I am about to order a mustang cross member from full tilt suspension, and I have a few questions. How do you determine ride height on the maverick. I already have the suspension all the way off . Can you just level the frame rails or the rockers, I need some help there. Second do you need to set rake of the cross member or do you just level it. Sorry for all the newbie questions I just want to make sure i install it correct. Maybe someone can point me to a walj through of this. Or if any one could give ne some advice I would sure appreciate it. Nate
Hi Nate. I'm certainly no expert like some who'll likely chime in here.. but from what I've seen/learned so far.. the Maverick/Comets have a unique frame rail width so you need to be ready for some extra cutting with any kit not specifically designed/intended for these cars. Unless you're proficient in major chassis work mod's.. I would just stick with a model specific "kit". As for the leveling. No.. never go off the rockers as they are even farther from perfect than the rest of the flimsy unibody is to begin with. A Basic level can sometimes be used for achieving a rough baseline to start with.. but most frame shops will work off the front rail, center rails(under the floor pan),and also rear rails to get a perfectly level/square chassis. In your case.. you'll not be venturing all the way back to the rear rails for mod's that would affect that area.. but it certainly doesn't hurt to run the measurements to see how the car sits at various points and start from closer baseline/get nearer to perfection(tougher to get the front right.. if the rear is too far off level, right?). Using a plumb bob will also make your life a bit easier through the process too.
my question is...why are you ordering a...mustang crossmember...for your...Maverick... you can get a...Maverick crossmember...
Thanks for the replies. I am waiting for a email back for the conpany, but from my understanding they make a kit for the maverick. So if i am understanding you correctly the best method is try leveling the front frame rails then check the unibody frame rails under the floor to make sure they are level. Now do you no off hand on the full tilt cross member do you have to set rake or do you level it front to back. Thanks much nate
first off.. I would be talking to the mfgr first on these specifics.. then supplementing what they said with info from the one's who've actually used the exact same kit. Personally.. I usually take mfgrs advice with some salt.. because it's pretty typical that things can be more troublesome than they will let on since many/most will want to sell more units at higher margins.. rather than trying to make them perfect and/or more user friendly.. and some things can be "cheated a bit" to save some time and/or cash. PS. I would change the threads title to the actual kit being used. That way the guys with firsthand experience of that particular kits install/pitfalls can better see it to help you out. and yeah.. you need to measure at various points to establish a level unibody. Just be aware that these cars were rarely perfect from the factory.. so it's pretty damned likely that some belly droop and side to side variation will be there after all this time. At that point.. you just get out the calculator and work with the law of averages to get close enough.
I appreciate the input. I will have to search around to try to figure out how to change the title. And I can send a email off to the manufacture and see if they can help out. Thanks again
I used one of Full Tilt's cross members and mounted it flat up against the bottom of the frame rail and level with the frame. The top piece, weather it is for full sized springs or coil overs, once mounted to the top of the frame rail will be angled back to the rear of the car. This is called anti-dive and makes the top pieces lefts and rights so you need to be careful to weld them to the correct side. The kit I bought from Clint was not originally built to fit perfect in a Maverick. It was designed for an early Falcon/Comet and designed for frame rails that are slightly narrower than the Maverick. A couple of welded in spacer plates on the inside of the frame rails fixed that problem. I took measurements from the original suspension to different points on the car so I could transfer those measurements over to the new cross member so the wheelbase didn't change. At some common points, measured on both sides of the car, sometimes they were 1/4 inch off so that was telling me that these cars weren't built on a 100% quality control program. You can see some photos of my Full Tilt install in my Gallery or click on my project link. If you have any questions that I can help you with, don't hesitate to ask
