nhvickery

can i get some help on a good suspension kit or parts. this is something i need to learn more about. im looking for handling but i dont want to spend $1500 or more right away....can anyone help me out?

A_Sixer

Read this. I'll set you straight in why or what you need......

http://www.miracerros.com/mustang/t_suspension.htm

howarmat

https://mustangforums.com/m_1696246/tm.htm

F1Fan

Hi nhvickery,

How do you use the car? Are you more of a corner carver or a drag strip maven? Does it snow where you live and is this a daily driver or 3-season car? Will you be installing the suspension yourself or with a buddy? This saves you a boatload ofmoney that you can use with better results than if you pay someone to install your parts for you. I strongly suggest you make some local car club buddies and beg for a weekend install where you supply the beer and burgers and they supply the bodies, tools, floor jackandinstallation know-how.

If your budget is less than $1,500 I strongly suggest that you find some local Mustang car club buddies and beg them to help you install this stuff. I will save you $350-$400 in installation costs of the first set of suspension parts. I have selected the partsin groups to make the most improvement and simplify installation (and cost if paying for installation), so you can not really pick and choose the parts from thegroups here or you will incur higher installation costs and this hurts your overall costs and reduceshowfar you can go on the same dollar amount. I'm cheaper then anyone here which is why I look for the best value in suspension parts. Trust me when I say Steeda's suspension parts are the best. I've been doing high-performance and racing suspension design andmodification both personally and professionally as an automotive consultant for almost 35 years and this is the right stuff. I've had local S197 car club guys bring me BMR, Eibach, H&R, Tokico, Bilstein, Saleen, FRPP, Roush, Granatelli (junk!), CHE, UPR, BBK, Edelbrock and some suspension parts I could not identify and were IMO unsafe to install (so I didn't). Thebest of them all arethe stuff from Steeda,FRPP/Eibach, Tokico, Bilstein, BMRand H&R.

I have installed every suspension partlisted here (and a whole lot more I have not listed),on my own car and many, many of the local Mustang car club members' S197GT's here ins sunny SoCaland they're all happy as clams when we go blasting up and down Mulholland Drive, Pacific Coast Highway and freeway cruising together. This stuff plain works great withnear stocknoise levels and much improved handling, grip and ride. Steeda's adjustable suspensionparts are fine examples of outstanding mechanical designusingchromemoly alloy steel (notthe heavier, weaker, cheaper DOM tubing like everybody else does),and finished off with race quality welding and cadnium plating. This stuff is the best and the best is only a little bit moremoney compared with the lesser competition.My own philosophy is to buy the best stuff because it works better because it is made better and lasts longer which means it is a better value even though it costs more up front you will have a better experience from the moment you open the box to the time you need a support question answered or a replacement part. Steeda did not get to be the biggest by being a sucky companyselling the same mid-level parts as the other suspension makers. They got there by delivering the best stuff for the money even though it sometimes can costmore and supporting it! Steedajustsent me a complete set of bushing for myadjustable UCA and LCA's because mine were the first generation design and one was cracking. Theseparts havea very hard 24,000 mileson them and are almost two years old andSteeda sent me new bushings free of charge via 3-dayFedEx! Sure theSteeda stuff cost me a little bit more two years ago but the customer serviceis the best! See if one of the smaller vendorswill send you newpartswith redesignedhardware and bushings for free. Heck see if they are evenstill in business in two years!

Oh my, don't get me started! Anyway here ismycore handling parts list:

$550 Tokico D-Spec gas adjustablestrut and damper kit
Pick only one of these depending on your use.
$230 Eibach Pro-Kit springs, thehighest spring rate with the lowest practical drop (on my car1.4F/1.7R), for street use, DO NOT GO LOWER!
OR
$230 Steeda Sport springs, not as firm and not as low (about 1" drop), great choice if you drivein the snow or havesteep driveways
OR
$330 Steeda Competition springs, slightly higher final spring rate than Eibach Pro-Kitbut not as low (about 1" drop), great choice for performance driver still has a good streetable ride
$30 Eibach camber bolts, required if you install sport springsand want to get good tire life
$160 Steeda adjustable Panhard bar with poly bushings, allowsyouto recenter rear axle after lowering, a major increase in rear stability and driversensitivitywhen cornering,speeds up andimproves transition handling
$80 Steeda heavy duty Panhard bar brace, improves location of chassis side Panhard bar mounting point, improves chassis durability, improves rear end handling stability
$60 A good thrust alignment, stock settings are -0.75 degrees negative camber but to improve cornering and handling balance you can use up to -1.25 degree negative camber and still getvery goodtire wear (go much past-1.25 cambernoticethe shorter tire life),and 0-1/16" toe-in with the front tires preloaded.

