Toe out on turns

[Ken McDonough]

Does the stock Mustang II suspension have toe out on turns? Do any of the aftermarket kits? I woulk like to be able to autocross. The last car I had did not toe out on turns. What a tire scr eeching mess. Thanks for any help.

[Alan Vanhollebeke]

Well, I'm no suspension expert,,,,but I think you need to give alot more info than what you listed in order to get any good answers.

I do know that alot of the A-sedan mustang guys 86-up have their cars set up with a little toe-out to help them turn in a little easier.......
but you need to consider the whole picture like your caster/camber- type of rear suspension springs etc.......
It gets confusing at times, just remember to only change one thing at a time (so you know if it did any good) and document everything,so you have records of what worked & what didn't.

Sorry I can't be of any more help than that.

[John McMahon]

Ken,

I have an 88 Mustang that I use for track only purposes. I believe all stock suspensions can be toed out.

The rule of thumb is:

Street - toe in
Track - toe out

In my Mustang, I run a total of 1/8 toe out (1/16 per side).

I also have the camber set between 2.5 and 3 degrees negative.

I don't remember off the top of my head what the caster is set to. I'll have to go check my notes and post later.

[Ken McDonough]

Alan and John,

You are right, I should have given more info.

As a car goes around a sharp corner the inside front wheel goes around a smaller diameter circle than the out side one. If they both started out pointing relatively straight down the road then the inside wheel needs to turn more than the outside one. Thus the term "toe out on turns". Most manufacturers give this little attention in suspension design. They are more concerned with bumpsteer, return to center, anti dive, etc. At highway speeds it just is not a problem. You may have noticed your street car jump or squeel if you made a slow u-turn in a parking lot. This would be due to lack of toe out on turns.

I called a couple of the after market MII suppliers to no avail. A post on Classic Roadsters page sent me here.

Thanks Ken

[mr bruce]

Actually ,the term you are looking for is "Ackerman" The inside tire turns on a tighter circle than the outside.Just from eyeball it looks like the M11 spindle has more built in than the later Mustang spindle. You can dial in more by moving the rack forward or backward too.

[Alan Vanhollebeke]

Mr. Bruce is right,,,,,, now that I understand what you are after,,,,you can move the rack with shims (washers) to start & see if you get the amount of change you want.

On the FFR car I built- I ended up using bushings the hold the rack as far back in the frame as possible, with all of the "spacer's material" on the front side of the rack.

[Ken McDonough]

Thanks for the info. It sounds like the MII is pretty good right out of the box and can be tweeked by moving the rack back and forth.
Ken