DG_

Well, i just purchased my first american car. A 2012 GT and am loving it so far. I'm currently looking at lowering the car, but am having difficulties with all these different parts that I'm unfamiliar with.
I want to purchase the Steeda extreme sport springs to lower the car. However, reading their description, it states that the following parts are recommended with the spring purchase:
bumpsteer kit
x11 ball joints
adjustable panhard bar
rear control arm re locator
adjustable upper 3rd link
I truly have no idea what half that stuff is. Is the cost to benefit worth it to purchase all these? If I were to purchase a coilover kit instead, would all these items still need to be purchased?

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Norm Peterson

Depending on what you want to get out of the car, you may never need most of that list. Even if you end up with more of what's there rather than less, you won't need it right away.

If you want the car to retain most of the good things about its behavior, I'll suggest not lowering it any more than 1.5" - and preferably a little less than that. I'm a big fan of finding out if you really do need to "fix" something before just throwing parts at the car. Sneak up on your "final configuration".

Start with just the springs and see what you need from there. If you don't think you'll ever change the springs again, give some thought to better shocks and struts, as the OE shock damping may not be up to controlling those stiffer springs over the long run.

ONE THING THAT I DIDN'T SEE in that list was camber plates or perhaps preferably Steeda HD strut mounts (which include a camber adjustment mechanism). Your camber will shift in the more negative direction by a little over half a degree per inch lowered. You may hear about "camber bolts" (aka "crash bolts"), but I'd stay away from them if I were you (most of them aren't strong enough to meet Ford's 148 or 166 ft-lb torque spec for strut to knuckle fasteners).

You may or may not need to reset the lateral location (centering) of the rear axle, which does shift a bit as you raise or lower the rear suspension. IOW, wait and see if you need it.

The other stuff is somewhat specific to the use that your car is expected to be put to.

The bumpsteer and ball joints are more in line with autocrossing, road course track days, and canyon running. Really severe lowering might call for these, but that much lowering is only good for show cars, as you can easily end up with poorer performance than stock (even though the appearance suggests otherwise).

Rear LCA relocating brackets and a replacement 3rd link are primarily for dragstrip use. There might be some benefit to the relo brackets if you knew for sure that the adjustment holes were drilled in the right place for your use (and your amount lowered), but it's too soon to tell that from here. Generally the holes are spotted for dragstrip purposes rather than cornering.

A coilover kit only solves the ride height and shock/strut issue. You still end up being involved with some of the others depending on what use you're tuning for.


You'll find more suspension help in either the 'Handling' section here in the S197 section or in the more general 'Suspension' section that I think is a little further down on the forum list page. It may be worth bookmarking them both.


One of the better suspension parts vendors is Sam Strano, who is a site sponsor, successful autocrosser, and occasionally gets out on the big road courses. What he won't do is sell you stuff that you don't really need. I've bought a few things from him, and I'll probably go back there for the next round of parts (whenever I get around to deciding exactly what I want ***).

He's currently experiencing website and email difficulties, so you might want to use the phone. Use it anyway, to get more information via real-time discussion. Here's his sig.


*** - I have Koni "yellows", Sam's sta-bar kit (the one with the 22mm rear bar), ATE rotors, Hawk HPS pads, and UMI front bar endlinks, all purchased through Sam. Springs are probably next, but I'm not in a hurry because the only thing about springs that I DON'T want is very much lowering (I feel that done carelessly, excessive lowering can hurt certain aspects of handling rather than help them, and my definition of "excessive" is still less than what even the milder lowering kits provide).


Norm

xkape

holy shhhh that was detailed! Good writeup Norm

DG_

Norm, that was an amazing reply. Your post cleared up much of the questions I've had regarding the suspension. I will give the spring choice more thought and research the threads in the suspension sub forum.

Thanks again Norm.

UPRSharad

Norm's always spot on with the tech.

I wouldn't go any lower than 1.5". These cars look great slammed, but the handling diminishes when you go too low.

Our UPR Pro Series springs (manufactured by Eibach) only lower the car 1.5" and I'd consider that the limit.

However, good dampeners, strut mounts, rear control arms, adjustable panhard bar, and other parts are also necessary to a well rounded suspension upgrade.

SteedaBrandon

What is it you want to do with the car? Is this a daily driver, street car, show car, street/track, or track car? Until you let me know what the purpose for the car is and what you're looking to get out of new springs, I can't really recommend anything.

DG_

Thanks for the replies.
This car is my DD and I will not be tracking it. It doesn't need to have a cushy ride, but I also don't want my kidneys to rupture. To me, the mustang seems to be sitting quite high from factory, so a 2" drop doesn't seem like much to me.
I've been researching the threads here and it seems the consensus is to go with Koni yellow , springs, and HD mounts. Do you guys think that's the way to go or just spend the extra $$ and buy a better coilover system?

SteedaBrandon

For what you are looking for, it sounds like our Ultra-lite springs (about 1.25", 1.5" drop, great ride) along with our Pro-Action shocks/struts and heavy-duty upper strut mounts are exactly what you are looking for.

Let me know if I can help you with those.

hmoult

My two cents. Take a look at the Saleen web site. Look at their adjustable coilovers under their SpeedLab tab on their site. The Racecraft N2+. Beautiful stuff, actually made by Pedders out of Australia. Look at their web site too.

I just took delivery of a 2012 Roush Stage 3 and even though it's about an inch lower than stock, it still looked like a pick-up truck to my eyes. I wanted it lower without really screwing up the ride. Most coilovers force you to compress the springs to lower the total height of the strut and the ride height. Looks cool, but reduces the suspension travel and can make the ride really, really rough.

These Saleen units though allow the entire spring assmebly to screw up and down in the mounting bracket. The spring perch does not need to be adjusted. The height of the spring and therefore, the ride height is never changed. Perfect - to me at least. Beauty of adjustables like these is you're not stuck with one height. You can raise it up and lower it as needed. The ride won't change. The handling might, but the ride won't.

Plus the shocks are adjustable. From full soft to full firm is about 30 clicks. Lots of room for adjustment. I have mine closer to full soft. I'm not in my 20s or 30s anymore.

My ride height now is prefect. I have about an inch clearance between top of the tires and bottom of the fenders. No rubbing ever. Do have to be careful with some entrance/exit ramps - take those at an angle. Added adjustable (on car) panhard bar from BMR to center body over the axle and it's done.

There's a thread started by another Roush owner on fnsweet.com with pictures and his impressions. That's where I got the idea.

Just my two cent. I'm sure there are lots of other opinions out there.

By the way, I bought mine from Stage 3 Motorsports. Brenspeed also has them. Probably others do too.

Weather Man

Here is my suggestion...take a deep breath and step back. When you say you don't know what half the stuff is on the list, you need to educate yourself. When you know what this stuff does and how it works together...you can make an informed decision. These vendor's are all good guys, but you need to get a lot smarter on this stuff. There are some 2 inch drop kits that will feel like you are riding on bare rims. Go to the library, bookstore and online. When you know what the parts are and how they work, then winnow through all the vendor offerings. Good luck!!