This is aboutas fas as you can go on $1,500 if you are paying a shop to do the suspension install for you. If you can get someone to help you do the installation keep going these last few items are wellworth the extra $500 and really makesmy core handling package complete.

$125 Steeda fixed length tubular upper control arm with poly bushing, improves axle location improving handling feel and high speed stability, helps eliminate wheel hop on hard launches
$9 Steeda stepped spacer hardware forSteeda UCA andpoly mounts, eliminatesUCA noises from undersized OE fastener as usedon chassisside mount
$240 Steeda adjustable LCA's with poly bushings, improved axle location for better rear axle handling feel and high speed stability, helps eliminate wheel hop on hard launches
$120 Steeda Front Control Arm Bushing Kit, improve steering feel and precision by restraining the stock hyda-bushing, two different bushings included in kit allowing you to choose between same as stock noise level (red inserts), and a very slight increase in road noise for even more steering feel (black inserts).
$60 Steeda G-Trac front lower control arm brace, works well in conjunction with the front control arm bushing insert kit to improve steering sensitivity,response and feel

Once you get tothis point the differences are mostly going to be subtle improvements in balance, handling feel orincreased driver sensitivity and the ability to tune and refine the chassis to the driver's preferences. You will also need much better stickiertires to get the most out of the carwhich at this point once aligned right will be a better chassis than 98% of the people can d

nhvickery

i plan for it to carve corner. its a dailey driver and i live in florida so theres not much snow lol! its always hot. anyways....u wont believe how much this helps...thx....if u have any more advice or links please let me know. again thx!

Mikes_BLK_GT

Is this the camber bolt set you are reffering too? It's on sale for 20 right now. I hve the FRPP handling package which is springs, dmaper set, and sway bars that came with the car. The rear sits a little higher in the rear(about and inch) than the front but I'm going to see if I can take care of that later once I have upgraded my UCA, LCA's, and PHB/brace. This seems like something I probably need to save my tires.
http://www.performancecenter.com/pro...andname=EIBACH

Dumpweed

F1Fan...wow, haha, this really helps me in selecting what i want to do.

rnail

F1Fan or anyone:

I really like a flat cornering car (like my '88 Trans Am). It's stock setup included DCarbon high-pressure gas shocks and stiff front antiroll bar. Admittedly it was firm, but the shocks seemed valved just right such that the hood never moved and you were not punished. It probably wasn't the ideal for all out handling on a bumpy road, but our roads aren't too bad and I really enjoyed it.

I'm thinking of the complete Steeda setup. My questions are:
1) I read that the Tokico D specs are low pressure shocks. Do they still allow you to adjust to a firm setting for comfortable but flat cornering?
2) I don't feel the stock setup has enough sway bar. Would I be going wrong if I got both the front and rear adj swaw bars from Steeda (along with the springs, shocks, LCAs, Panhard, etc)?

Thanks for the advise. rnail

F1Fan

Hi nhvickery,

Do you know any Mustang carfolks or club people in your area? This can be a huge help if you can find someone like myself who is into suspension and has a garage with air and the right tools to install the parts you buy. Don;t rush into this, try to find some people you like who are willing to help install your suspension components and your money will go almost twice as far as if you had to pay for installation labor.

Here in sunny SoCalour generally smooth roads sound a lot like yourFlorida roads so the Eibach Pro-Kit spport springs wouldbe my first choice for your Mustang's new suspension. If you were here I'd help you install the parts in my own garage, all you haveto do is bring a case of beer or two over for the garage gods (my Freezerator out in the garage). I'msure you can find someone there in Florida if you look a bit. Look for local car guys hanging out in shopping mall parking lots earlySaturday mornings shooting the bull. Or look at a local hangout like Bob's Big Boy or other long time local car guy hang out from back in the day. I'm sure you have about a million of them if you just go looking for them. This is where you will find the car nuts that ouce you get to know them will be jumping at th chance to kill a day helping out a fellow Mustang car nut.

Cheers!

nhvickery

a guy at the shop where i had my car tunedtold me when im ready he would let me use their shop with all the tools and only charge me half the price if id would help with the installation. sounds like a win win situation to me. half pricefor installation and i get to be hand on and learn.