mpnelson81

First off... this is by far the best resource for suspension info I have ever found... Thank you to all who contribute...


Background.... I have a '08 GT/CS on the way and I would like to build a suspension for daily driving and occasional AutoX and Road Courses (Hockenheim Ring, Nurburgerfring (SP?)) to mention a few... and of course... Will handle well on the Autobahn ( I am currently stationed in Germany).... With the California Special comes a chin spoilerso clearance is a slight issue as I don't want my frontend tobecome a snow plow in the event Ihave todrive it in the snow.

I am on a budget and want to make the most out of my money. I also plan on purchasing some of the itemsa little at a time. So the list might seem pricey but I am not rushing into anything..

Here is my proposed list/suspension.

Springs: Steeda Sport
Shocks/Struts: Tokico D-Specs
UCA/LCA: Steeda "stop the hop" kit
Panhard Bar and Brace: Steeda
G-trac Brace: Steeda
Sway Bars: Steeda (should I go for the rear only?)

That is all I can think of right now... Please let me know what you think... I am not particular to just Steeda... If you think another brand is better please let me know... I am open to all opinions/ideas. Thank you for the help.

mpnelson81

P.S. I plan on staying with the stock rims/tires (18" polished etc.).

RodeoFlyer

pm sent

UrS4

Awhh . . . I was hoping Rodeoflyer wouldn't keep his wisdom secret.

The list looks good but I think the CS uses the FRPP handling pack from the start so the car is already lower and stiffer than a stock GT. You may just be rebuying the same parts when it comes to the springs.

RodeoFlyer

I sent him my notebook in pdf.

I actually had the perfect info for him but can't post it publicly.


The FRPP springs are Eibach Pro-Kits

Sam Strano

The CS (as in California Special) does not have the FRPP stuff, only the Shelby's have that (the "CS and" Carroll Shelby lead to some confusion there).

The car is prone to wheelhop. And the "stop the hop" kit is way overprice for what it is. Consider I the price of those @ $299-ish, to these @ $179.00
BTW, those were actually build off of, and tested on my own car. That said, I'd strongly recommend arms that don't bind the axle in roll. We have those too, they cost a little more because we use a rod-end on the axle side, which not only allows articulation, but also adjustment of the axle's tracking if needed. A set of those lowers are $179.00, add an upper for $80, and here a non-adjustable is fine since there is one and it's smack in the center of the axle you don't get roll stiffness like you do from the lowers. We also have an adjustable upper, but I don't think you need that.

Shocks. I feel the Koni's are better. I've had and competed on both. I won Nationals on D-specs (and paxed the entire event, all 1140 other drivers and flat outran B-stock). But we've changed the Shelby to Koni's after seeing the difference between D-specs and Koni's on my GT. D-specs aren't hateful, and are my second choice, but the Koni's simply have more refined changes in damping, and don't force a compression change with a rebound damping change liek the Tokico's do which important when setting up a car. Just because you want more rebound control doesn't mean you want more compression damping (which is there to deal with unsprung weight, which is a given and at times lighter than stock).

PHB. I'm on record saying I feel the PHB brace is just wasted money. A PHB that's strong and adjustable is a great part. It's what carries the lateral load and keeps the body inline with the axle when cornering hard. An adjustable one also allows you to compensate for any change in alignment when you lower. We have a lot of those as well, for serious use the double Rod-end versions are best because they are the strongest and have the least deflection. Note there are mild steel and CM verisons of each. http://www.stranoparts.com/searchbym...&ModelID=5

Swaybars: Do not add only a rear bar. While we want a bit more rear roll stiffness, we don't want to over do it. And your springs matter here as well since they along with the bars add wheel rate, and you need to balance what you are doing. The last thing we want is a loose car, especially at high speeds. I like very much the 35/22 combo of bar sizes, but at times we'll use a 24mm rear (on heavier cars like converts or on cars that might have gone up on front bar but not rear for some reason). I can tell you that in the two S197's I drive a lot, because of the spring difference, I run different front to rear bar ratio's. I run the FRPP bars (Eibach's) on the Shelby in the middle position in front. I run my GT on stock front and rear bars, more front bar is too much. While the car was pushy stock running a set of adjustable endlinks and removing the bar preload helped a ton with turn-in grip. Both cars have aggresive alignments.

Springs. Tough because so few companies will tell you what they are up to. For cars looking for a little drop, I like H&R Sports (1", .75" front and rear). For those wanting a little more and a little more rate, I use Vogtland sprigns (about 1.2", stiffer and lighter). I know the Vogtland rates and how they compare to the Eibach's... I prefer the Vogtlands. I'll add that we have two different Vogtland kits that come packaged with shocks. One with D-Specs http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...&ModelID=5, one with Koni's http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...&ModelID=5Companies are very secretive about their rates these days, so you have to make the best you can of the available information. I haven't found better... it might exist, but until I manage to run every single combination I have to make a judgement call based on my experience and the spring rates I know and have used.

UrS4

Nice post.

whoops on who the parent company who supplies which springs. So eibach and FRPP springs are the same. So is steeda and BMR similar or do they get their stuff from the same place too and just repaint them? H&R is separate? Vogtland is separate?

Sam Strano

There are so many companies it's hard to tell all the time what's what. Mostly where springs are involved the winding equipment is very expensive so you get a lot of private labeling. I "make" springs for f-bodies. I speced them all out, rates, heights and so on, but had them made by Vogtland.... Now, I chose to have my own made to spec where I could have gone cheaper and relabled the normal spring, but for the f-body I didn't like the rates. Example, FRPP and Eibach, same thing painted. I don't know who makes Steeda's street springs, I know some of their springs for SN95 are made by Hypercoil.

UrS4

Interesting.

So knowing the parent company and the spring rates could enable the smart buyer into getting the same spring from a non power house company for less.

Sam Strano

Could but that information is very hard to find. Most companies won't tell you, or admit it (for obvious reasons). It's business. I'm a little different, and sometimes get myself in trouble by laying my cards on the table, but that's what makes me me I guess....

Bear in mind that cost alone should not drive a decision. Tech support, compatibility with other parts should. Am I condoning spending $100 more for the exact same part? No. But sometimes you get what you pay for in terms of customer service. I try my best with prices, I can't always be the cheapest, but what I can do is offer the best support I'm capable of for the products. There is always a fine line between making a living and starving for the small guy. We don't have quantities of scale and huge volumes. We can't do major buy-ins with every company to get the big discounts. Some companies make their own stuff, or relabel other's items fine. Unfortunately I see a lot of those "named companies" charge a big premium for something that's not "better" than something else. Case in point was the Steeda "stop the hop" control arm pack. $299 for non-adjustable, poly arms that we have for $179 from UMI. Only difference is their's are CM about 2 pounds lighter than Mild steel. And it works. Name recognition is big. Notice how many threads say "I'm going Steeda" (substitute Roush, MM, others in there) based on name. No detail as to why, or what rates or how something works. That's good for them. I've got similar things going on on other forums for other cars, and it's nice. But I take the time to explain to potential customers what's what, and only make our own parts if we can do it better, or as well for less money. Unlike those others, we carry a lot of different product line so we can pick and choose for our needs.

Norm Peterson

Thanks, Sam.

Over the course of investigating things, I think I saw that Vogtland offers three different springs for the S197, all with the same ride height but in different Mustang models. Do you know if this due to a difference in rate or if it's a matter of different free lengths? (I can see a little fine-tuning of ride height either way).


Norm