61 and 62 Mercury suspension question

I have a 62 Mercury Monterey 2 door H/T , i recently found out the front suspension is called a ANTI HARSH RIDE or LINK TYPE . Does anyone have any info on this suspension ? I had to buy upper control arm bushing kit and let me tell you it was expensive $$$$ WOW!! I would like to know for my own knowledge whats so special about the ride. The history of it i guess this only came out in 61 and 62 .

Thanks
Swanky1
aka Nick

 

The upper A-arm bushings are the same as the 60-64 Galaxies and Monterey's, and should be reasonably cheap. It is the lower A-arm bushing that are different. The lower A-arms have a third oval shaped bushing that allows the bottom control arm to move laterally with respect to the frame, there by absorbing side loads. The problem with these systems, (and the reason Mercury abandonded the design after two years) is that as the bushing wears, the camber and caster of the front suspension changes, causing your alignment to shift. A standard Galaxie or Monterey lower A-arm is a direct replacement and the bushing kits are a ton cheaper. The lower control arms show up on e-slay every once in a while. For my '62 Monterey, I machined a piece that would support the cheaper Galaxie bushing and welded into the opening for the much larger Anit-Harsh Monterey bushing. I wish I had better pics, but if you need them I can take some and post them.

 

And may I add if not mistaken that a '63 Meteor has a 1-year only front shock!

pdq67