Front Suspension Budget rebuild?

Howdy all, I'm in the process of redoing my maverick, and it's slowly winding down to a close luckily. Right now everything in the front end is stock, and I was wondering if there was any budget friendly options to upgrade or at least make the suspension a little better. When the car had the 250, it drove okay, but the front felt very light and loose, almost like it was trying to take flight at 55. Now with a 306 in its place I'd definitely like to access the problem. I've looked at viking coilovers, and I'd like to not drop $700+ on the front end. I've seen a few rebuild kits on ebay for around $300, and I plan on buying lower roller spring saddles. Has anyone done a budget upgrade to their front end and have had success? I dont need something that is pure race, just something to stiffen the ride and make it "more fun" Thanks, and happy Sunday

 

does it have power assist steering?

 

Yep, p/s, p/b, etc etc its all loaded up

 

I found that a lot of the floating I had was the ... power assist cylinder.

 

I'm not sure you can do much without dropping some cash. Just remember that you get what you pay for. $300 upgrades don't sound very promising to me.

 

Orig P/S system takes the blame for everything from sterility to global warming .

If you use updated alignment specs with as much positive caster the stock components will allow, plus ¾-1*of negative camber, cars drive decently. These specs are best applied to new components. In last 10 years or so my cars in sig have all had frontends rebuilt(every part incl P/S system) with stock components, they drive fine. I installed factory P/S on both Fairlanes as they were manual steer.

 

That's a lot of negative camber, especially for a street car.

 

Alignment spec's........
https://opentrackerracing.com/tech-info/
David

 

It's funny how Fords with this setup get blasted and drug through the mud and the Corvettes seem to get a pass. They used the same design until 1984 when they moved to rack and pinion steering.

 

.... what K' Comet said -

tight new components and 'modern alignment spec' will optimize OEM setup .

The PS box has a tighter ratio than manual and is preferred for performance with or without working assist.

 

Roller perches will make a noticeable difference in ride quality. Doing either the Arning/Shelby upper A-arm drop, or buy a set of upper arms with the drop incorporated into the mounting shaft can help it stay flat in corners and/or a larger anti-sway bar. Some of the aftermarket A-arms come with additional caster built in which helps tracking at higher speeds.

 

My Maverick drives fine. It's all stock components with the exception of cut coils, polyurethane sway-bar bushings, and roller spring perches (that I have yet to install).
My only complaint is the lack of enough caster for the steering to return to center on its own.

I have also heard that the "Shelby Drop" by itself with no other mods produces nearly no noticeable improvement...

 

Shelby Drop explained in simple terms..........

David

 

I have varying amounts in my cars using stock components. Comet needed everything, nothing original reused. Got lucky & found a complete P/S steering setup for a '77 Maverick for only $25(orig '72 setup one step away from being junk). Still replacing idler arm, tie rods(I did reuse the '77 inners), hoses, resealing power cylinder & valve ran probably $200 & did all the work myself. Add $300 for suspension and it's at $500+. Rebuilding frontends & power steering components on the Fairlanes ran laughing past that amount.

 

Good quality stock parts can sometimes break the bank.