Dan64456

ANyone know what they 'tuned' in the suspension for the cars that came with the 18 inch wheels?

MusiccityGT

Mine came with 18's and the suspension was completely stock. I am not aware of any changes that they make with the 18's.

viking396

In '06 Ford implemented slight changes in the suspension for Mustang's equipped with the 18" wheels, whats difficult to find is exactly what changes were made. I do know they made them, plenty of sites talk about it.

LINK TO ARTICLE

W1ldcat

First I have heard of anything being changed but the wheel and tires. I see what it says, but am skepitical to it's content. I too would be very interested to see if I'm wrong..

LimeStang05

Having owned both ...an 05 with 17's and an '06 with 18's, I can tell you that somthing is very different! The wheel hop on my '05 was terrible. I bought a set of BMR rear tubular control arms and it still felt as if the rear wheels were coming through the floor board at me.

On my '06 with totally stock suspension, I can't make it wheel hop to save my life (not that I want it to). Even with 6600rpm burnouts, no wheel hop! So, I'm thinking that something has got to be different!

Philostang

LimeStang, nice to have your direct comparison.

I too was surprised that all that "dreaded wheel-hop" and "bad understeer" didn't seem to be as terrible as folks were initially saying when the car first came out. But then again, by the time I got mine it was an `06 with OEM 18" wheels. I attributed the better understeer to the lower profile tires, but couldn't figure the absence of wheel-hop...

Anyway, all I've heard is that the `06 Mustangs w/18"s have modestly revised valving in the shocks. But I've seen no confirmation of this.

Best,
-j

classj

All I know is, I agressivly test drove an 06 GT with the 17" wheels. The handling was ok. But I got out of the car feeling that the car needed a stiffer suspension and a little work.

The car I ended up buying was a 06 GT with the OE 18" wheels. I didnt test drive it though. But on the way home, I was friggin amazed at the difference in handling. Two totally different cars. I kept saying to myself that it cant be just the tires and wheels that are making this difference. It was that substantial.

Later when I read that there were differences, that explained everything.

Ford actually states in the accessory book to not install 18" wheels on car that were originally equipped with 17s. And vice versa.

W1ldcat

My dealer didn't even know the 18's were available when I ordered mine last July. I would like to know. The only new mustang I have ever even driven was mine when I picked it up.

classj

I would guess shock valving differences and possibly spring rates. I would be surprised if it was more than that but could involve bushings as well I would guess. But who knows?

Most of that info is lost anyway. For example, on original Pontiac GTO's. Different durometer bushings were used in different locations on the car depending on options, etc. But they all were technically the same size and interchangable. In a short time, GM only offered as replacments one bushing part number for all locations on the car that took that size.

Even if ford only offers one shock or spring part number for all GTs at the dealer. I wouldent say that is a definitive answer. They could just be using one part number for inventory reasons.