rford426

i have the tech s lowering springs what all is really needed to get everything back to were its suppose to be? im bout to order d specs and plan on getting lcas next what else do i need? btw teins tech s is is comparable to eibach sportlines

cegha

I'm glad you made this thread. I have quite a few questions as this is my first car which i actually have done stuff to and need to learn about.

There are a couple things i don't know what they do. I need to know the purpose of them and why it is better over stock.

G-Trac Brace
Panhard Bar
Caster Camber Plates
Bumpsteer kit
coilovers

When lowering the car the best option to do would be a adjustable upper control arm, and a non-adjustable lower control arm, correct?

What is the difference between the eibach pro-kit and sportlines, i know the sportlines drop lower, will that provide any problems if just lowering, or will other things need to be changed, and how much more stiffer is the ride over stock with the sportlines, i heard the pro-kit has near OEM ride quality.

Looking into Tokico Adj D-Spec's down the road, is this something that can be installed by myself with no prior car experience really. Is it something straight foward, that i could probably do in a day by myself, are there any guides floating around out there about it for are cars (tacobill)?

Doogie65

I found this sticky on another forum when I first started modding my car and it is invaluable for helping one better understand the suspension in our cars. So instead of trying to cut and paste, providing the link...

http://forums.bradbarnett.net/showthread.php?t=447906

clintster77

I'm glad I started this thread also . But I am in the same boat as some of you that are new to what is the best shocks and struts and such and what is the difference between brands. I Started this thread in the hope that anyone who wants to learn something can ask Questions but also in the hopes that someone that knows some answerers will also post some info so we can move on from subject to subject. I will contribute when I can.

Sleeper_08

The strut/shock issue has been discussed ad nauseum in this forum. Use the search feature.

The general consensus seems to be;
1) if you change the springs and actually drive the car then you should change the strut/shocks
2) if you change then you should switch to adjustables
3) if you swith to adjustables then buy Koni's if you can afford them otherwise buy the D specs
4) If you have money to burn and can get them properly installed then buy coilovers

Norm Peterson

If I might make a suggestion, maybe limit it to one general topic (which is 'rear suspension' by the looks of it so far.

Reason being that unless somebody maintains an index with links to specific posts it will become all but unuseable.

The 'sticky' lowering thread mentioned/linked by drfister already contains way too much information to copy/paste, and would be a waste of server space. Searching there for posts (by F1Fan in particular) and linking specific details by post# would be my suggestion on how to best use the information contained in it. Maybe even subscribe to it (you don't need to post to subscribe, just use the 'thread tools' tab), as it still gets things added from time to time.


Norm

Norm Peterson

That's the ideal case and the approach that should be taken when designing these parts - and they may be pretty good most of the time. But there is a little risk in simply putting them on, bolting everything up, and driving off.

Everything has tolerance, so this mod should not be construed as a 100.000% guarantee. Things that can throw it off are fabrication errors in the relo brackets (making the hole centers "off"), build tolerances on the OE Ford LCA brackets, and installation sloppiness (for lack of a better word).

Quote:

This is a theory about how relocation brackets effect pinion travel.( It may be wrong)

The key is that they work together, and a greater understanding of how this all works is to think in terms of the virtual swing arm. That's a fictitious arm that's pivoted at the side view instant center (SVIC) and clamped to the axle. The axle simply pivots about this point. But since this point moves around as the suspension moves, the side view swing arm (SVSA) has variable length, gives variable amounts of anti-squat, and changes the pinion angle at a constantly varying rate. I don't think Fred Puhn's book gets into this much, but this topic is discussed in "Race Car Vehicle Dynamics" (Milliken & Milliken, hardcover, thick, $, and worth it if you're serious about understanding this stuff).

Here's a plot of what might happen to anti-squat with some geometry. Not for any car in particular, taken from a spreadsheet I developed based on information that you can find in RCVD.





For a road car, and more specifically for a car that's expected to take corners with enthusiasm, you're also interested in rear axle roll steer. It's loosely related to antisquat in most cases and part of the reason you don't want to simply push the A-S% way up in such cars.



Norm

clintster77

I bumped most of this post .
I see no way that a UCA on a 05-09 mustang can effect roll steer because it is located on the top center of the axle.
Comments welcome
This is a flawed statement and a more detailed statement on post #22 (Thank You Norm )

Argonaut

G-Trac Brace - theory is it stiffens the chassis by tying the front control arms together. I believe it comes OEM on the convertible. IMO all it does on the coupe is add weight, about the same as the strut tower brace.

Panhard Bar - Needs to be a very strong piece because it controls the majority of lateral loading of the rear end. Stock bar seems to be up to snuff strength wise (how many non-accident bent PHBs have you seen?) and it is fairly light wt but it has rubber bushings which deflect. Poly or rod ends are much better. Most people get an adjustable one to re-center the rear axle after lowering the car. Even if you don't lower the car its still worth it to get better bushings...if you are serious about handling.

Caster Camber Plates - replace the stock upper strut mounts. The stockers are mostly plastic and cheap. Plates are must more solid and give you the ability to adjust Camber (J&M and Steeda) and Caster (MM). Adjusting camber at top of strut means you can have a track setting and a street setting. Its more convenient and a better solution than camber bolts or slotting the struts, both of which can slip.

Bumpsteer kit - Not to be used unless you lower the car >~1". If you look at the front end of the car, the angle of the lower control arm and the tie rod should be the same. When you lower the car, it changes the angle of the lower control arm and throws off the relationship. This can cause bump steer (look it up). This kit lowers the tie rod end near the wheel, putting the control arm and tie rod back into their proper alignment.

coilovers - technically a spring with a shock in the middle. By that definition our stock front suspension IS coilover but our rear suspension isn't because the spring and shock are separate. Coilovers give you ride height adjustability - on the front the strut body is threaded and the spring sits on a perch that can be turned to move it up and down, thus adjusting the ride height. On the rear it leaves the spring and shock separate (most set ups are this way) but puts a threaded perch on the rear spring. A true coilover looks like this (corvette coilovers). The systems for our cars a pseudo coilovers (except for the Griggs SLA system). Besides the ride height adjustability the other big advantage of the coilovers is the ability to cross-weight your car (balance the left front + right rear weight with the right front + left rear weight). For most people these are overkill.

You can do adjustable UCA, fixed LCA or fixed UCA, adj LCAs or adj up and down. Doesn't matter, your choice.
Since you are posting in the "Handling" section the Sportlines are not welcome. To low, cause to many suspension geometry issues and scraping/bottoming. You like to ride on your bumpstops?

The Pro-Kit is quite a bit stiffer than stock, not sure where you heard otherwise. I suppose everyone has their own opinion/tolerance for ride quality.

If you have the tools it is an easy DIY. TB has a writeup on installing lowering springs...same thing really.

Norm Peterson

clint - changing the pinion angle is not what changes the anti-squat. That requires changing the inclinations of either the LCAs, the UCA, or both.

That's the good part of 3-links vs the converging (aka triangulated) 4-links that were on the previous two or three generations of Mustangs. The anti-squat tuning and the roll steer tuning are somewhat less dependent on each another. The 3-link is arguably the best of the simple stick axle suspension arrangements, with the torque arm/PHB suspension similar to that found on the 3rd/4th gen F-bodies being a close second.


Norm