F1Fan

Hi BartSimpson,

Do you have any local car club guys you know that are mechanically inclined? I have helped many folks install their suspension parts and complete systems in my garage for the price of a few cases of beer. I'm sure there are other nut jobs out there willing to help a fellow Mustang nut out in your area. Ask around whereever you live at localgatherings of the herd and see if you can bribe someone to help you do the install. Ifyou are patient some one will turn up eventually who is willing to help! Maybe you havesome specialty that the other person iswilling to barter for, younever know.

The handling will be noticably improved with excellent rideand body control withpretty neutralhandling at the limit of tire grip. Unfortunately the rear end will be harder tohandle and the ride mayget a littlenoisierdue to the increasedrear roll stiffnessfrom the anti-roll bar and your setup lacks thefirmer bushings and centered rear axle it really needs with a lowered handling focused car. You also are missing theparts needed tosetyour camber to reasonable specs because you are missing any sort of camber adjustment parts which you NEED to get your car's alignment to come in correctly. The Eibach/SPC camber bolt kit is the least expensive way to get the camber adjustability youneed.

I've selected these parts to save youthe $75 needed toalign the car later if you decide to upgrade your suspension further at a later date.The $75 cost of a second alignment is nearly half the costof the Steeda BumpsteerKit so IMO it makes sense to install the Bumpsteer Kit as half of it is being paid for bysimply installing it sooner than later.You could also just install the parts below less the Steeda Bumpsteer Kit and justaddyour other suspension parts down the road and assumme you have to spend the$75 on alignment again some other time butyou usually get a small breakon shop time by doing these things all at once because the mechanic will be under the car working on these parts anyway and the incremental time is minimal and the impact to your shop labor is very low.

The basicsuspension parts tohave installed inyour car firstfor your usage should be:
$ 550 Tokico D-Spec strutsand dampers
$ 230 Steeda Sport Springs
$ 35 Eibach/SPCCamber Bolt Kit
$ 160 Steeda Bumpsteer Kit
$ 180 Steeda adjustable Panhard bar
$ 80 SteedaHD Pan hard bar brace
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$1,235 Parts Total
$ 450 Installation Cost (5 hours labor@ $75 plus $75 alignment)
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$1,685 Total Installed Cost








If you feel you want to improve handling once the basic suspension is installed I suggest adding the following at a later date:

$ 100 FRPP GT500 LCA's, improved rear axle control on the cheap
$ 110 FRPP FR500C UCA bushings, improved rear axle control on the cheap
$ 130 Steeda LCA relocation Brackets, corrects rear axle geometry for muchbetter launch grip and corner exit
$ 160 Steeda Standard 7/8" Rear Anti-Roll Bar, more neutral handling balance on the cheap
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$ 500 Parts Total
$ 350 Installation Cost (4 hours @ $75)
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$ 850 Total Installed cost

Here is the basic Steeda rear anti-roll bar that I was talking about. This is the bar and bar end hardware only and requires that you reuse the stock Ford ant-roll bar links. Look at this link for the right page on Steeda's website: Steeda standard anti-roll bar.





HTH!

jdmcbride

F1Fan - Would you recommend the Bilstein HD dampers over the Tokico D-specs for a non-lowered daily driver convertible? I really don't plan on going to the track, I am just looking for a little more performance than a stock GT.

I wasplanning to install a one-piece drive shaft to eliminate some of the clunkiness of the drivetrain. Do you think that would be overkill for a non-track car?

Thanks,

F1Fan

Hi jdmcbride,

The Bilstein HD's are an excellent choice for acomfort oriented daily driver. Once they break-in their ride is unmatched by any of the other currently availableperformance strut and damper on the market. Bilstein HD's are very sensitivedampers and actually control the car pretty well even though they are notvalved for performance applications and this will be especially true for a car with stock springs and ride height due to themoderate stock spring rates. The Bilstein HD dampers are notdesigned for loweredride heights, they usethe standard length piston rod and are not shortened for lowered cars. Better ride and performance than the stock GT's struts and dampers!

The drivetrain um,play is a given with the stocktwo-piece driveshaft and the two extra CVjoints, no way to avoid it. But even with a one piece driveshaft there will still be quite a bit of freedom left in the drivetrain, thisis just due to the looser nature of a heavy dutydrivetrain. If your goal is to reduce some of the noisein the drivetrain a good one piece drive shaft will help some but do not expect any miracles.

HTH!