What are some steering and front suspension upgrades has anyone done on a 59 with a 223”? I’ve got the Aerostar springs and shocks and I’m happy with the ride/height. I feel like driving at highway speed could be improved. Responsiveness and wander and general road feel make me want to stay off the highway. Doing a subframe swap is out of the question. Has anyone improved the road response with some bolt on parts? Edit; None of the front end parts are particularly worn out. Before I replace anything with new stuff, I’d like see about upgrades/ swaps
Are you running bias ply tires or radials? Bias tires want to follow longitudinal surface features more than radials, making the car wander. You say your front end isn't particularly worn, but small amounts of wear at various points can add up. How is your steering box? Good and tight or a little loosey-goosey?
I had bias ply, recently changed to radials and it did improve. I do have to say the car is due for some new tie rods and an idler arm kit although like I said, they’re not that bad. Steering box is in fact a little loosey goosey (lol) I probably should have adjusted it before creating this thread.
If it were me I'd repair/replace linkage parts first, then tackle the box if need be. Be careful with adjusting it. They're designed to be tight on center and get easier as you turn the wheel. The proper procedure is to get the front wheels off the ground and on center. It's hard to find the exact center without alignment equipment. You want to adjust the screw to eliminate as much slop as possible but without binding in turns.
My car, I did the front end from A to Z. The 2 biggest things that made it a lot better were a draglink kit and a big 1.125" front sway bar. I had aerostar springs in it, but with the 15" tires, they hit the inner fenders quite a bit on turns. I took 1 coil off the OG springs, I may take another 1/2 the next time I have it apart.
Remember selling these back in the day https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Spee...**XPE76ixgWbcrL1UDaTsEqEgTKUg6WRoCTiwQAvD_BwE
Thanks Bob. I remember you had the entire front end apart and prepping all the pieces for paint. I’m sure it came out really nice. I’ll stick with the 14’s on front to avoid tire rubbing issues.
I went disc, so the leap to 15" wheels was a must. These front ends were pretty good for the era, but definitely the sway bar made a huge difference.
Sway bar as Bob mentioned. Also, you mentioned the front end lowered, too much rake can cause handling issues. It will make the car feel like the back end wants to come around on downhill curves. 1" lowering blocks were enough to cure that issue on my car until the new rear springs settled in (then removed the blocks). Not what you're wanting now, but that handling is never going to feel best until the front end is rebuilt.
I installed new 4-leaf springs out back, so the height is stock-ish. The old ones were shot, tons of wheel hop and it bottomed out on bumpy roads.
I went with the Ranchero/wagon 6 leaf springs, which added another inch over what would have been higher anyway due to being new. and, btw...no need for a "subframe swap" on the '57-59. Rebuilding and HD sway bars is all that's needed. Has the op been back since posting the issue?
Yes I’ve been here all along. Do you have any information on the specific oversized sway bar that you used. That would be a handy piece of information. I have 2” blocks in the rear so there is very little rake.
You'd have to check with the distributors for '59 fitment. Most of the '57-58 guys use 1 1/8 swaybars from SouthwestTbirds or Concorse (they're the same bar). I just don't know if they will fit the '59. Bob can probably tell us. If you hadn't noticed, Bob is from Long Island as well. BTW, I went to the 6 leaf rear springs to help eliminate sway. That worked well, no need on my car for a rear sway bar.
Thunderbirds Southwest for sure. You have to email or call them, the sway bars are not listed on their site. Very easy people to deal with. Texas Timeless Cl***ics (thunderbirdsouthwest.com)
Glad to be of help. My correspondence with them was from work, so all of that is now gone since I retired. I may have something on my build thread in this forum, I would have to dig to find it, IIRC it was ***led Working On The '59. It had pictures of the bar installation, from 2017. FOUND IT... Working on the '59 | Page 11 | The H.A.M.B. (jalopyjournal.com)
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