vor12

I'm a complete noob so please bear with me - we were test driving a 2001 the other day and came across some odd behavior after sudden, short steering corrections.

When shifting the wheel quickly from right to left or vice versa (only a small amount though), there seems to be a little extra movement after the last correction - the car wobbles back instead of just stopping when the steering goes straight again. When we shifted hard to the left a little bit, car moves left, immediately hard right a little, moves right - then the wheel is straight again, but right before the car goes straight as well, it's like there's one more shift in movement of the body to the left/right.

Of course this could be related to any number of things so we did want to have a mechanic check it out, but I'm wondering if this is possibly a Mustang characteristic? I guess I imagined the handling to be a little more rigid, but I hadn't driven one before. Is the suspension particularly soft? How big is standard tire clearance? The car did look like it was raised a bit high but we weren't sure.

It's only had two owners and doesn't look to be at all modded. I guess we're looking to see how big an issue this could be, if something is seriously wrong with this particular car or if it's more that we aren't used to driving a different one...

needmorespeed

I would have to say the response your feeling is normal. Most likely the shocks are worn out and need to be replaced but that is minor. The movement back to the right that you feel is the weight of the car shifting from the left back to the right to settle the car and eliminate the lean that occurred when you moved the wheel. Then the left-right small corrections is just the suspension working to react to the weight transfer. Lots of ways to tighten this up. From the factory the mustangs had a fairly tight suspension - subjective I know - but not the greatest. The tradeoff with a tighter suspension is a harsher ride. Over the miles though, bushing wear out, shocks wear out and the whole things feels looser with more play in each component. It feels no where near as tight as when it is factory fresh. Simple maintenance and some correct aftermarket parts will transform the body roll motions and make the car handle better.

And yes, unfortunately lots of tire to fender clearance is normal. You need a good 1.5" drop to make it look right, in my opinion. It's the drop I have.

AZ01GT

Sounds normal to me for a 12 year old car. I also have an 01 here is a parts list you'll need to firm everything up. I'm including part numbers that you can search on American muscle and other parts stores, shop around AM has great prices and will price match any reputable place but I will put who i've found the best price from.

Prothane total Bushing kit $179.99- # 47410 (american muscle)
Prothane 27mm front way bar bushing $14.99- # 47429 (american muscle)
KYB GR-2 rear shock $30.79 (x2) +S&H- # 344433 (rock auto)
KYB GR-2 front strut $54.79 (x2) +S&H- # 235060 (rock auto)
KYB gas-a-just $32.79 (x2) +S&H- # KG4521 (rock auto)

Remember American Muscle will price match RockAuto (They will include rock auto's shipping cost which is $24.51 for the parts listed above) total of $261.25 for struts/shocks/quad shocks + 194.98 for bushings.

total- $456.23

Of course if you decide to lower the car this parts list will be a little different.