Applications:
1972-1976 Ford Torino & Ranchero
1977-1979 Ford Ranchero, LTD II & Thunderbird
1977-1979 Mercury Cougar
Part# FT-205
These Del-Sphere pivot jointed adjustable rear lower control arms for the 1972-1976 Ford Torino and Ranchero outperform the flexible, stamped steel arms and soft rubber bushings that come from the factory.
Eliminate wheel hop, increase traction, and drastically improve handling with an easy bolt on installation. The Del-Sphere pivot joints provide for “bind-free” handling and no deflection launch performance. They’re available powder coated in your choice of bright red or gloss black for a brilliant and durable finish.
The adjustability feature allows for setting the pinion angle. The factory utilized an eccentric bolt that allowed for only 1 degree of pinion angle adjustment. If you replace your worn out factory bushings with new aftermarket rubber or polyurethane bushings they do not offer the eccentric adjustment. Our right hand and left hand threaded control arms allow for easy on-the-car adjustments, no need to unmount the control arms to make adjustments!
The control arm bushings on the 1972-1976 Ford Torino and Ranchero have a significant impact on your vehicle?s ride, comfort, handling, acceleration, noise and vibration. When the vehicle leans (rolls) in a turn, one side of the chassis moves up relative to the rear axle and the other side moves down.
The control arms must twist to allow for the axle to articulate, this causes the control arm bushings to bind. If this bind becomes excessive, it will raise the rear wheel rate and produce sudden and uncontrolled changes in handling such as snap oversteer.
The factory minimizes this suspension bind by using compliant rubber bushings. These soft bushings help accommodate the necessary motion of the control arms during body roll. However, the rubber bushings do not provide much in the way of forward and aft support which can cause wheel hop during hard acceleration and braking.
It is common to replace the stock rubber control arm bushings with polyurethane bushings to resolve the shortcomings of the factory’s soft rubber bushings. Polyurethane bushings eliminate wheel hop, reduce axle deflection, and improve straight line traction. However, the downside of polyurethane bushings is they prevent the necessary movement of the control arms during body roll, which in turn produces significant binding in the suspension when the vehicle is cornering.
The polyurethane bushings also place high stresses on the control arm mounts on the vehicle. Polyurethane bushed control arms do not allow for rotation of the control arm during cornering because of the stiffness of the bushings.
Del-Spher Pivot Joints:
The Spohn Performance Del-Sphere pivot joint solves the shortcomings of the factory rubber and aftermarket polyurethane bushings. Our Del-Sphere pivot joint incorporates a spherical ball which is surrounded by Delrin® bushing cups.
Think of the Del-Sphere pivot joint as a Delrin® bushed spherical rod end. After over a year of R&D testing here at Spohn Performance on a streetable spherical joint the Del-Sphere pivot joint is the final result. Designed and manufactured exclusively by Spohn Performance, we have taken street suspension performance to the next level.
Our Del-Sphere pivot joint features a one piece forged and heat treated chrome moly housing, a heat treated and chrome plated chrome moly spherical ball, Delrin® bushing cups, heat treated retainer washer and snap ring, heat treated and chrome plated chrome moly threaded adjuster ring, an external grease fitting, and a beautiful silver zinc plated housing finish.
The Delrin® bushing cups absorb shock and road noise so you get the quiet and smooth ride of a bushing as well as 28 degrees of rotation! Our Del-Sphere pivot joints will always ship to you fully assembled, however, we also offer an optional adjusting tool that will allow you to do two things.
First, you can disassemble the Del-Sphere pivot joint for cleaning, inspection, etc. Second, you can adjust the amount of tension on the spherical ball. The amount of tension can be easily adjusted by using our optional adjustment tool to tighten or loosen the end retainer ring.
What that means is if over time and miles the tolerances open up you can simply re-adjust the retainer ring and have your pivot joint as tight as it was the day it was brand new. We doubt you’ll ever need to replace the Delrin® bushing cups, but they certainly can be. Unlike a spherical rod end, the Del-Sphere pivot joint is 100% rebuildable.
Specifications & Features:
Priced per Pair — Qty. 1 = 1 Pair