CTGT2005

When it comes to replacing the shocks/struts on the 05+ GT, what brand should I go with? KONI Sport, Tokico Dspec, Eibach Pro, orBilstein. The vehicle is a daily driver, however a harsh ride is tolerable. I was leaning toward the Koni Sport based upon a non mustang related review, however I have been unable to find any opinions which pertain to the 05+ GT.

At the moment the suspension is entirely stock. As well as dampers, I was planning to go with either the Eibach or Steeda sway bars, and the Pro-Kit drop springs. The front ride height with stock springs is adequate, but I get far to many comments on theso-called "lift kit" in the rear. And otherwise, far too much turn in body roll and dive under braking.

Do the upper strut mounts lack that much rigidty? Will a strut tower brace create a noticableimprovement, or at this stage would I just be throwing money away?

Thanks

DeStonn

Some will say the stb doesn't make a difference but after I installed mine the car felt stiffer and I experienced less body roll. People here like the Tokico d specs because they are adjustable...I have not installed them but I plan on that mod. If you lower the car get adj. LCAs and UCA and check to see if you will need an adjustable panhard bar for the rear.

alloutt

any of them will be better than stock

CTGT2005

I was set on the Tokico's initially. It is doubtful that I will find someone with first hand experience with both Koni and Tokico. TheKONI's have rebound adjustment.

I would like to be able to lower the vehicle just around an inch, no more. Hopefully I will not be lowering the vehicle so much as to alter the pinion angle to a point that I need adjustable control arms. Honestly, I was more concerned aboutproblems I may encounter with camber up front.

Being budget minded, I would prefer to allocate the funds where the largest improvement will be seen.

Thanks

Ford_Dude

[quote]Comments on current S197 chassis/suspension components for a daily driver without lowering.

PART 1



Of course, it is possible to find better handling without lowering your S197 Mustang but you can find more grip and better handlingeasier and with less work by lowering the car's CG all thing being equal. The reason is that the lower the car's CG themore stable the car will be giving you less brake dive, less rear squat and less body roll all of which are good things for handling stability, predictability, cornering and brake grip.

Sure, you can overcome the problemof weight transfer with bigger anti-roll bars and stiffer springs but you need less of each if your CG is lower to begin with to achieve the same performance.A lower anti-roll bar rate means a better ride as do the lower spring rates, lower damper compression, and rebound rates. Of course there are trade offs to be made and given the suspension we have on the S197 chassis the price of lowering the car with lower ride height springs is that the suspension geometry gets messed up in the process just enough to hurt the handling, steering and launch traction. Therefore, if you lower the carsignificantly you may also find a need to do some correction or tuning of the suspension's geometry. Some folks who do notreally drive their cars even moderately hard will not notice the changes caused by the inadvertentalterations made to the suspension geometryand others like me are driven crazy by these losses. YMMV.

The list of goodies pcfrisch has listed looks an awfullot like something I wrote to a million people privately and in my posts all over the internet. This is IMO a good list of suspension modifications to apply to yourcar to help achieve your handling and cornering goals. However,enough things have changed over time and some parts appear to have been inadvertently left off the list so the list does not reflect the current state of the art for bolt-on S197 chassis mods with ahandling focusavailable. So here I am with a redo pass of the shopping list for a car that is not going to be lowered with Sport springs.

Suspension Component Materials

A few words about weight and fasteners and then to the list and the thinking behind the items I’ve placed on it. Weight is the enemy; anything you can do to reduce both sprung and unsprung weight will pay you back in spades. This payback is in terms of grip, handling, steering response and ride quality.Higher series alloy steelsare generally stronger and stifferby weight than lower series mild steels and allowmaking lighter parts with strength equal to or greater thana heavier plain steel part. Do not be fooled, 4xxx series chrome-moly alloysteel plates and seamless tubes make better suspension parts thanthe plain mild 1xxx series steel used in DOM tubesfor suspension parts. Higher series alloy steels can cost quite a bit more by weightbecause they are harder to make andmild steels are, not surprisingly cheaper! So guess what, parts made fromchrome-moly alloy steels cost more than parts made from weaker and cheaper mild steel. Do your homework and ask the vendor or manufacturewhatkind of steel or what alloy series the suspension parts you think you may be interested in are of,the answer may change your mind about that vendor.

