Front Suspension - Steering Into The Future

9 While the outer plate is pretty easy to weld in, the inner plate can get tricky, especially at the back and next to the fender apron.

10 With the two side plates welded in, Gillis then mocks up the lower plate, and uses a C-clamp to snug it up against the bottom of the framerail.

11 With all three plates welded in, you'll need to remove this flange from the framerail for coilover or air bag clearance.

12 Note that there is a second hole toward the front of the car that has not been drilled yet. This is used to locate the crossmember. After that, the driver side is complete, and ready for the upper shock mount.

13 The passenger side is next, and pretty much goes in the same way. Here, Gillis drills out the locating hole for the crossmember.

14 Once the framerail modifications are complete, you're ready to install the crossmember. As per the instructions, you may have to trim the flanges down just as we did.

15 Gillis used this floor jack to support the crossmember while he tacked it into place. Whatever you use, make sure it will hold firmly enough that the crossmember does not move while you're welding.

16 Here you can see the driver side is completely welded in. This angle also offers a great perspective on the center section of the crossmember which has been modified to clear the Coyote oil pan.

17a The upper control arm brackets...

17b ...are welded in next.

18 With the framerail, upper control arm mount, and crossmember installed, you can see how everything works together to provide a strong foundation for this high-performance front suspension system.

19 To finish up the upper control arm mount installation, pry off the locating tab on the upper control arm mount and weld up the remaining hole for a clean finish.

20a The front antisway bar mounts are next. To properly locate them on the framerail, first mark the center of the bracket.

20b That mark will need to be exactly 12 inches forward of the crossmember.

21 Gillis now installs the lower control arm, noting that the antisway bar mounting boss faces forward.

22a The coilover shock assembly can then be attached to the upper mounting point.

22b There's no need to tighten everything beyond hand tight, as we're just mocking things up.

23 Camber is adjusted using spacers between the upper control arm and control arm mount.

24 The spindle goes on next, and is attached via upper and lower ball joints. Two spindle heights are available, with the standard piece being a drop unit--a standard spindle is optional. The drop spindle lowers the car about 3 inches, and can actually end up leveling the car out if the factory rear suspension is still used.

25 The complete suspension assembly is now mocked up. We'll cover setting the coil spring height and shock adjustment in a future issue.

26 With the Total Cost Involved front suspension, we received this power rack-and-pinion setup. It simply bolts to the mounting tabs on the new crossmember.

27 The antisway bar is attached to the control arms using Heim joints. The standard bar is a 1-1/8-inch bar—they do offer a 1-1/8-inch, but according to our source at TCI, there aren't too many cars that would require it.

28 TCI's independent front suspension is ready to rock and roll on the street and track. But first, we’ll install the fender aprons and get everything painted in anticipation of our 5.0L Coyote engine.