This is no ‘67! 2015 GT Auto premium, Ruby Red

Tried out the new ramps yesterday.
The length is perfect.
They are as solid as any bridge in the country, with 3” inch billet C channel beams on each side.
The trailer will collapse before those ramps buckle.
They may be over-engineered if anything.
2” inches thick all the way would have avoided a pivot point and would have floated up and down with the trailer, no issues.
And would have been a bit lighter to handle.

I’m going to get the fluting re-worked at the bottom end.
The pivot point is too close to the end, and when the front axle is on the trailer, there is still a gap to the ground at the bottom end that will cause the front of the ramp to flip up when the rear wheels climb onto the ramp.
The rear of the trailer sinks 5” plus inches when the front axle steps on.

There is a lip built into the front of the ramp but I dont want to rely solely on that to keep the ramp from hitting the underside of the car or coming completely off the trailer.
That lip should be a secondary safety, not a primary safety-retainer.

Hight of bottom rear lip of trailer with no load. 8” inches.

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When there is no load, fluting of the ramps is perfect.

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With front axle of car on rear lip of trailer and just before rear wheels hit bottom of ramps, rear lip of trailer now slightly less than 3” inches off the ground.

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At this point there is now roughly 1.5” inch gap in the fluting at bottom of ramp that will cause ramp to kick up when rear wheels climb on the ramp.
I want to avoid this.

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A look here at how close to the bottom of the ramp the pivot point is.

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These are the safety lips at the top underside of the ramps to keep them from coming completely off the trailer.

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Well got the ramps sorted out today.
Way less fluting now.
So top end sits way lower before pivot point becomes a factor.
I think I’m all good now.

Added a bit of thickness at bottom end and moved pivot point further toward middle.

Bottom end used to be 1” inch thick.
Now it’s 1 and 3/4” inch thick and pivot point moved toward center about 10” inches.

1 and 3/4” thick is still easier to get on than original ramps that came with trailer.
Those are 2 and 1/4” thick.

Here you see the difference between thec2 profiles.

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Here I’m standing on the bottom end making it pivot up.
The top end is now way lower than on the first design.

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Here you see piece tgat was added to bottom end to make thicker.

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Well I have some dirt to level, rake and seed but it’s miserably cold out there today with gusty northwest winds, plus ground still damp from thunderstorm last night. Not the best for working soil and raking.

Supposed to be dryer tomorrow so decided it was more comfortable inside writing about Mustangs.

First off: the missing link. Literally!

This may be the year I decide to complete the rear suspension on this car.

I got these Ford Performance rear toe links last summer but did not put them on.

They are part of the Ford Performance handling packs and standard equipment on the PP cars, the Bullitt and Mach 1 Mustangs, as well as the Shelbys.

They have two advantages over the base OE rear toe links.
1- they are fully boxed for added strength and stiffness. Whereas the OE part is stamped steel.
1- they have a steel bearing instead of the rubber bushing. This reduces deflection in the suspension and helps keep the tires on the ground during acceleration and cornering.

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This is the steel bearing that replaces a rubber bushing.

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The open end of these links tie into another pivot point on the suspension knuckle.
It too is a rubber bushing on regular GT’s but not on the cars listed above.

When I first did the suspension work on the car, I replaced that bushing with the same steel bearing found on the above cars, and sold by Ford Performance in handling packs.

Whereas I had half the job done, now both ends of the toe link will be stiffer and upgraded to the level of the above cars.

This knuckle to toe link bearing was already done.

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Second: as my wife likes to smile and remind me she “told me so” every time someone asks, I may not have chosen the best licence plate for this car.

Members of the Forum that have read this thread know that I chose the plate as it relates to the great handling of this car.
As in a Corner Carver.
That plate reads: CARVNGT.
CARVN being slang for Carving.

It appears though that in the world outside this forum no one can put that together.
So we get asked a lot what the meaning of the plate is?

Over the winter, I decided to go in a different direction.

Although the car is not a 50th anniversary special edition nor a 50th anniversary package, it is a 2015 which is the model year that celebrated the 50th anniversary of our favorite car.

And, the then totally new and redesigned for 2015 S550 Mustang was revealed to the world in 2014 at the 50th anniversary celebrations in both LasVegas and Charlotte.
My wife and I were present for that world unveiling of the car at Charlotte Motor Speedway in April 2014.

So this car being a 2015 is our link to that unveiling event and 50th anniversary celebrations.

Many, if not all of you, will remember that in 2015 the “50 YEARS” mantra was a big part of Ford PR and advertising for the this new car.

I decided to see if 50YEARS was available for a plate.
Unfortunately it was not. Someone already has it.

But, probably the next best option was available.
FFTYYRS was available.
A lot of non car people can figure out what that stands for, and Mustang fans can make the inference to “50 YEARS”.

So here is the new plate for the car.

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First thing this morning.
Getting oil changed, backup camera recall and install those rear toe links mentioned above, along with alignment.

Something is up.
Same part number as what was already on the car.
According to Ford Performance Website should be different.
Maybe because this car is 2015, it was built early with these.
Or Ford Performance is missleading people…? Who knows.

I went ahead and had the new ones installed anyway.
The tech had one out to show me they were the same.

Screen shot of the parts from tje FP catalogue.

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Doing the camera recall.

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