M
Mustangcwo
Guest
Let me know what you guys think and if I missed any major parts. Want to get this on all our websites along with inserted pics.
Project WickedFox
AJE Front Suspension Install
How do I make my car “HOOK”? As the crew chief of Wickedstangs’ project car, that is the most common question that I hear. Horsepower and torque are fun, but can be frustrating at the race track. Tire hop and wheel spin become an enemy that is not easily conquered. For most applications, tire type and size along with a few rear suspension changes easily fixes any wheel spin problems. But for those that like to dial up the horsepower and especially the torque, a more practical approach is required. Fully adjustable rear suspension allows you to set the pinion angle and the right amount of weight in the rear will apply the proper pressure to the ground. But what if all those measures are taken and the car still screeches into wheel spin. Well, Anthony Jones Engineering Racing (AJE) suspension provided project WickedFox with the right parts to balance the entire car and create the desired center of gravity and percentage of rise. Center of gravity is a term to describe where the car is balanced and percentage of rise determines how hard tires hit the pavement. Since WickedFox contains a 4R70W automatic transmission, it needs to hit the pavement harder and a lower percentage of gravity is required. In order to reach this point, the car must have a fully adjustable suspension that not only transfers the load of the car but also keeps the front wheels planted squarely on the ground; after the wheel stand of course.
AJE’s latest Mustang suspension kit was donated by Anthony Jones and is designed specifically for the 79-04 models. The kit includes a tubular K-member, pedestal motor mounts, coil-overs, fully adjustable tubular A-arms, steering linkage and universal caster camber plates. This kit not only provided the pedestal engine mounts for WickedFox’s 4.6L Modular Motor, it also removed 86 pounds from the car. Lighter car equates to a faster ET!!! So it’s time to get these parts on the car and get it back onto the track to see how well the AJE suspension improves the already established 8.87 ET. Since Barona Speedway was our original testing place, we’ll head back there later for final testing and another article.
Disassembly:
To start the new modification, club members went into full rip-out mode. Danny (SDsubzero04), Devin (Killerbee), Emilio (Wickedstangs) and Todd (Mustangcwo) broke out the tool chest, engine hoist and jack stands. First, the car was raised high enough off the ground to remove the old front suspension as an entire assembly and the wheels and brakes were removed . Then the struts were loosened by removing the three bolts that held the old caster plate in position. Note: It may be necessary to drill out the caster positioning rivet; WickedFox’s was already removed during a previous install. Next, the engine was suspended using an engine hoist. Hoist position is very important if you want to slide out the old suspension as an assembly. Position the hoist on either side of the car and not the front. The lower engine hoist legs need to be out of the way. Next, raise the engine an inch or so to make certain you have a good grip on it. Once the engine was secure, the engine mount bolts were removed freeing the engine from the chassis. Finally, the steering linkage was disconnected and the four bolts on each side of the K-member were removed. Soon the old K-member and suspension found its way to the driveway and was slid out from under the car.
Now this old suspension was typical of what one might find under a typical street racing Mustang. The suspension included a tubular K-member, 90/10 drag shocks and stock A-arms. Although the suspension was nice, it did not allow for weight distribution adjustments and required several modifications to install the modular motor; not quite the suspension package required for a drag track “Monster” in the making. Therefore, the suspension was disassembled, parted out and used for fund raising purposes.
Assembly:
Once the old parts were safely deleted from the chassis, the new pedestal mounts were placed against the engine for install matching. This pedestal mount feature is a unique feature of the AJE tubular K-member. The pedestals are bolted to the K-member and easily exchanged, allowing several motor types to be used on one K-member. Since the motor was removed from a 1995 MK VIII, the passenger side motor mount pedestal required a slight modification. As one can see, a notch was cut from the motor mount to fit around the block assembly. A simply cut was made using a Dremel tool and a little spray paint made it look good as new. If modifications are required on the motor mount, make certain to take away as little metal as required and try to maintain sufficient metal near the bolt holes.
Now that the pedestal/engine mounts were in place, the assembly team (Danny, Todd and Emilio) pushed the new K-member into place, slid the bolts through the pedestals and then inserted the eight bolts that hold the K-member to the chassis. This requires a little twisting of the engine and some prying on the K-member to shift it into position. Once all the bolts were started, they were tightened evenly. Now the engine hoist can be moved out of the way
With the K-member in position, it was time to assemble the lower control arms. The rear adjustable arm screws into the front arm and is held in position using the locking nut. Note: Only hand tighten the nut to allow for easy movement when attaching to K=member. Next, you’ll need to place the inserts into the control arm on each side of the bushing. The A-arm is now ready to install onto the K-member. There are three spacers included in the kit. The longer spacer will be inserted towards the rear of the car on the rear (straight) control arm and the two shorter spacers are inserted on each side of the forward (slightly curved) control arm. These can be bolted into position separately, but do not tighten until both arms are in position.
