F1Fan

Hi nbk13nw,

An adjustable Panhard bar is a really good idea with Eibach Sport-Line springs for obvious reasons, just look at your driver's side tire sticking out! I'd also suggest the BMR LCA relocation brackets (especially in the case of your Sport-Lines), to correct your car's radically altered IC (instant center), so you can launch harder and not spin your tires as much. The LCA relocation brackets also help cornering performance on exit in particular. Also out back I'd suggest fixed tubular LCA's and an adjustable UCA to allow fixing your pinion angle and eliminating wheel hop on high traction surfaces. I'd take a pass on any kind of strut tower tie bars, rear shock tower tie bars they are a waste of money on this car unless you are really going to compete in it and installe true race rate springs. The G-Trac is another story, especially if you are going to install Steeda's control arm relocation kit and their control arm bushing insert, this part works well. The only other per se brace I suggest is BMR's HD rectangle subframes welded in, these actually work well to tie the chassis together, especially for verts which can use a little help no matter what Ford says about the structural stiffness. Steeda is now making a partial subframe but it is not the same thing as BMR's full length subframes. All the Steeda unit does is improve the location of the rear trailing arm pick-up points which are stressed only fore and aft in the chassis as the trailing arms transfer power and braking loads into the chassis. BMR weld-in subframes do this job better in addition to improving twist and bending chassis loads AND they cost about the same amount even if you include installation. If I were you I'd stop suspension upgrades at this point due to ride and noise issues.

I have no problem recommending BMR suspension parts especially where some color is prefered for a show car, or where price may be an issue and pure performance may be less important. When a buyer wants the best performing off-the-shelf S197 suspension stuff available and price is less an issue I suggest Steeda suspension parts. Steeda uses much better materials and their weld quality is better judging from the BMR and Steeda suspension parts I've seen and installed. Of particular importance to note, Steeda uses chrome-molly alloy steel for their suspension parts vs. BMR's mild DOM steel. Mild steel DOM is a significantly weaker material and MUCH cheaper to buy than the stiffer alloy steels as used by Steeda. One advantage to using an alloy steel material is that for a given design a suspension part designed and fabricated with alloy steels can be made lighter and still be just as strong or stronger than components made from DOM mild steel. When I look at the prices Steeda charges for their stuff they are usually a little bit more expensive but also designed closer to the way I might choose to make them. IMO Steeda's suspension parts while frequently more expensive up front are more likely offer better value in terms of quality and longevity.

I hope this helps!


Cheers

nbk13nw

Thanks a bunch F1! We can always count on well thought out explanations and advice from you when asked... and sometimes, wether we like it or not, when we don't ask. It seems that no matter what we want we get to hear what we need to hear not just what we want to hear![sm=icon_cheers.gif]

GONZOPR1

You know, I have hear of eibach springs all the time and they are really good springs, but the price is kind of high. I installed progress springs in my car and they work good. It lower my car 1.5"F and 2.25"R. The car runs great and looks good. My friend bought eibach springs and it looks good but like I said, is kind of expensive. Also it didn't lower the car as much as mine.

pcfrisch

Hi F1Fan, Could I get away with superior handling if I don't lower the car and just add the components you mentioned earlier to the stock springs?
Thanks!

eolsonite

I like my Saleen drop. It puts the center of the wheel and tire to the same center radius as the wheel well. I like the fact it maintains the originally intended forward sloping angry dog posture of this car. I had the eibach pro kit, and I took it off. It leveled the car and and made it look like a sleepy version of the Mustang.

Now my car has an even gap between the tire and the wheel well all around. The low rider professional basketball star type solutions are more what lowered cars remind me of. Plus they can't go fast in real city situations without scraping and bottoming out all the time. Stock height of course has that up on the tip toes look that also ruins the true centered look of the car. I think that the Steeda Street or the Saleen springs and kits maintain the true posture of the car. Erik

RazorX

Thanks for providing information on the Saleen springs. Your post is the first I have read from someone who has installed them.

