Thread: Anyone actually built their MII suspension?

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I´ve taken a little pic of the site. However from all the guys here which seem fabricators, no one seems to have build their own mustang II suspension and/or spindles.

Maybe this is something kinda hard, but with a good tube bender, lathe and mill might be kind of easy.

I´m planning on making one, I could probably go out and buy one, but custom cars need custom pieces. Maybe its just to acquire some knowledge.

Has anyone built one?

Maybe some pics? some help? specifications?

we have built everything except spindles .its not to hard . we prefer to buy it !

Yup, me too. It's such a labor intensive operation, usually best to just buy it. Before you start building, make sure you have a thorough understanding of all the different aspects of building the peices. Unless it is a really unique, one- off kind of setup, and somebody else is willing to pay the bill, IMO I can better spend the time building something else for the car that is not readily available from so many sources at a reasonable price.

Originally posted by elvergon
I´m planning on making one, I could probably go out and buy one, but custom cars need custom pieces. Maybe its just to acquire some knowledge.

That comment makes you sound like a newbie. With the thousands of places on a car that can be customized I'd probably rank suspension, steering, and brakes as the last on the list of things to learn on.

It's not the making of the pieces, it's knowing where to place all of them in relation to each other. And yes, I have designed and built my own IFS.

If you want to learn how to design and build your own IFS, read the books authored by Carroll Smith. A hundred and fifteen bucks including freight will be the cheapest money you ever spend on education.....
http://www.carrollsmith.com/

Here's a thread from a young man in Finland who was able to successfully design and build his own IFS after reading Smith....
http://www.clubhotrod.com/forums/sho...hlight=Finland

Yeah, I´m a newbie and in the process of learning. I`ve made some stuff and while making them I´ve learn a lot. I do not have much experience with these, but a friend of mine recommended the MII suspension due to its easyness and reliabilty.

Does the book of Caroll Shelby includes materials and stuff?

I´m a university engineer, still starting, I´m a SAE student too, maybe I can get some discount on the book.

Well, from the people that made it all except the spindles, would it be too much to ask if I request some pictures? maybe some designs? So I have a little light in my new walk of suspensions.

Hey techinspector, I don´t have too much money to spend right now. Which would be the most important book for the suspension? the engineer? or probably the nuts and bolts?
Yeah, probably suspension is the last place too customize, but for learning there´s never a stop. And building something from scratch it´s a little more gratificant. Probably I think this because I do this for hobby, not for money. I probably don´t care how much time I use. Anyone a good friend of mine said..."It´s the journey, not the destination"

BTW thank you all who repplied, I love this site, tons of information.

Must II suspensions need larger brakes and a lot of fab cross members do not have the serrations to hold the upper a arm cross shafts when they ar bolted down and most do not have correct spring seating shape in the upper or lower ends.. I picked up a couple of late 80.s jag sedan front susp including the factory crossmembers for 120 each. I plan to use the stock x member as a locating fixture for bolt hole locations for a arms then build the new tubing x member narrower for my rods the jag has 11 1/2 brakes and forged a arms and with new coil overs will be a lot cheaper than most other kits

I tore the front suspension including crossmember out of a pinto, media blasted them, new bushings and welded it with struts into my frame using the methods told to me by our fellow members. I didn't put bigger rotors on it, just new with chevy bolt pattern and new calipers. I have the stock manual rack off of the pinto and springs. I use a suzuki power brake master cylinder and attenuator valve. I stops on a dime with my big toe from any speed and drives very well with a cost of under $200.00. If you really wanted bigger brakes, 74-78 Mercury Monarch 11" rotors and calipers will fit the stock MII spindles.

Originally posted by timothale
Must II suspensions need larger brakes and a lot of fab cross members do not have the serrations to hold the upper a arm cross shafts when they ar bolted down and most do not have correct spring seating shape in the upper or lower ends.. I picked up a couple of late 80.s jag sedan front susp including the factory crossmembers for 120 each. I plan to use the stock x member as a locating fixture for bolt hole locations for a arms then build the new tubing x member narrower for my rods the jag has 11 1/2 brakes and forged a arms and with new coil overs will be a lot cheaper than most other kits

When you narrow the crossmember, you will eliminate all semplance of Jag suspension geometry and it will from that point on be timothale suspension geometry. The instantaneous centers will change and with that, everything else.

truly interesting. Learning and learning.

But since im still a newbie newbie I would like to see some pics or webpages with pics of somebody which made his own =(. Could somebody do this for a hot rod fella?

At least which type of tube to use, I don´t know =(

I really need to work this out, and the guy who actually built his MII suspension and has a thread on the site, seems he is out for vacations or off the site because he won´t reply to me neither mail =( .

Please guys, need to solve this

You know, I understand that you have a need to solve this to your satisfaction, so why don't you do what I suggested and read Smith. None of this is going to make any sense until you do.

As far as the tubing material for the control arms, that will depend on the stresses the car will encounter. I built mine very heavy duty, so that I could drive up onto a curb and back down off the curb and not damage anything on the car. For the lower arms, I used 1" o.d., 0.188" wall chromoly 4130 with 3/4" o.d., 0.125" wall stiffeners. For the uppers, I used 7/8" o.d. 0.188" wall chromoly 4130.

Some builders have used thinner, smaller material while others have gone the other way and over-built like I did.

Again, I'm going to ask you to do something before you ask any more questions.....
READ SMITH.

I'm a newb on the forums and just wanted to give this thread a bump.
I'm going to order the Carroll Smith book pack to read. I've been looking for something in depth like this for awhile.

Thanks for pointing it out techinspector. Even if I end up with a commercial setup from Heidt's, I'm hoping these books will help me with designing the geometry, loading, and ride height of my rear suspension and how that will work with the front for not only that desired ride height, but also proper function.

The quick snippet about bumpsteer on Heidt's site was good, but I want even more info, and hope these books will hold it.

Now to find a book series like this on frame design...

This is to the guys that want to build their own front suspensions. Techinspector is trying to explain that you must understand all the engineering principals involved with an independant front suspension design, such as ackerman, bumpsteer, antidive, camber gain,etc before starting a project like this. So, read everything you can get your hands on before starting and let the professionals do any serious welding on materials such as chromoly tubing. Building spindles is another area that requires serious welding and machining skills. Read the literature first, then you may be ready for pictures. "Chassis Engineering by Herb Adams" is my favorite book on this subject. Enjoy the journey guys.