My 05 GT. coupe recently went from 17inch stock wheels and tires to a set of American Muscle 18inch 18x9 deep dish black bullets with 255x45 sumitomos. I keep hearing or reading that if I use the eibach pro sports lowering springs, I do not need to buy any caster/camber kit. And the reasoning is, I'm only going 1 step up on wheels. Also, aftermarket companys say the front will drop 1.0 to1.3 front and 1.5 rear. Any feedback on this matter would be appreciated. Thanks

 

skypilot

It all depends on what you want to do with the car, i.e road course track days, street use only etc.

Have you done a search in this forum and read the recent posts? They contain a great deal of information.

 

Thanks for your response! I am a 60 year old man and have a somewhat limited budget but only plan on using my car for steet use only. I have made some cosmetic changes like zenon lower side scoops, upper louvered side scoops, white horse rear black out panel and rear led tails. I would like to add a shaker hood set-up and as you can tell, I'm more into looks. Maybe in the future, I may add something in the hp. arena.

 

skypilot

Welcome to the old foks with new Mustangs sub group! I'm a little younger than you but not by much and my car arrives in March..

As my plans include a few track days each year theplanned handling mods are more extensive than you will require but there are lots of other folks here who can help you with exactly what you are looking for.

 

You can do it ....and I did.... But you will wear the tires a bit faster on the front inside edge. Being that ...the trade off is a great handling car. The front really needs the caster plates as you probably will only be able to get to about -2 degrees....but it will handle great. I would get the caster plates and the difference will only be that much better. Watch out though...because once you start ....you WILL want more parts !!! Oh yah...I am not that much younger than you too.....

 

Your tire/wheel size has no effect on the alignment outcome.
You also can choose to just go with camber bolts to adjust the alignment, cheaper than the plate assembly.

 

With the Eibach Pro-Kit, your camber will not be so significantly off that camber/caster plates become necessary. With a good alignment rack and aligner, you can set in the camber relatively well considering the car hasn't been lowered drastically (ie pro-kit). Now, in the case that you did sport lines which is a much more aggressive lowering kit, camber plates are definitely a good investment as it become much harder to correct the negative/positive camber with that much of an angle in the geometry of the suspension.
Also keep in mind that you can simply get a longer and thus more adjustable set of camber bolts for these mustangs for about $30 http://www.stangsuspension.com/store...idproduct=1052
and that also helps correct the camber after lowering. We do the pro-kits all the time without plates and the alignment comes in close enough that the plates aren't a necessity.

 

Correct...You can use the camber bolts but I will say that if you have it aprt why not change ? The new caster plates are FAR superior to the factory units which when in your hand you wonder how they even last at all. Being that said I believe it is well worth the money to buy the after market plates as they are a good improvement.

 

it would be wise to get the plates and have it aligned properly, not only for ride comfort, but also for tire wear...hate to see those wheels wear out quickly.

 

I have Eibach Pro lowering springs and the same AM 18x9 DD Bullits with Sumitomos. Looks really sweet. I did install a set of J&M camber plates but have not had it aligned yet, about 1500 miles on it. No sign of inner edge wear yet but thats not really saying much. I do plan to have it aligned soon.

What no one else has mentioned however is dampers: the eibach pros are very stiff imoand will overwhelm the stock dampers. I suspect without a change in dampers you will have a "bouncy" car. It may be fine at first but from what I've heard the ride will deteriorate quickly over time.

If you are just looking for a drop, maybe you should consider the Steeda Ultralights. They have a lower spring rate and will probably be more acceptable with the stock dampers. On the other hand, for about a grand: eibach pro, Tokico D-specs, Camber plates -you can have a fantastic handling car.