I'm a little confused by your comments. Are you saying the car has an even gap between the tire and the wheel well all around or that it still has the forward rake like it did from the factory? The picture makes it look like the latter is true but it is hard to be certain from that angle.

How much does the Saleen springs drop the car (front and rear)? The Eibach Pro-Kit dropped my car about 1.5" in the front and about 1.75" in the rear. This helped level the car out but it still has a little forward rake. Just not as much as it did from the factory.

Thanks

blaven

I was thinking of buying the entire saleen suspension for my 07 when it arrives because i like the drop on it and it still has that muscle car stance. The only thing i am curious about is does the saleen suspension use a panhard bar at all or does it line up pretty nicely since its designed for a mustang and not like the Eibach's which can have multiple applications. Thanks!

RazorX

You appear to have a couple misunderstandings.

#1. The Panhard bar:
Your '07 will come with a panhard bar on it from Ford. Therefore, you will need a panhard bar no matter what you do, or don’t do, to your suspension. You may elect to purchase and install an aftermarket panhard bar to improve performance, reduce weight, and/or give yourself the ability to center the rear axle after lowering the car.

#2 Eibach suspension components “can have multiple applications”:
The Eibach suspension components are designed for each individual application and are not designed for multiple applications. Each suspension component they make for a particular vehicle is designed for that specific vehicle. Saleen has suspension kits (springs, shocks, etc.) for more applications than just the 05+ Mustangs too. I could be wrong but I doubt Saleen is actually manufacturing the parts in their suspension kits. They used to source the parts for their kits when I last used their stuff (on a ’91 LX 5.0).

mongrull006

it doesnt matter what kind of springs you use or how many applications the springs fit. the reason you need to get an adj panhard bar is because of the way it works. the panhard bar connects the rear end (driver side) to the body (pass side). because the panhard bar goes between the two points diagonallyand stays the same length, the closer the rear end gets to the body the farther the panhard bar pushes the axle off center. i am not sure i explained it very well so maybe a pic can help. the lower red bar is the panhard bar, thew upper red bar is a panhard support.

F1Fan

Hi gonzopr1,

If all you wanted was a lowered car you could have saved even more money and just heated up your springs with a torch and let them drop your car even farther. Purchase price is only a very small part of the actual cost of the springs. In the long term your less expensive springs that dumped your car so low will cost you more money in terms of poor handling, increased tire wear, poor ride and increased interior noise. You got more than what you paid for, including the stuff I mentioned that you didn't know about when you bought them. Eventually you will come to understand that you made a mistake but don't take my word for it, just wait and see for yourself.

If you want actual performance improvments you need a properly engineered spring with increased spring rates that lower the car without using up all of the suspension travel or you will have a very poor, evil handling and riding car. The lowest you can go on an S197 chassis is about 1.5" in front and about 1.7" out back. If you go past this much drop on a street car the rear end will be riding on the bumpstops all of the time and you will have less suspension travel than a dumped Honda Civic and an even worse ride on anything less than a perfectly smooth road. In the real world a street car needs to retain some suspension travel and the Eibach Pro-Kit springs are as low as you can practically go. Additionally the amount of lowering the Pro-Kit gives you is also about as low as you can go and still correct the suspension geometry without getting extreme in what is needed to fix problems that could have been avoided if you had simply not lowerd the car as much. For most people even just thePro-Kit springs drop can be too low because they are not used to driving a car with a sports car low ride height or just not a conscientious enough driver to be willing to slow down as much for driveways and dips as is sometimes needed with a lowered performance suspension.

There is are very good reasons that Eibach, H&R, Saleen, Steeda and all of the other major performance suspension makers offer springs of modest ride heights for street use. If you look at the specs for their recomended street springs almost all of the majors offer a street spring that will lower the car 1-1.5 inches in front and 1-1.7" in back. The reasons are for what I wrote above, geometry, handling and ride issues all progressively get worse as you go lower and the lower limit at the front is about 1.5" and out back about 1.7". Do your homework before you rush out and buy any more stuff for your car, the cheapest stuff is generally cheap for a reason.


Cheers