Q: Will your IFS fit my car?
A: Our IFS will fit just about any non-unibody design car or truck if your frame and hub dimensions fit within our parameters.
Q: What are those parameters?
A: There are 3 things we need to know.
1. Outside frame rail width at axle centerline
2. Hub to hub width (wheel flange to wheel flange)
3. Fender clearance
Q: What is fender clearance?
A: Fender clearance is usually only applied in the late '20's and early '30's cars, when fenders were bolted to the top of the frame rail.
Q: How do I determine fender clearance?
A: If your car applies to this rule – we need to know how far away our upper a-arm needs to be away from the outside edge of the frame rail to avoid inner fender interference. Our upper a-arm pivot is 6" above the bottom of your frame. Put a straight edge or ruler on the bottom of frame – out to tire side. At top of straight edge measure 6" up. Slide measuring device along straight edge until top of 6" does not interfere with fender. At that point measure how far the clearance is from outside frame rail. That is your fender clearance.
Q: What if I don't know my hub width?
A: We can figure that out, but we do need your outside frame rail width. Add 29" to your outside frame rail width and that is the narrowest hub we can make with a 1-piece crossmember (no additions for fender clearance). Add 26" to outside frame rail width for 3 piece crossmembers.
Q: What is a 3-piece crossmember?
A: That is when the upper a-arm pivots are separate from the bottom part of the crossmember and those pivots (housings) are welded to the top of your frame rail (used for all 35-48 Fords and any car that has a wide frame to narrow hub ratios) obviously this cannot be used on cars where fenders are bolted to the frame. Modifications to inner fender panel are required.
These numbers apply to both phase II (cast arms) and phase I (fabricated tube arms), although we can make custom phase arms 1" narrower, 2" overall at an additional cost.
Q: What size wheels and back spacing can I use.
A: Diameters of *14" & 15", 5" wide with 3" back space. 6" wide 4" back space. Larger diameter wheels can go 7" wide with 5" back spacing. Our large 13" rotor option requires at least 17" wheels. 5 on 4-3/4 late model Chevy and 5 on 4-1/2 late model Ford bolt pattern available.
*There can be clearance problems with some early 14" billet wheels and wire wheels.
Q: Will your front end lower my car?
A: Yes.
Q: How much?
A: That depends. Rule of thumb: spindle centerline at ride height on standard phase I or phase II non-hi boy is 1" above the bottom of your frame rail so it depends on your tire diameter.
Example 24" tire diameter
Q: Can I adjust my ride height?
A: Because we use an adjustable coil over shock & spring, ride height can be adjusted about 1" plus or minus. But anymore than that, function of IFS would be compromised. Either spacing the crossmember away from the frame to raise ride height or notching crossmember into frame to lower ride heightcould be done. We do have a special billet aluminum dropped spindle for extreme applications.
Q: Are your IFS only rear steer?
A: All our suspensions are designed for rear steer. However, because of our unique spindle design we can adapt our suspension for a front steer if it is absolutely necessary.
Q: What is the narrowest hub width you can make?
A: 55" is the narrowest we can make without modifying the rack & pinion steering and making a custom sway bar. If we do those things – the narrowest IFS we have done was 48" hub to hub.
Q: Does that cost more?
A: Yes. Narrow rack and pinion is about $100.00 more, plus custom sway bar about $100.00, custom one piece crossmember (no extra cost) and custom 3-piece crossmember an additional $200.00.
Q: Will my car ride better with an IFS?
A: Absolutely. It's obvious. If you isolate suspension movement from one side of the frame to another without twisting or bending the frame or body – the car will stay flat and the suspension would do all the work. If straight axle suspension worked better than an IFS, then Mercedes Benz would put them in their cars, but they don't (neither do any other manufacturers for that matter).
Q: What makes your IFS better than others?
A: The quality of our components. Start with the side plates – stamped out of 7 gage steel jig welded to 2x3 or 3x3 .120 wall center tubing, lower a-arm pivots machined out of 2" solid billet steel turned down to 1/2" thick sidewall, upper pivot is 2" with 3/8" thick side wall – all completely jig welded by the same 2 people for the past 10 years.
A-arms, phase II front ends come with our exclusive investment, stainless steel castings, cast from 17-4 ph stainless steel. Over built with strength and integrity, these arms separate Kugel from anyone else – and what we are known for best. If the cast arms aren't your cup of tea, we also offer fabricated mild steel or stainless steel tube control arms, we call phase I.
All Phase I and Phase II arms are a 1-piece design, using no threaded ends for adjustment. What we use are billet aluminum accentric adjusters. These pieces slide into the upper a-arm pivot and have set screws in them that tighten down on the bolt. Once those are tight they are not to be touched again. To adjust camber simply loosen the nylock nut and rotate the bolt, once proper camber is found hold bolt and tighten down nut. Slippage will not occur. The key to this is the nut and bolt being very tight. There are serrated sleeves inside the polyethylene bushings, these sleeves are wider than the bushings. Stainless steel washers on each side of the bushing squeeze together at the same time squeezing the accentrics into the crossmember and locking everything together. The a-arm then pivots on the sleeves. Caster is built into the crossmember but can be changed with shim washers.
Our spindle assemblies are also cast stainless steel standard. This is not an option. This is not a stock steel dropped version of a Mustang II spindle. These are all separate castings – upright – steering arm and caliper bracket. Spindle stub is machined from solid 4130 chro-moly. This design also allows customizing for special projects. Aluminum polished rotor covers are standard on all show model IFS.
All standard width IFS comes with our 3/4" chrom-moly sway bar as standard equipment – not an option. Billet shocks and Eibach springs are standard Wilwood billet or forged aluminum calipers with 11" vented rotors are also standard.
Right down to the nuts and bolts, on all our show model IFS systems most of the hardware used is polished stainless steel. 5/8" control arm bolts, 1/2" shock bolts & nuts custom made hex stainless steel shock to sway bar adapters, 3/8" caliper bolts and washers. Have you ever bought a 5/8" x 11" long stainless steel bolt and have it polished? It's not cheap! Also, Kugel Komponents pre assembles all the parts. All ball joints pressed in the a-arms and greased. Bushing and sleeves are also pressed in and hardware installed – all spindle assemblies are completely built with rotors and bearings, greased and sealed, calipers shimmed and installed. Springs also installed on shocks, sway bars assembled and tie rods on the rack & pinion.
From assembly to shipping only 2 pair of hands touch your front end and they have been doing this for a total of 16 years. Great attention and detail goes into every suspension we make, the value our customers expect is never compromised and just wait till you see the packaging. Also, don't forget about the service on the other side of the phone. Just ask anyone who has our stuff or one of our dealers – they are our best salesmen.
Q: Why is your IFS more money than others?
A: It's not. Compare what you get with our system and what you don't get with others and you will see - we're actually low-priced.
Q: Why should I buy your front end?
A: Quite simply put, our front suspension systems are the result of years of experience in building and unmatchable craftsmanship along with 20+ years of use in street rods, trucks, big cars, small cars and kit cars. You will not find one out there that is better in quality or price.
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