rnail

So I have reviewed many different threads on the lowering of your mustang and the need for adjustable LCAs, Panhard bars, etc. My question to everyone is - How much of this is really necessary for the average person? What I mean is, the Mustang Shelby GT, and all of those other GTsordered from the factory with the FRPP handling kit do not change to different LCAs and they seem to be fine. Also, even the StageII from Steeda only has lowering springs, sway bars and shocks.

I'd really like to get more than 2 opinions on this from people who have run with these sets. I appreciate anyone who has already chimed in on this.

I'm really struggling with my decisions here. I have plenty of funds to do whatever. I've thought of just changing to D-specs and adding sway bars. I've considered the whole Steeda package plus LCAs/Panhard, or simply lowering just the back of the car and adding Sways/shocks - and everything in between. Please help me, my brain is smoking!

F1Fan

Hi rnail,

It really depends on what you want to do with your car, how you plan to use it and how much you lust for amazing handling and balance. If you just want the basics to tighten up the handling feel and improve the car for daily driver use you only need a couple of parts but you will need all of them to get the job done well. I'mcoming from 35+ years of driving high performance German sports and GT's and I felt the need for more equipment than the average bear.

Here is my minimum suggested real world daily driver setup:

Steeda'sregular Sport Springs
Tokico D-Spec adjustable struts and dampers
Eibach Camber bolts
Steeda Adjustable Panhard bar with poly/poly bushings
Steeda Heavy Duty Panhard bar brace

This is the minimum setup I recommend for real world daily drivers. Sure you can go lower with Eibach Pro-Kit sport springs but for many people who have to live and drive in the snow, have lots of driveways and parking structures you need to get into etc.this is just too low. I have Eibach Pro-Kits and IMO they are just a bit too low and I live in sunny SoCal where we have decent roads for the most part.

Here is a good way to go keepingit a truly comfortabledaily driver byriding on 17"-18" wheels (no bigger than 18" if you expect to have a decent ride and the widest choice in performancerubber), and tires with a 27" tall installedheight.If you wanted to up the chassis a bit more with minimal additional noise vibration and harshness I'd suggest installing these components after doing the above upgrades.

Steeda adjustable Comp/Street UCA kit with the new Steeda chassis UCA mount
FRPP GT500 heavy duty LCA's withfirmer bushings
FRPPGT500 heavy duty front control arms with heavy duty ball joints,firmerbushings
Steeda G-Trac brace
Steeda weld-in LCA relocation brackets
GT500 rear anti-roll bar

This is where I'd suggest stopping for a comfy daily driver. Anything more and you risk going over the edge IMO.

HTH!

blaven

I lowered the rear with Roush springs and measured the angle with a plumb bob and it was dead on supringly, think it was only off by a few millimeters so i didnt bother with the adj panhard bar. Although i do plan on doing LCA's and ultimately a ajd panhard down the line its not something i needed to get at this point in time since mine is only a weekend driver.

rnail

Thanks guys for your inputs. Really apprecieate it!

F1Fan - I amlooking pretty much for what you describe - i.e. Daily driver with slightly tightened up handling, firm but refined (hopefully the D-specs would handle this) but would prefer more flatness into the corners. Two additional questions:

1) How about the front sway bar, I see them in the GT500 kit and Steeda kit. Will this give the front end an improvement in flat cornering or simply be to harsh or give too much understeer?
2) I see alot of people getting the Steeda Ultralights - comments on these vs the Steeda Sports?

Thanks again, Wonderful forum!

likemike99

F1- what is your reasoning for replacing the front control arms in a daily driver. besides having stiffer bushings, arent they just lighter? if weight isn't really a big concern wouldn't just replacing the bushings be good enough. And are you replacing the ball joints jsut because you need to with the new arms or is there an actual advantage as well?also why a weld in LCA relocation bracket? as a daily driver the bolt ins should be just fine. I would actually get them once the car was lowered. wouldn't that help more with wheel hop that, the panhard brace would help the rear?
I am not trying to contradict you just trying to clear up if what I know is correct.

rnail- look at the BMR suspension pack from lethal performance. I am going to get that next week. it has lowering springs, d-spec shocks, camber bolts, LCA relocation brackets, sway bars, and adj panhard bar.

