GTOGreg

Hello Folks,

I currently have an 06 Mustang. I do not run the car at the track, nor do I have any delusions that I will someday be a race car driver, but I love driving the car, and tend to drive the car pretty hard. Outside of replacing worn tires, and batteries, I have not made any changes to the car since I got it, however with just over 100K miles, I have noticed that the ride and handling has degraded a bit, so I am looking to restore a bit of the lost feel and handling.

After doing some research on all of the available suspension upgrades, I am wary of lowering the ride height. I understand that there can be adverse effects on the handling and increased stress on some of the other suspension components if not done right, and since I am working on a budget, it is unlikely that I can simply replace all suspension components in one shot.

So, as luck would have it, I do have a Christmas bonus coming up, and my goal is to replace any significantly worn suspension components, as well as address some of the “rattling” noise I hear from the front end when traversing over un-even surfaces, or driving over rough surfaces. With that said, I am looking for some insight, I don’t want to just slap some new shocks on and hope for the best, however I am unsure on where to start, or if there is a sequence that I should follow when starting to replace worn suspension components?

waykooljr

One of the suspension pros can probably give you some better suggestions but considering that you don't want to lower the car and you've been happy with it thus far, I think you could get by with some upgraded struts and shocks, like some Koni STR.T's. They're non-adjustable but improve handling performance, a good replacement for OEM.

A couple things that may be the cause of the rattling are the strut mounts or the sway bar end links. While changing the struts out, replace the strut mounts with some GT500 Strut mounts. This should help eliminate some noise and stiffen it up a bit.

As for the sway bar end links, you can try tightening them or replace them with better end links, like SR Performance replacement end links that are easier to torque down than the stock end links.

Really depends on how much you want to spend, those three things would run you $564. at American Muscle, might find better if you shop around.

Of course, if you have worn ball joints or tie rod ends, replace them while your at it and get an alignment.

You could venture into replacing sway bars to improve handling, they have several kits at all of the popular vendors, I'm partial to Steeda myself.

I think that would get you back to feeling good about your ride and some.

jpplaw

Get these checked and replaced if necessary. These do wear out fast on our cars.

+1 on everything else waykooljr says too

jz

+2 Good advice on the above two posts. Follow that.

GTOGreg

Sweet, thanks Gents, I appreciate the input! After re-reading my post I was not sure what kind of feedback I would get, as I was a bit vague on what I was looking for. Because nothing is really “broken”, and I am not trying to adjust the ride height, I am unsure how to tell what suspension parts are more subject to wear and may be the cause of a rougher ride. I found all sorts of information related to lowering, but not much how to diagnose worn suspension parts.

When I started to notice that the car’s “feel” had degraded, I was thinking that my springs may be worn. However when I look at the car’s stance, it does not lean to either side and it is just slightly lower in the front, which I believe is correct. My understanding is that the springs are what sets the ride height, and help to control the up/down motion of the rear axle, so I came to the conclusion that the springs should not be my starting point.

Further, there is no indications of uneven tire wear, nor have I noticed any significant “roll” when cornering, so I assumed the sways, tie rods, and control arms were all still good. This leaves the shocks, struts, and bushings, plus a few more suspension components that I still do not fully understand, such as the “Axle Damper” and “Panhard Bar”. Based on your response, I will assume that there is no reason to replace the Axle Damper and Panhard Bar, and I will focus on replacement of the shocks/struts. I will likely go with your recommendation for the Koni STR.T's, I like that they are not adjustable.

As far as the suspension rattle, my gut was telling me to start by getting rid of the factory rubber bushings and pick up a set of polyurethane bushings, but I really did not want to just start replacing stuff and hope it fixes the problem. At a minimum, I will look into finding some GT500 strut mounts, as it looks as though I will be replacing the struts anyway, and hopefully that will take care of the rattle. If it turns that the sway bar end links, it may need to wait.

Sam Strano

I think I'd go about this differently. The most responsible item for the way the car feels and rides and drives will the dampers. Stock aren't very good, even when new. Add 100k miles and everything about them gets worse. The control suffers as the shocks lose rebound and the ride actually gets more harsh.

You might well need some new bushings and balljoints, that's possible. And those things need done if bad, however what I think you'll find is the ball-joints might need done but the rest of the things like the tie-rods will be ok.

As for upper mounts. Tough one. I carry/sell the GT500's, but frankly I'm not a huge fan. They are just like what you have stock with one exception. The rubber is stiffer, but it's not the rubber that fails. Typically if you are going to change mounts, I'd recommend a mount that is a difference design and offers you camber adjustment too. Here is a place I'd consider Steeda HD's or maybe Maximum Camber plates. I have both, they aren't exactly the same, but both offer you alignment options the Ford parts do not.

And the endlinks. Yes they go bad from time to time. But also the nuts don't hold well once on and off, so the links can be ok but loose. This is something to be aware of when you change struts. You don't need new links if they are ok, but they can make noise if the nuts back off even a little. So if you don't change links, you need to use loctite on the nuts.

You do not have an axle damper, those haven't been on Mustangs since the 2004's.

If you would like to discuss things more in depth, I'm here. This is what I do, and why I talk to folks.

GTOGreg

Thanks Sam! I appreciate the additional input. This will certainly give me a little more to consider, as I had mentioned earlier I am on a bit of a budget.

It's not that I'm a cheapskate, but I am getting married next week so I need to try to be selective in what I choose to spend. I love her to death but unfortunately, she has a spending addiction and no conscious.

Cheers!!

Sam Strano

Greg-

No problem, this is what I do for folks all day, every day. I understand budget and wants, and sometimes I have had reel folks in from going crazy. Think of me as you experienced conscience and sounding board.

The thing with me is I'm pretty blunt about what I think. Usually I'm more cautious than folks think I would be with "spending" their money as in making recommendations. However there are times that I will be adamant about something that maybe isn't the cheapest thing. If I am it's because I think it's critically important.

Here I'm adamant about decent dampers. I'm not going to say you need to go to Koni Sports, though if you could I would for the long term options they offer. But I'd also tell you that dampers are the biggest issue you have in terms of trying to fix the things you don't like.

GTOGreg

Sam,

I just want to confirm, when you refer to "dampers", are you referring to shocks/struts or the “Axle Damper”?

Sam Strano

Struts and shocks. They are called dampers in the rest of the world, because that's their job. We are the oddballs. Anyway, most cars have no axle dampers, including the S197, only the Fox and SN95's had those.