Waferboy

Hey all,

My '93 5.0 LX is getting a bit tired underneath so I'm looking at putting new suspension and then some to get this car a bit more "street-able". Except for some Eibach Sport Springs this car is stock and only at 102K miles. I'm not looking to race the car, but good solid street suspension maybe tipping into the track would be fine by me. So new components and some chassis stiffening parts make sense.

So here are some of my many questions...

Anyone installed the Stifflers "FIT System", "Spider Braces", "Transmission Crossmember (T5)", and/or "Lower Chassis Brace" (non-aftermarket)?
http://buystifflers.com/chassisstiffening-2-1.aspx

I like the idea of having a front to back integrated system in the car.

For the rest of it I've been looking at Steeda parts. A "G-Trac Stage 2" kit + "Front End Rebuild Kit"
http://www.steeda.com/store/ford-mus...sion-paks.html

Any recommendations for a strut tower bar?

It sounds expensive and all, but it's certainly cheaper than a new car.

Thanks!

AdderMk2

the "FIT system" is a waste of money. All you need is a set of full length welded subframe connectors. The "spider braces" are another waste. Once you install FLSFC's your car isnt about to flex in any way that those would help you. The transmission crossmember, another waste of money, as there is nothing wrong with a stock unit.

The G-trac stage 2... all i can say is that i will NEVER own any steeda suspension products again. I have nothing against the Tokico shocks that are including, but those rear control arms are crap. Find yourself a nice set of Adjustable upper control arms, and a good set of lowers. I would also strongly suggest you ditch the eibach springs. I had them, I hated them. Look into some H&R SS springs.

Jazzer The Cat

Wafer... you say maybe going to the "track", but which one? This is really important, as the quarter and the quarner are two different animals when it comes to suspension.

A couple things are of common help for both, such as FLSFC's (critical on a Fox Body) and LCA's. I too am no big fan of Steeda parts, but not because of the Steeda name, but rather due to the design of the control arms in which they make. Part of the rear suspension fuction includes articulation of the rear axle. This is when it rolls up/down on each side. OEM arms "fight" this movement as they must twist lengthwise and bushings must allow additional movemnent. MOST aftermarket LCA's/UCA's are solid with a poly/poly bushing and the only ones see from Steeda and compound this issue, many times over. The only exception being of some LCA's for an S197

'79~'04 control arm set:


The above LCA's are not very good for a street car and the UCA's are a downright horrible for a car that sees any performance driving. Either street or any kind of track, they will bind up and is not a good thing.

S197 control arm set:


There is FAR too much to cover in this thread, so I will direct you to The Official Suspension Guide (sig) and will have 100,000 times the amount of information in which you seek

Jazzer

Boss_Hotrod

I personally prefer Maximum Motorsports. Their quality is 2nd to none and the customer service is amazing. Im running a full MM set up with k-member and torque arm, panhard bar set up with full coil-overs. Yeah the ride is a little harsh but I have no weight in the rear of my car. The car corners like a motor and will flat leave at a stop light. Ive not tuned the suspension or taken it to the track. Differently worth the money though. Made the car a whole lot more fun to drive.

Norm Peterson

I'm guessing it's new enough on the market that not many have. I first saw it mentioned only yesterday while thumbing through some Mustang magazine or other at the bookstore (while looking for something else entirely).

I kind of see what he's trying to do. Diagonal frame elements are one way of increasing the torsional stiffness of a flat frame or open box.


Norm

Waferboy

So any track this car would ever see would be a road track. I'm not that interested in the drag strip. There have been plenty of mustangs down the 1/4 mile. A road coarse would be more technical/fun for me. But truly 99.9% of the time this car will be on the street. Just some fun driving around town, down the highway, etc.

So I read through the the suspension guide and here are the conclusions I came up with...
1) Get a FLSFC setup and weld it in
2) I don't want to go as far as a WL or PHB so I believe a "79-98 Mustang Pro Series Adjustable Control Arms" package would be wise
3) Coilovers are a must (recommendations?)
4) Caster Camber Plates area a must (recommendations?)
5) I don't have a bumpsteer kit, but I forgot I do have offset bushings installed on the steering rack. Is that enough?
6) New K Member seems a bit over the top for what I want to, but maybe a 4 point K Brace is the way to go.
7) A strut tower brace gets tossed in for good measure
8) All new urethane bushings up front
9) Quad Shocks Removed

I still like that Stifflers product from front to back (it has a K Member brace as well). In my mind it makes a lot of sense.