Suspension ComponentFasteners

All this replacement of parts is all well and good but none of it will help you much if your rear axle falls off or a strut bolt slips and your alignment goes away. Beg, borrow or steal a Ford Factory manual on DVD and print out all the suspension pages showing torque values and take particular note of the repeated warnings that you MUST discard certain fasteners when they are removed! This is important as the S197 chassis uses a bunch of bolts that are single use only and are (amazing to me when I read about it in the Ford Factory Shop Manuals), worn out and unsafe. Buy a good 1/2" click type torque wrench or at least a decent 1/2" beam type torque wrench that can readup to 175ft/lb. so you KNOW absolutely that you did the jobsafely and correctly.If you are interested in more information about the amazing world of fasteners, how they work, what they do andhow they should be used correctly there is an excellent book written by Carroll Smith called"Nuts, Bolts,Fasteners and Plumbing Handbook."

A brief word of warning, if you decide to reuse theseO.E.one-time-use fasteners be sure that you achive the FULL Ford specified torque on the fasteners. If the fasteners cannot achive the full factory specified torque value within 90 degrees of sweep after being torqued to 90% of the specified torque value remove and discard these fasteners asthey areworn out and subject to imminent failure!

PART 2

Body Control, Struts and Dampers

Alla chassis' dampers have to dois control the oscillations of the springs. Sounds simple enoughbut it really is not easy to do well all the time. Thedamperson a street car are for the most part, what determines a car's ride characteristics and how well controlled the chassis and wheels feel to the driver. A car's dampers and damping rates can make or breaka chassis' ability tokeep the tires in maximum contact with the road andthe driver's confidence in the chassis' ability to go where he intends.

Tokico D-Spec gas adjustable struts and dampers, part# DSP12 are for those folks who want the widest range of adjustability at a reasonable price (so shoot me I’m cheap!). Tokico’s newish D-Spec struts anddampers are surprisingly a double adjustable damper design using a single adjustment ****.The damping rate adjustment knobchangesboth compression and rebound damping rates using a predetermined relationship between compression and rebound.Sure there are better race dampers available but nothing is as good as these on the street where you want togo from long range cruising comfortto dodging cones in a parking lot in 5 minutes or less. The S197 specific D-Spec dampers seem to work very well with Steeda Sport and Competition spring setsbecause Steeda actaully did the development work forthe damping curves for Tokico and had to sign off on the damping curves beforeTokico produced them.

BilsteinHDgasstruts and dampers, non-adjustable fixed damping ratesfor those whodesire improved chassis control and are willing to give up some handling performance forthe best possible ride; these are THE dampers to buy. The Bilstein HD non-adjustable gas dampers weredesigned as ahigh-end O.E. replacement damper with improved ride and handling capabilities. The Bilstein HD line far exceeds the capabilities of any conventional oil or gas/oil non-Bilstein O.E. damper offered in terms of ride quality and performance. Nevertheless, if and when Koni's new FSD technology dampers are released for the S197 Mustangs the Bilstein HD's will have some serious competition in this application segment with a similar ride centric focusand potentially much improved handling capabilities.

Koni Sportgas adjustable struts and dampers are for those who want excellent performanceand arewilling to compromisea bit on ride comfort. Koni’s Sport dampers are single adjustable for rebound damping only,relying ona fixed compression rate that is suit

ThumperMX113

Thats way too much to read, maybe when I'm drunk! LOL

CTGT2005

Thanks, that was good reading.

From what I gather, Shocks/Struts, Springs, Swaybars and a good qualitypanhard bar will be essential in obtaining handling perfection.Once lowered,there will be an increase in negative camber, only enough to benefit traction and not too much that it introduces NVH and excessive tire wear?

I guess the Pro-kit springs and Eibach or Steeda F/R A-R bars are right on the money.

Still a toss between Tokico and KONI.KONI is tried and trued, which is reassuring.

Thanks

Argonaut

On this forum I'd say the Tokico D-Specs are tried and true. They are by far the most popular with the members. I have read that overall Tokico does not have a good reputation but with the D-Specs for the S197 platform they hit a home run.

I know lots of guys love Koni's but I have yet to see a member review of the adjustable Koni's for the S197.

I'm sure you would be satisfied either way.

Norm Peterson

One thing that you can get done with the Konis that I doubt is available for the D-Sports is revalving. Though that is normally reserved for when you're fitting springs a bit stiffer than the range that covers OE and most "lowering" springs, or perhaps for when you're looking for small amounts of time at autocross.

I'd be interested in seeing shock plots for these, the OE, and maybe a couple others. Wonder if F1Fan has this information tucked away somewhere. . .


Norm

Sam Strano

I have experience with both.... And it's experience that wins National Championships. I'd be happy to give you some insight on both, and tell you why I find the Koni's to be superior.

I've even had some shock dyno runs made on both dampers.