MUSTANG
CORKSCREW PACKAGE
You Better Learn the Definition of “Cantilever”
MUSTANG
How many classic Mustangs have you seen with the coilovers in the trunk?
Yeah, it looks badass but honestly the looks were an afterthought. We put the coilovers in trunk for a reason: shock length.
You see shock length is ultimately what’s responsible for the ride quality and capability of the shock. Most rear systems are designed to do one thing well. Maybe they’re okay on a track, but they’ll break your back on the way home. Maybe they’re cushy on the street, but they toss you around on the track. And no amount of dialing up or dialing down the valving seems to help.
That’s why we designed our MOD 2 rear to incorporate a full sized shock. The only problem was we couldn’t fit it under the rear floor of the Mustang without giving it an SUV ride height. So we adopted technology more commonly seen on formula 1 cars than in Detroit, a cantilever system. By putting a pivot point between a pushrod tied to the rear end housing and the shock itself, we could lay the shocks down horizontally, giving us all the room we needed (and a bonus point of adjustment).
It looks cool, it works great, and you can lay it all out on the autocross then drive over railroad tracks with a cup of coffee in your hand on your way home.
FRONT SUSPENSION
Up front we call in our MOD 1 Front Suspension Kit, a complete kit that replaces the stock upper and lower control arms, strut rods, shocks, sway bar, and bushings but doesn’t reengineer it. Look, Ford was on the right track with the original design, but it’s been 50 years and we’ve learned a lot.
For instance, caster. Caster is essentially the alignment angle of the upper and lower balljoint (it’s more complicated than that, but let’s keep things simple). In the 60s no one thought it was that important, so they set up a degree or two. Today, we know that the sweet spot is 6-7 degrees to minimize darting on the highway and improve high speed stability. That’s why we’ve engineered our upper arms to be offset, increasing base caster to fit in with our modern demands.
On the camber front, we offer a redesigned lower control arm with an adjustable heim joint. This allows you to easily dial in your preferred camber while also giving us a new way to attached our solid mount strut rods (which are also adjustable).
Are you sensing a trend here? The goal with our MOD 1 Front Suspension is to not only improve everything about the front of the car, but also to give you a level of adjustability that the old suspension simply could not offer. Combine this with an alignment from a shop that actually knows what they’re doing and you’ll feel a tighter, more responsive front end that’s point and shoot.
- MOD 1 Front Suspension Kit
- MOD Shock Tower Brace (Subframe Connectors are Included in the MOD 2 Rear Suspension
REAR SUSPENSION
Originally designed to cruise on the street then destroy at the track, this suspension has seen years of refinement and development. Comprised of several components, this kit most notably moves the coilover from under the body up into the trunk using a cantilever-type setup more typically found on Formula 1 cars. Not only is this generally badass, but it allows us to run a full size coilover without worrying about packaging it under the car.
We’ve also designed this package to be minimally invasive, requiring only a small amount of cutting (a couple inches) to your trunk floor and the boxing of about an inch of your rear frame rails on either side. Try that with any of those other kits on the market.
In short, this kit offers classic Mustang owners an incredibly balanced, strong, tune-able system that’s as comfortable on the street as it is on the track. We’ve installed this kit in countless cars and made several refinements over the years and it continues to be a defining suspension for us at MMI.
POWER STEERING
If you’ve ever tried parking one of these cars without power steering, you know just how essential it is. But finding the right combination of pieces is a daunting task. Our focus started with the proper steering geometry, a bunch of math that helps tell us engineers how natural the steering is going to feel. After all, it shouldn’t take 13 turns of the wheel to turn a corner, nor should it take half a turn to make a u-turn.
So we start by replacing the steering box with a high quality ABS unit with a 14:1 ratio. We back that up with a KRC Power Steering pump, the likes of which can be found on everything from street rods to race cars. From there we source quality replacement components: center link, tie rod adjusters, and inner and outer tie rods. Again, focusing on the best stock replacements we can find, not the ones from the discount bin.
So why not go with a typical rack-and-pinion type setup so common these days? It all has to do with steering geometry, or the math behind why your car feels twitchy and unpredictable instead of solid and confidence inspiring. Unfortunately, feel often takes a backseat to packaging constraints (and consumers who say “I want that” without really being sure why). What everyone seems to be missing is that most rack and pinion systems actually make the original steering geometry worse.
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- MOD 1 Power Steering Kit
- Replacement Centerlink
- Replacement Tie Rod Adjusters
- Replacement Tie Rods (Inner and Outer)
BRAKES
For brakes we call in our MOD 1 Front Brake Kit. Up front you’ll get a pair of 6 piston Wilwood Superlite 6 calipers over massive rotors (18″ wheels highly suggested). Of course we’ll want to mount those wheels on a set of our big pin spindles for improved strength and so that we can include a set of DRP Bearing Spacers.
With our setup in the back offering a full floating rear end, we’re able to run a Dynapro 6 caliper and rotor setup. Furthermore we’ll weld on the necessary brackets on your housing, then run brake hard lines to meet the stainless flexible lines for you. That means your rear end comes with all the necessary hardware to plumb and install it, saving you the guesswork and time.
Most of this kit can be installed in a garage with typical hand tools. Many of the parts are fairly easier to swap in and out. Some, like the steering, will require you to remove other parts before accessing the ones to be replaced. We recommend professional installation if you are uncomfortable with the idea of replacing your brakes and steering systems.
Welding will be required to install the MOD 2 rear (both brackets and the panhard bar bracket) plus the subframe connectors.
This package will require the adaptation of your current brake lines to your new master cylinder.
Be VERY careful when removing and installing new springs. They hurt, ask us how we know.
Leaf Spring Installation Instructions
