Vintage Mustang Forums banner

Adjustable Strut Rods

7K views 18 replies 11 participants last post by  JonK 
#1 ·
Hey guys.

Thought i would share what i did this weekend. I read this article on Daze Cars and thought i would make myself a set of adjustable strut rods. I decided to machine my own clevis but used all the ingredients posted. If i had to do it again, I would have went with shorter swagged bars so i could clamp them in my lathe easier.
Here is the article from Daze Cars: DazeCars, Home Made Mustang Adjustable Strut Rods


A shot of the pair.


The finished clevis



The original strut rods modified to fit in the swagged bar.
 
See less See more
4
#3 ·
Looking good!
The only thing I would change is the bolt through the clevis so that there are no threads in the grip. It's a military spec. thing and I think is very important especially on suspension and steering components
 
#4 ·
Nice job on the strut bars. The clevis is the part that makes these possible for the average hobbiest. If you have resources and time, you may be able to sell some of the clevis's. What about the concave washers? It looks like they might collapse when tightened up. Thanks for sharing.
 
#5 ·
Thanks for the input guys.

The concave washer is the stock washer that holds the original rubber mounts in place. I figured that they would be strong enough since the bracket themselves thinner than the washer. It would give it a bit of locking in my opinion by preloading the fastener. But I maybe wrong. That is why the locking spring is there.

The clevis is not easy to make. They look very simple but it took me 3hrs to machine them out.(cold rolled steel) I didnt have a very sharp bit though. I dont think i would like to sell these just in case one would fail in the field... These are plenty strong but there is always the chance.
 
#11 ·
Thanks for the input guys.

The clevis is not easy to make. They look very simple but it took me 3hrs to machine them out.(cold rolled steel) I didnt have a very sharp bit though. I dont think i would like to sell these just in case one would fail in the field... These are plenty strong but there is always the chance.
Is cold rolled steel that much harder to machine than hot rolled steel? Will I have trouble making a 5/8"-18 with a new tap and die set? I’m getting nervous about my upcoming project using cold rolled steel.

Thanks
Joe

Those look great btw.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Awesome clevis and I don't say that to just anyone! ;-) What did you make it from?

M/C
 
#8 ·
The clevis is from solid 2" stock cold rolled steel. A bit hard to machine but very strong.

Cool. I just ordered a read sway bar and think i need to beef up the front... The stocker is 5/8" so maybe 1 1/8" in the front? do you think that is too much? Im running a 289 with some upgrades.
 
#9 ·
Repeating from what I have read on past posts from guys that actually road race. The 1.125" is too big, leave that for the BB cars. Do not run a rear bar! It can cause the rear to snap loose and swap ends. You need a rear bar more on coil springs then with leaf springs because the leafs do provide some amount of anti roll properties
 
#10 ·
I have an extra set of these that I had made for my K code but I ended up going TCP. If anyone is interested, send me a pm. Just looking for what I have in them which is very little.
 
#18 ·
Yeah. this would be way easier to make.

You would only need to thread the original strut rod and buy all the other parts in addition to making that spacer for the available clevis.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top