The coil over assembly is next and is very simple in design and easily installed. The adjustable caster is part of the assembly and allows you to push the coil over up through the strut tower and into position. Three bolts are inserted in the same position as the original strut tower nuts. The bolts we used were ¾” long and purchased from the local hardware store; just happened to say AJE on top of them. The team also decided to use the old camber plates to add a little strength to the tower, this is not required.
Once the coil over was dangling in position, it was time to insert the A-arm ball socket into the coil over bottom plate. First the locking bolt must be removed from the bottom plate and the ball socket stem must be properly aligned to insert the locking bolt. This may take a few trial and errors to get aligned properly and a tapered punch is useful for fine adjustments. If the alignment is close, a slight tap on the bolt with a hammer can persuade it into position and then it can be threaded into position. Note: Only tap the bolt lightly as not to damage the threads. When tightening the locking bolt, it was necessary to loosen the four bolts holding the bottom plate to the coil over assembly. This allows enough room for a socket or a wrench to drive the bolt completely into position. Now, all bolts can be tightened and then rechecked once again.
Now that the new AJE assembly is in place, you can transfer the rack and pinion assembly from the old K-member. Just remove the two bolts from the front and slide it off. The new AJE K-member has a new set of bushings, but we used off-set bushings to slide the rack and pinion towards the driver side. This adjustment provided some extra clearance for the steering linkage and allowed us to install some aftermarket JBA (sponsored) headers. The new bumpsteer tie rod ends were installed next and all the bolts were tightened. Now hook up the steering linkage and the car is ready for the brake and rotor install. The old brake assembly can be used if an adapter plate is manufactured to hold the caliper in position, but this is not recommended. AJE suggests an aftermarket brake assemblies and we’ll have to leave the name out of this article….too bad they didn’t want to sponsor this popular project.
The assembly is now in position and ready for the brake and rotor install day to be followed by a full adjustment of the entire suspension. Then it will be off to the track to compare ET and handling. Stay tuned to Wickedstangs.com, Wickedstangsmagazine.com and Wickedstangsracing.com for further updates on project WickedFox.
Project WickedFox
AJE Front Suspension Install
How do I make my car “HOOK”? As the crew chief of Wickedstangs’ project car, that is the most common question that I hear. Horsepower and torque are fun, but can be frustrating at the race track. Tire hop and wheel spin become an enemy that is not easily conquered. For most applications, tire type and size along with a few rear suspension changes easily fixes any wheel spin problems. But for those that like to dial up the horsepower and especially the torque, a more practical approach is required. Fully adjustable rear suspension allows you to set the pinion angle and the right amount of weight in the rear will apply the proper pressure to the ground. But what if all those measures are taken and the car still screeches into wheel spin. Well, Anthony Jones Engineering Racing (AJE) suspension provided project WickedFox with the right parts to balance the entire car and create the desired center of gravity and percentage of rise. Center of gravity is a term to describe where the car is balanced and percentage of rise determines how hard tires hit the pavement. Since WickedFox contains a 4R70W automatic transmission, it needs to hit the pavement harder and a lower percentage of gravity is required. In order to reach this point, the car must have a fully adjustable suspension that not only transfers the load of the car but also keeps the front wheels planted squarely on the ground; after the wheel stand of course.
AJE’s latest Mustang suspension kit was donated by Anthony Jones and is designed specifically for the 79-04 models. The kit includes a tubular K-member, pedestal motor mounts, coil-overs, fully adjustable tubular A-arms, steering linkage and universal caster camber plates. This kit not only provided the pedestal engine mounts for WickedFox’s 4.6L Modular Motor, it also removed 86 pounds from the car. Lighter car equates to a faster ET!!! So it’s time to get these parts on the car and get it back onto the track to see how well the AJE suspension improves the already established 8.87 ET. Since Barona Speedway was our original testing place, we’ll head back there later for final testing and another article.
