it reaches 50 years old. Building to last, can't imagine what it will be like finding parts in another 20 years! Found a company making rear arms as well- Rear Suspension Control Arms | 1972-1976 Ford Torino & Ranchero (spohn.net). Listed as 72-76 but his ebay lists 77-79 as well, waiting on a response for clarification. Adding adjustable coil overs up front and adjustable shocks in the back. Big car show next weekend hoping the 2 shock manufactures (Aldan or Viking) will be offering deals. That should do it for the suspension, couple months of weekend work to pay for it all!
coil overs will improve handling but be aware ride quality may suffer. coil over springs have a smaller wire diameter than your original coils . the OE heavy large diameter coils and have some built in dampening due to the large wire diameter of the spring. coil over springs have to be much stiffer due to the smaller wire diameter and will require more rebound dampening than the original shocks did. if you want some ride quality be sure to get fully adjustable coilovers so you can tune the ride to your liking, but dont expect the soft comfortable ride of your original coils.
Viking also makes shock only as well, I can use OEM springs. Looking for improved handling, understanding giving up ride soft quality. Great to have car shows starting again, gives assess to vendors, though Viking is in the city just south of me so I can't complain. Your right on adjustable, I will be going double. though the also offer triple, but those may be out of my price range. I appreciate your input, helps making decisions.
I put a corvair IFS front end in my 32 coupe when I was in high school, ride was great, it handled good, decades later when I had extra money and the parts for the corvair front end where really hard to find , I bought an aftermarket coil over IFS and installed it in my 32. thinking its would be all that. It wasn't , handled like a race car , but the ride quality sucked and the turning radius was not very good at all . I bought coil overs with the most available rebound dampening available, which helped . in hindsight I wish I stayed with the corvair and the large coils,.
Certainly a balance act and to expensive for trail and error. Diffidently don't want it to stiff or like being on a water bed, trying for somewhere in the middle. I wish the 72-79's had more aftermarket support though. Thamks
Anything for a 72-76 Torino/Montego will more or less fit a '77-'79 intermediate. It'd be interesting to know if those aftermarket rear arms will correctly fit, though. It'll be interesting to know if those would be about the same, price-wise, as rebushing the originals from your car. I'd think having new would be better than rebuilt.
Start all my searches now at 72 and go form there, double checking in the Hollander interchange book I scored. New does seem difficult to find when compared to the Mustang or Early model Chev. My car has been stored for 30 years and the oem parts are in good shape and rebuildable so I will always have a back up. Found 2 new lower control arms made in the US, so got lucky there. May have been the last 2, don't know if they are still making and I'm still waiting on one, fingers crossed! He said the rear lowers are jigged to factory specs, I was concerned dropping the rear end until I received, dogged a bullet there. When I receive I will do some side by side shots and upload. Minnesota feels like Texas today! Stay cool.
Fingers crossed on that. I would not worry about disassembly beforehand, it would give you a chance to really look closely for cracks, bending and the bushing condition. Anyway, pics would be cool.
Parts starting to trickle in on the pervious conversation on this thread, Ill post some pics when I get back in town. If I did not respond back on some of the replies, I appreciate the help from all on the tips and advise. If any one is looking PST has center links for the 77-79s in stock. Have not installed yet but it looks good.
I got the Spohn Performance rear upper and lower control arms. I bought the bolt kits and if you buy them make sure you buy the adjustment tool for the Del-Sphere ends as you can adjust the tension on the spherical ends for different handling. I haven't put them on yet but have several friends with 72-76 Gran Torino that have them. 77-79 Ranchero uses the same suspension as the 72-76 as they built the 77-79 Ranchero/ LTD II on the same platform and just rebodied the outer sheet metal
Thanks! That's a tidbit of knowledge I've been trying to find again. lol I too have purchased the Spohn uppers & lowers for my '78 and have them in place. I'm doing a frame off and putting her on air, front & back. Figured the Spohn setup would give me more handling and more travel thatn the regular stuff. I've been looking for some tubular front arms for a while now. Thanks to the OP for showing me the way. I'll probably pick those up. Does anyone have a direction to look for the lower control arms? Keeping in mind I'm putting it on air bags. Probably will end up with a completely custom setup by the time I'm done.