PowerHitter

rnail:

I just checked the Steeda web site for the their Stage II suspension kit and from what I seeit does include the strut tower brace, front and rear sway bars and the control are relocation kit (maybe we are looking at different web pages). Anyway, only you can decide how far you want to go. I used to live in South Florida (I now live in SoCal) and my office in Pompano was about a mile from Steeda's headquarters. I stopped in one day before I upgraded my car to see what they would say is the minimum I would be happy with. I have attached their hand written quote below. A controversial point in the Steeda quote is they said that for a street application I could stick with the OEM struts and shocks (I know F1Fan disagrees with this from my old Dseid2 posts) I ended up going with FRPP racing dampers and am fairly unhappy with them for a street application. I plan on changing them out for Koni's as soon as they are available, hopefully late July.

To end this post I will say that this hobby becomes an addiction, the more parts you add, the more parts you want.

Good Luck!




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rnail

Thanks for the input guys. Keep it coming.

LikeMike99 -let me know how your install is and what your impression of the handling and ride are afterwards with the BMR kit and D-specs.

Powerhitter - It looks like you have many of the parts I am interested in.I know you're unhappy with the FRPP shocks, but overall how is your handling, cornering flatness, etc. Are Koni's better than the Tokicos?

P.S. - I agree with you, this hobby is addicting, but I'm really enjoying it - especially now that I'm at a point in my career where I can afford one semi-expensive hobby.I just want to make sure I make decisions that I will be happywith. I guessifI don't like a part I canalways sell it on the forums or Ebay.

PowerHitter

rnail:

Handling is much improved and the car is very flat in the corners.Overall I am very pleased with the Steeda parts, they are well engineered and made. I am going with Koni's because I have had good luck with them in the past (they should be available for S197 Mustang's by the end of July). I have never owned Tokicos dampers, but from what I have read they are very good. The problem with the FRPP dampers is their valving, they go down hard, which is fine, but the rebound is to fast and they are not adjustable. They are good for the track, not so good for the street.

Best Regards

F1Fan

Hi blaven,

So you're more into the looks of the car than actual performance. I don't mean thisas an insult but to help me better understand where you are coming from and what youbase yoursuspension choices on. Here is some information that you probably won't find useful but I thoughyou might want to have good information to work from.

The use ofbody panelsas a guide for axle centering is a poormeasure of axle centering due to the fact that even newbodypanel positionsare far from perfect from chassis to chassis. If you want to get your chassis rightyou need to measure from under the car on a drive on lift.Use the chassis side LCA mounts as your refrence points for axle centering and a centerlinedrawn onthe rear axle housingbased on measurement of your rear track.

Installing an adjustable Panhard bar and the HD brace to support the chassis mounting points are not just for centering the rear axle. Think about it, in the S197's "three-link" suspension the only thing that locates the rear axle in the lateral plane is the "fourth-link" we call a Panhard bar.The real purpose ofan adjustablePanhard bar is to provide preciselocation ofthe axle in the correct plane byfirmly controling the axle movements in this plane and to transmitas much information into the chassis as possible to help the driver understand what the chassis is doing. To this end Steeda'sHeavy Duty Panhar bar brace provides a much more rigid mounting location for the chassis sidemounting point of the Panhard bar transmitting more feedback to the driver. The stiffer structure ofthe chassis sidePanhard bar mounting point also improveschassis longevity slowing down the inevitable softening of the chassis and its eventual failure.

An adjustable Panhard bar allows centering of the rear axle which isimportant but reallymoreof a natural consequence of the purpose of a well designedPanhard bar. But you should also know that goodrear axle centering is not just for cosmetic purposes but important for balancing handling feel and grip from side to side. A Panard bar rear suspension cannot really have perfectly equal grip and feel from side to side but the differences can be minimized by usingfirmer bushings and more rigid structures to locate the rear axle.

Hope this helps!

Mikes_BLK_GT

+1 on that, I'll be changing mine out, I'mlooking atd-specs at this point. Streets here arent great so it makes for a bumpy ride. My wife cant drive it without getting a headache.