I have new springs and dampers for my Gt and need to know if any of you have replacedyours without replacing the strut mounts.
I have the camber bolts for the install but want to make sure I can get enough adjustment alignmentwise after the install

I have the Ford Racing K springs and the Ford Racing dampers. I will not be doing any autocross and probably wont see much track time either, thats why I didnt go with the D-Specks.

So whats everybody's opinion on this? To change or not to change. that is the question.
If I need to change them then I will go with the GT500 Strut mounts instead of the other mounts (Steeda, etc...) I cant see paying 300 bucks for them. Only problem is that they are on back order.

 

Recently added Roush coil springs (3/4" drop) and Koni struts and installer used original mounts no problems.
I asked him before install and he told me to save my money, that he has done many swaps on the S197's and had not had an issue yet. Note that I also have an Edelbrock 3-point tower brace on my vert.

 

Tormentor - I just did Steeda shocks/struts and an Eibach pro kit and used the GT500 OEM strut mounts. They are fine. You might have a hard time locating them though! No FRPP dealer had them in stock, period (this was in December). I had to go to Ebay and pay more but it was way less than the $300 Steeda and Maximum Motorsports want.
Good luck

 

Per the Ford Racing parts site,the differenceis "Increased durometer, 28% stiffer then Mustang GT". My guess is they have the same wimpy innards as the stock mounts. The Steeda mounts are all metal and you can adjust the camber at the mount so no camber bolts are necessary.

As I'm finding out, you usually get what you pay for... I couldn't be happier with the Steed mounts.

 

Hi Tormentor,

You shouldNOT wait for the GT500 strut mounts as they are no better internally than thelater stock GT strut bearing mounts are. The GT500 mounts arestiffer and if you havea N/A GT you just don't need the harder bushings.I suggest that youre-use you oldstrut mounts and if they go bad swap them out later for a set of Steedas. 8^) I've done this for many local S197GT's and only a couple eventually camedown with the poppingnoise many miles down the road. In went a set of Steeda HD strut mounts and they are more than happy with them as am I. It has been my experience that those FRPP Multi-Matic tuneddampers are very hard riding. I've installed a few FRPP suspensions and they use Eibach Pro-Kit springs and ant-roll bars with the MM damers. Nobody liked them and many have switched to D-Specs and found much better ride and handling.

HTH!

 

I dont mean to come off to strong on this matter as I have never been in a mustang with D-speck shocks to compare, but I think its kind of funny that everyone wants to have the lowered stance and if you dont get the D-Specks you arent going to be happy with the stiffness.
My opinion on this is that if I wanted my car to have a plush suspension then I would have bought aLincoln Town Car or a Cadillac.My car has a somewhat stiff suspension as is from the factory and it doesnt bother me one bit and I dont really think the new springs or dampers will sway my opinion that much to make me want to run out and spend another 600 bucks for the D-Specks.
Let the flaming begin...... Again this is MY opinion as of NOW. Try riding a chopper like in my avatar for 8 hours straight and see if your butt dont get sore... But its something I love so I live with it.

 

Hi Tormentor,

Everyone has thier own experiences and happy zone with suspension and for most this depends on what kind of carsyou started out in and changes with age and experience. For the most part an excesively high spring rate does not hurt ride so much as cornering grip and stability. The other side of the coin is that excessive damping rate in compression andinadequate damping in reboundhurts bothgrip and ride at the same time with no up side at all except to appeal tothe generally inexperienced American image that this car has"sporty" handling. I grew up driving German cars and even low end sedans had better handlingthan the S197GT but they also ride much better and this is largely due to the dampers.

Please don't take offense as I don't know wher you are coming from but I don't know if you are familar with what a truly excellent handling car with high levels of grip feels like. But astock2005+ Mustang GT, Shelby GT(H)and Shelby GT500 are not whata good suspension should feel like and the FRPP dampers are even worse. Do you have some local Mustang guys you hang out with? If ask around and see who has installed what and try to get adrive in a car withD-Spec of Koni Sportdampers andany of the Steedaor other lnear ratesport springsinstalled. Honestly, it will be a revelation to youin handling and ride. The suspension if adjusted reasonably the tireswill absorb thestutter bumps oftwo or more sets of railroad tracks and stay on thepavement much more of the time and the car will not get as out of shape andmore importantly will regain composure much more quickly. Hardershock settings and spring rates are never better unless there is a specific issue that can be addressed by going to a higher dampingor springrate. Like when you reduce the ride height of a chassis you need to increase the spring rate tominmizebottoming out. When you increasespring rates you must increase the rebound rate and possibly reduce compressionrate.Doing this helps compensate for the changes in the way the springs work in the chassis and help to keep the tires in contact with the pavement. If the tires are no in firm contact with the pavement the car is not in control and the driver cannot make adjustments until the tires are in contac with the pavement.I hope this helps clear up what I was saying.

Cheers!

 

I had the popping/chattering in the OE strut mounts before I installed the Steeda Sports and Struts. I also wanted to be able to correct my camber in a quality fashion, so I went with the Steed HD Adj strut mounts and was very pleased.

Recently, theMustanghas become my main car (prior to this time it was my toy, but my teenage son now has my Explorer). With the increased highway driving, I have gone back to the stock suspension set up since it is much smoother for cruising. Don't get me wrong, I loved the handling, flattness and cornering ability of the Steeda setup I had, but I need a daily cruiser again.

What I did was purchase two of thenew OE strut mounts 8R3Z18183B (after the TSB) over the internet from Bob Utter Ford ($42.80 a piece). I then went to the parts department at the local ford and got two new spring isolators and top strut bolts and then made two new strut assemblies for OE replacement. I reinstalled the stock suspension this weekend in about 6 hours total with the help of my daughter. The new mounts are very quiet.

I am going to sell all of the Steeda parts if anyone is interested - they have about 9 months and 3500 miles of use. See my sig below, and I am going to post them in the forum parts for sale.