If you've spent any time behind the wheel lately, you know that the 67 mustang front suspension isn't exactly what we'd call precision engineering by today's standards. Driving a stock '67 often feels more like captaining a boat than piloting a muscle car. You turn the wheel, wait a second for the car to think about it, and then eventually, the nose starts to drift in the direction you wanted. It's charming in a vintage sort of way, but if you're trying to keep up with modern traffic or take a corner with any kind of confidence, that old-school setup can be a bit nerve-wracking.
The reality is that Ford designed these cars for a different era. Back then, tires were skinny bias-ply hoops, roads weren't great, and people cared way more about a soft, cushy ride than they did about lateral G-forces. Fast forward over fifty years, and we're asking these same metal components to handle sticky radial tires and much higher speeds. It's a lot to ask of a system that's likely still using the same bushings it left the factory with.
Why the stock setup feels so floaty
If your Mustang is still running the original style of front end, you're dealing with a double-wishbone design that uses a coil-on-upper-arm configuration. One of the biggest culprits for that "floaty" feeling is the sheer amount of rubber in the system. Everything from the upper and lower control arms to the spring perches and the strut rods relies on thick rubber bushings. Over decades, that rubber gets hard, cracks, or just turns into mush. When that happens, your alignment specs are basically just a suggestion. Every time you hit a bump or turn the wheel, the metal parts shift around within those dead bushings, and your steering geometry goes out the window.
Another weird quirk of the 67 mustang front suspension is the way the camber changes as the suspension travels. Because of the length and mounting points of the control arms, the top of the tire actually tilts outward (positive camber) when the car leans into a corner. That's the exact opposite of what you want. You want the tire to lean into the turn to keep the tread flat on the pavement. Instead, the stock setup makes the car want to roll over onto the sidewalls, which is why these cars are so prone to understeering.
The legendary Shelby Drop
If you're looking for the single most cost-effective way to make your car handle better, you have to talk about the "Shelby Drop." It's a trick that's been around since the mid-60s, and it's still the gold standard for budget builds. Basically, you drill new mounting holes for the upper control arms about an inch lower than the factory ones.
It sounds scary to go drilling holes in your shock towers, but it completely changes the geometry for the better. By lowering that pivot point, you improve the camber curve. Now, when the suspension compresses in a turn, the tire actually gains negative camber, keeping more rubber on the road. It also lowers the center of gravity just a tiny bit. Most guys do this while they have the front end apart for a rebuild anyway, and since it's essentially free, it's a total no-brainer.
Dealing with the steering box sloppiness
While we're talking about the 67 mustang front suspension, we can't ignore the steering. The two go hand-in-hand. The old recirculating ball steering boxes in these cars are notorious for developing a "dead spot" in the center. You can wiggle the wheel back and forth an inch or two without the car actually moving. You can try to adjust the preload on the box, but usually, that just makes the steering feel heavy and "notchy."
A lot of people are moving toward rack and pinion conversions these days. It's a big job and it isn't cheap, but it removes so much of the guesswork from the driving experience. It makes the car feel thirty years newer. That said, if you want to keep it period-correct, a high-quality rebuilt steering box with a quicker ratio can still do wonders, especially if you pair it with a solid set of tie rods and an idler arm that isn't totally shot.
Choosing the right bushings and perches
When you start buying parts for your 67 mustang front suspension rebuild, you're going to have to choose between rubber, polyurethane, and more advanced materials like Delrin or even roller bearings.
Rubber is great if you want that factory-soft ride and zero noise. But if you want performance, it's the weak link. Polyurethane is a popular middle ground; it's much stiffer than rubber, so your alignment stays put, but it has a reputation for squeaking if you don't grease it perfectly.
Then there are the spring perches. The stock ones are just a piece of metal sitting on a big chunk of rubber. They're stiff and they resist the movement of the spring. Upgrading to roller spring perches—which use actual bearings—allows the suspension to move much more freely. It sounds like a small thing, but it makes the ride noticeably smoother because the spring can actually do its job without fighting the friction of the rubber perch.
The move to coilovers
For those who have a bit more in the budget and want to get away from the 1960s design entirely, coilover conversion kits are the way to go. These kits usually replace the entire upper and lower control arm assembly and get rid of the separate coil spring and shock setup.
The biggest advantage here isn't just the handling—it's the adjustability. You can dial in exactly how high or low you want the car to sit without having to cut springs or mess with spacers. Plus, most coilover shocks have adjustable valving, so you can click a knob to make the ride firmer for a weekend track day or softer for a long cruise. It also cleans up the engine bay a bit, though you're still working around those massive shock towers unless you go for a full Mustang II style front-end swap (which is a whole different can of worms involving a lot of welding).
Don't overlook the strut rods
The strut rods on a 67 mustang front suspension are often ignored, but they're actually pretty critical. They're the rods that run from the lower control arm forward to the frame crossmember. Their job is to keep the lower arm from moving fore and aft during braking and acceleration.
The stock rods use huge rubber bushings that compress like crazy when you hit the brakes. This causes your caster to change right when you need stability the most. Replacing these with adjustable strut rods that use a heim joint (a metal spherical bearing) is a massive upgrade. It makes the car feel much more "planted" under heavy braking and stops that annoying wandering sensation when you're cruising at highway speeds.
Final thoughts on getting it aligned
Once you've replaced all the bits and pieces of your 67 mustang front suspension, the job isn't done until you get a proper alignment. Here's the catch: don't let a modern shop use the factory 1967 specs. Those specs were designed for bias-ply tires and are totally wrong for modern radials.
Most guys in the Mustang community recommend asking for a bit of negative camber, some positive caster, and just a hair of toe-in. This makes the car track straight and helps the steering wheel return to center naturally. It might take a little hunting to find a shop that knows how to work with old shim-style or eccentric-bolt alignments, but it's worth the effort.
At the end of the day, working on your front end is one of the most rewarding things you can do for your Mustang. It's not as flashy as a new intake manifold or a shiny set of valve covers, but you'll feel the difference every single time you pull out of the driveway. Instead of fighting the car, you'll actually be able to enjoy the drive.