Disassembly:
To start the new modification, club members went into full rip-out mode. Danny (SDsubzero04), Devin (Killerbee), Emilio (Wickedstangs) and Todd (Mustangcwo) broke out the tool chest, engine hoist and jack stands. First, the car was raised high enough off the ground to remove the old front suspension as an entire assembly and the wheels and brakes were removed . Then the struts were loosened by removing the three bolts that held the old caster plate in position. Note: It may be necessary to drill out the caster positioning rivet; WickedFox’s was already removed during a previous install. Next, the engine was suspended using an engine hoist. Hoist position is very important if you want to slide out the old suspension as an assembly. Position the hoist on either side of the car and not the front. The lower engine hoist legs need to be out of the way. Next, raise the engine an inch or so to make certain you have a good grip on it. Once the engine was secure, the engine mount bolts were removed freeing the engine from the chassis. Finally, the steering linkage was disconnected and the four bolts on each side of the K-member were removed. Soon the old K-member and suspension found its way to the driveway and was slid out from under the car.
Now this old suspension was typical of what one might find under a typical street racing Mustang. The suspension included a tubular K-member, 90/10 drag shocks and stock A-arms. Although the suspension was nice, it did not allow for weight distribution adjustments and required several modifications to install the modular motor; not quite the suspension package required for a drag track “Monster” in the making. Therefore, the suspension was disassembled, parted out and used for fund raising purposes.
Assembly:
Once the old parts were safely deleted from the chassis, the new pedestal mounts were placed against the engine for install matching. This pedestal mount feature is a unique feature of the AJE tubular K-member. The pedestals are bolted to the K-member and easily exchanged, allowing several motor types to be used on one K-member. Since the motor was removed from a 1995 MK VIII, the passenger side motor mount pedestal required a slight modification. As one can see, a notch was cut from the motor mount to fit around the block assembly. A simply cut was made using a Dremel tool and a little spray paint made it look good as new. If modifications are required on the motor mount, make certain to take away as little metal as required and try to maintain sufficient metal near the bolt holes.
Now that the pedestal/engine mounts were in place, the assembly team (Danny, Todd and Emilio) pushed the new K-member into place, slid the bolts through the pedestals and then inserted the eight bolts that hold the K-member to the chassis. This requires a little twisting of the engine and some prying on the K-member to shift it into position. Once all the bolts were started, they were tightened evenly. Now the engine hoist can be moved out of the way
With the K-member in position, it was time to assemble the lower control arms. The rear adjustable arm screws into the front arm and is held in position using the locking nut. Note: Only hand tighten the nut to allow for easy movement when attaching to K=member. Next, you’ll need to place the inserts into the control arm on each side of the bushing. The A-arm is now ready to install onto the K-member. There are three spacers included in the kit. The longer spacer will be inserted towards the rear of the car on the rear (straight) control arm and the two shorter spacers are inserted on each side of the forward (slightly curved) control arm. These can be bolted into position separately, but do not tighten until both arms are in position.
The coil over assembly is next and is very simple in design and easily installed. The adjustable caster is part of the assembly and allows you to push the coil over up through the strut tower and into position. Three bolts are inserted in the same position as the original strut tower nuts. The bolts we used were ¾” long and purchased from the local hardware store; just happened to say AJE on top of them. The team also decided to use the old camber plates to add a little strength to the tower, this is not required.
Once the coil over was dangling in position, it was time to insert the A-arm ball socket into the coil over bottom plate. First the locking bolt must be removed from the bottom plate and the ball socket stem must be properly aligned to insert the locking bolt. This may take a few trial and errors to get aligned properly and a tapered punch is useful for fine adjustments. If the alignment is close, a slight tap on the bolt with a hammer can persuade it into position and then it can be threaded into position. Note: Only tap the bolt lightly as not to damage the threads. When tightening the locking bolt, it was necessary to loosen the four bolts holding the bottom plate to the coil over assembly. This allows enough room for a socket or a wrench to drive the bolt completely into position. Now, all bolts can be tightened and then rechecked once again.
Now that the new AJE assembly is in place, you can transfer the rack and pinion assembly from the old K-member. Just remove the two bolts from the front and slide it off. The new AJE K-member has a new set of bushings, but we used off-set bushings to slide the rack and pinion towards the driver side. This adjustment provided some extra clearance for the steering linkage and allowed us to install some aftermarket JBA (sponsored) headers. The new bumpsteer tie rod ends were installed next and all the bolts were tightened. Now hook up the steering linkage and the car is ready for the brake and rotor install. The old brake assembly can be used if an adapter plate is manufactured to hold the caliper in position, but this is not recommended. AJE suggests an aftermarket brake assemblies and we’ll have to leave the name out of this article….too bad they didn’t want to sponsor this popular project.
The assembly is now in position and ready for the brake and rotor install day to be followed by a full adjustment of the entire suspension. Then it will be off to the track to compare ET and handling. Stay tuned to Wickedstangs.com, Wickedstangsmagazine.com and Wickedstangsracing.com for further updates on project WickedFox.
