67 LeMans suspension suggestions

[Tyler E]

Ive had my 67 LeMans on the road now for almost 17 years and have decided to do some more upgrades. 455, 5 speed tremec and 3.73 gears. All street driven with a drag race track run about once a year. Power wise, I can hang with mid 12 sec cars from a rolling start. My launch technique needs work. (-:

I have already lowered the car 1" front and 2" rear with springs, poly bushings, a front 1.25" front sway bar, KYB shocks, and a "Jeep grand cherokee" steering box. 225/50-15 and 275-60-15 tires on 7" and 8" rally wheels.

I would like to add boxed or tubular control arms with a sway bar in the rear and add a "sc&c stage-2 plus" tall ball joint kit for the front.

I like the stance of the car now and want a taller tire in the front to fill out the wheel well. With the sc&c kit i can add an inch to the tire diameter and get it back with using the tall lower ball joint, ....and....get better handling. Win-win.

Not sure about what I need for the rear control arms. I think it would be good to go with a lower arm with poly bushings on both ends and an upper arm that's adjustable with a poly bushing and a johnny joint. Do a 1" rear sway bar, but... in the stock style or upgrade to more modern axle mounted style?

The last thought was about the anti-hop kits that raise the upper arms axle mounting point, and also the style that lowers the lower control arms axle mounting point. I know these are drag race items, but do they do anything positive for the handling side of things?

Please critique my choices and thoughts. This seems like a pretty easy formula that many have probably followed.

Thanks, Tyler

[UMI Tech]

Hey Tyler.

Your plan sounds pretty nice.

We have a tall ball joint system with our arms. Tall lower and adjustable arm with tall upper. P/N 403256-3. Having that extra spindle height really helps the camber gain and gets rid of the tire roll-over as present from the factory geometry.

It is pretty nice to put some swivel in the upper rear arms. We have a P/N 2999 similar to a Johnny Joint but in our Roto-Joint style.

We currently use rear lower relocation to enhance forward traction and reduce/eliminate wheel hop. If you choose lift bars the arms are pre-drilled and sleeved with the correct angle to keep the stock style sway bar nice and level. If you choose a different lower arm and a "regular" bracket the Pro Tour style bar looks nicer. For a corner carver and potential competition car, the PT bar is good for adjustability and tuning handling. If you're just going for the occasional rip at 90%, the 1" standard mount 4034 is fine.

Relocation doesn't usually hurt or help the handling of a 90% car. If you put a lot of angle in the bars it can induce some rear roll steer which sometimes is beneficial on tight auto-x courses.

Let me know if you have any questions.

ramey

[Tyler E]

Ramey;

Thank for taking the time to respond. Those are the answers I was looking for. I never thought of my car and my goals as a 90% car. It makes a lot of sense.

[UMI Tech]

Originally Posted by Tyler E

Ramey;

Thank for taking the time to respond. Those are the answers I was looking for. I never thought of my car and my goals as a 90% car. It makes a lot of sense.

You're most welcome.

Keep in mind 90% cornering isn't a derogatory term. A fast Big Block fire breather that runs 8's would be a 10% cornering car. I just like to make sure the customer gets the correct components for how they are using the car. If someone wants to go win Optima Ultimate, that's a 100% car and is significantly more costly.

[Tyler E]

I definitely didn't take it negatively. The last 10% takes the street car manners out and injects the race car and all the negative attributes that it brings. I'm just looking up your products that you recommended.