upper control arm drop - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

sbw64ranch · 04-15-2011, 19:34

Has anyone done the upper control arm drop? if so, what results did you get? I have a 64 Ranchero and after spending 140 dollars getting the thing aligned at two different shops in my home town with no luck, handled like shit, I had another shop 40 miles away align it and man what a difference. The third shop, is old school using the measuring sticks and levels instead of a stupid computer. They mounted and balanced one tire, alignment, greased front end and tightened wheel bearings all for 30.00. They are my hero's. Still want to improve the handling as much as I can without a Mustang II suspension.

reddsun1 · 05-12-2011, 11:35

There are a few ways to come at it.

1) Cheapest DIY way to do a "Shelby" drop is to get a template for about $60 to make sure new drilled holes are spaced correctly. May have to "massage" the shock towers a bit w/a hammer to allow clearance for the grease fittings once UCAs are lowered.

2) Can get some UCA's that have a dropped pivot shaft. They're bloody expensive, but no shock tower drilling required.

I did a UCA drop, since aftermarket arms were out of my budget. Glad I did it though, as I think it improved the (neg) camber curve. If I can find it, I'll post a little .gif I made of the front tire on the road.

**Points to remember**
--once you do this mod, a lot of alignment shops may not want to touch your car (liability issues?).
--May (probably SHOULD) want to get a bumpsteer corrector kit. Your front end will ride lower, and b'steer may be exaggerated a bit.
--Just make sure you get the correct template to suit your car! '71-'73 "Mustang" templates drop the mounting holes directly below the originals; early Mustang templates relocate mounting holes below AND slightly rearward of original mount location. 70-'73 Torino/Montego/Ranchero/Cougar suspension components/geometry are supposed to be the same as '71-'73 Mustang.

sbw64ranch · 05-14-2011, 18:46

Thank you for your input. already removed one coil on the springs and it already rides much better than stock height, also added 16 inch Mustang wheels and the stance is great.