For all the parts that come out... Do I Ebay them? Do stock parts sell well? I guess the Eibachs should go at least but all that other stuff?

Let me know what I'm missing, any packages you could recommend that fill my list above would be great.

I appreciate feedback from everyone.

Regards!

ADIOS!

Jazzer The Cat

Nice to see some of my pepes into the twisties. I happen to find 1/4 mile dreadfully booring and cornering is where it is at, my homie

Since you read my guide, you can see I am NOT a fan of the UCA's They create some VERY negative issues on cornering, but not such a fan of upgrading them to a spherical ended one for hard twisty duty. I have read an article from the owner of Maximum Motorsports on the issues of VERY funky movement/bind on such a UCA. I have changed my position on them a couple years back now and recommend them ONLY on a 1/4 mile focused ride with moderate DD dutes and no really hard cornering. If you are into the corners, the RC is going to be bad anyway, even with the "free articulation" of the rear axle and would ask that you reconsider the use of a PHB or WL with TA to address the issues presented by the physical location of the UCA's.

CO's give a real mechanical advantage and especially up front and would require the use of CC plates. They will give you some adjustability not available without them and allow either OEM specs and/or additional caster, for improved grip (especially with wider than OEM tires). One can improve ride quality along with maintaining grip over bumpy corners, so comes down to your ULTIMATE goals again.

A bump-steer kit is directly relevant to how much you lower your car. The lower you go, the more you should have a kit. There is no hard/fast rule for me, but rather you go 1"< probably don't need them, but is somewhat subjective decision.

If you wanna carve corners, I would not leave the OEM "K" under your ride. An aftermarket one is a PITA to install and generally requires several more things be upgraded, but is FAR stronger than OEM to reduce body flex. It also gives you additional room to work on stuff and would make a STB completely useless with the other upgrades you plan. The one issue you really should address with a new "K" would be protection of the oil pan. It becomes VERY vulnerable without the protection from OEM "K" and can tear that puppy a new drain hole on a nasty rut in the road

Eurothane bushings are fine on the "A" arms, but makes more sense to go with aftermarket "A" arms, due to flexing of stamped steel. This is one of the "K" upgrades mentioned earlier and makes your decisions more difficult (AKA = expensive!)

As for a kit I recommend, look into a MM Grip Box. They are a complete kit and can't beat the performance upgrade for the cost. Hopefully, Norm will chime in and fill in some blanks, as well as some insight I have probably overlooked, as he is good at that.... lol

Jazzer

SteedaMatt

This idea of tying the rocker panels to the subframe is not a new idea. I built a 10.5" car with something very similar to this from I believe a midsouth racecars. This was back in 2002 or so. I believe they have gone out of business though. We tied the cage and everything into it. Of course back then we did not have all the stuff we do now. Looking back they probably were a little overkill. Car was stiff though .
As far as your suspension set up, what these guys said is pretty right on. I would go ahead with a Watts, or at a minimum a PHB. I think for what you are looking for coil overs and some good CC plates will be fine up front. Our 5 link set up is very nice as well. ( I do work for Steeda ) Let me know if you would like me to work you up a package. The nice thing is most of this stuff you can build on as you go.

Jazzer The Cat

^ Yup... that is the trick

To have your ULTIMATE goals in mind and build a few parts at a time to lower initial cost.

Jazzer

Norm Peterson

Most people do stop at this.


If all eight of the pivots were rod ends or some sort of spherical, it would at least work without binding. But I suspect that some lateral motion of the axle relative to the chassis occurs as the suspension moves in combined bump + roll.


If you need them for spring rate and ride height reasons.


Check this with the car at its "final" ride height.


Especially with the modified strut arrangement, urethane bushings should be considered "wear parts" with finite life.


It wouldn't be right for me to comment either way on this, at least not until I either see some actual numbers to see what the improvement amounts to (unlikely) or run the numbers myself (probably not any time soon).


Norm