Hey there from Prince George B.C. Canada, I'm a new guy round here and am doing some planning before tearin into my '57 Ranchero once the snow melts. I'm lookin for thoughts on front suspension ideas for it. I would like rack and pinon steering, good handling, and modern (read effective) brakes. I was going to do some measuring and see how a Crown Vic setup lines up but I remember reading somewhere its not a good fit. The plan is for the car to be a regular driver and some spirited cornering is likely to be a significant part of that. The plan is for a built Y Block and a 6 speed.

I can’t speak for Steve, but he helped me on the front suspension modifications on my 55 bird. I’m going to assume the 57’s are similar. I know they’re not the same.

Often these old cars won’t put enough caster in to get the car to track like a modern car. The bias plies took more effort to turn (at least the one’s on my roadster did), speeds were lower, and straight line stability took a back seat. On the birds you can get a litttle more caster by shifting the lower A arm forward. My bird wouldn’t get to more than 2 degrees caster before the shims started to screw up the camber. It’s not that apparent with stock width wheels and tires, but as you start to increase rim width and tire size you feel it more. Any bump steer also becomes more apparent.

The angles of the upper and lower control arms also contribute to increasing understeer from body roll in hard corners. The “Shelby drop” solution from the original GT350 isn’t that easy on the earlier cars. There’s a way around that also, but it’s pretty OT for this post

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