1993 Ford Mustang Notchback - Shift of Power

When it comes to extracting ridiculous power out of a big-block, it's so easy a Wall Street CEO could do it. Nevertheless, that easy grunt comes with the penalty of extra mass, which makes transferring all that power and weight to the rear tires even more difficult. The trick is to offset the increased heft over the front tires with lightweight suspension components, and to optimize the spring rates to facilitate quick and efficient weight transfer. By installing a complete tubular front suspension system from Anthony Jones Engineering on Project Fox, our goal is to accomplish just that.

For those coming late to the party, the goal with our '93 Mustang project car is to run 9s in street-legal trim on a budget of $25,000. To prevent Project Fox's 775hp big-block Ford from pulverizing its 275/60R15 drag radials, we installed a complete Competition Engineering rear suspension system last month. That said, planting the rear meats is impossible unless the front suspension pulls (or shifts) its own weight, so on this go-around, we'll be installing an AJE tubular K-member and lower control arms, coilovers, and adjustable camber/caster plates. Further assisting with shifting the power rearward are Strange single-adjustable shocks, and a lightweight Unisteer manual steering rack. Together, these components will help shed nearly 100 pounds off the nose of the car. That's definitely a good thing, since we estimate that our aluminum-headed 532 big-block weighs roughly 150 pounds more than the stock iron-headed 302 small-block.

Transferring weight, however, is just the first part of a front suspension's multiple roles. As soon as the car leaves the gate, the front underpinnings are also responsible for directing man and machine in as straight of a path as possible. Light steering feel and side-to-side wandering are the bane of a well-handling drag car, but fortunately AJE's suspension features a wide range of alignment adjustments to dial out any potential drama. Showing us how to set it all up once again are the generous folks at Bill Buck Race Cars in Austin, Texas. Since Project Fox's stock motor and trans had been pulled long ago, the entire aftermarket suspension bolted right up in half an afternoon.