Vankor

I'm not asking brands here (though it would be appreciated) but I've never lowered my car before or altered the suspension, so what all is needed for LCA's?
I know to lower the car, you need springs, shocks/struts, camber plates (would I need camber adjusters?), bumpsteer kit, sway bars, ball joints, and control arms.

Do you need upper and lower control arms? And there are a million choices for control arms on most of the websites, and there are also control arm relocation brackets. Do I need those too?

Sleeper_08

What you "need' or want depends on how much you lower it and what you want to do with it after it is lowered.

If you are looking for the slammed look but don't care about how it handles or rides after then then the requirements are different than if you want to run the car hard on a road course several times a year.

Vankor

It's a DD that I want to handle great, and I want to get enough stuff to make sure the change in geometry is accounted for (looking at lowering it 1 1/4" with steeda ultalites) and I don't want any issues down the road cuz I didn't do enough to make sure the car can accommodate the changes.

Philostang

I'm happy to be the first to say "call Sam." Strano is the name, and suspension is his game. Actually, customer service is his real game. Hang out here long enough and you get a sense of who the big-boys are in terms of knowledge about the suspension on these cars. Sam has helped a ton of us out, and he does so w/o trying to sell you parts you don't really need.

I also like that he tries to explain his reasoning for why you may or may not want/need a part. One of my favorites is that he'll ask you to look at the Shelby GT. It's lowered about the same as what you want, and it doesn't use a bunch of trick parts to get away with it. This is a warrantied combination. You aren't going to have any serious "issues down the road." You may have more refined issues that you want to change for a specific purpose, but you're not going to mess something up if (for example) you forgo the relocation brackets...or the ball joints...or the bumpsteer kit...or the lower control arms...or...you get the idea. The Shelby GT comes from the dealer this way, and it's not blowing out its ball joint, destroying its differential, etc. It's just fine on the street. In fact, most think it's quite nice.

Yeah, the only thing you really "need" to lower the car are the springs. You can get away with it, but you probably won't like it. The factory struts/shocks are not very good. So I would throw a set in. Aside from that, you might also need an adj. panhard bar to recenter the axle...assuming it is thrown off center or noticeably off center after the lowering. You can just wait to see how the axle looks before getting it, or get it and enjoy (what I think is the HUGE) benefit of better bushings in the bar...while also having the resources to re-center if it's needed.

There's other stuff you might come to like, but if you're a DD and you want a vastly improved suspension, this is really all you need. Springs, shocks, panhard.

You only need the camber plates and/or bolts if you can't get the car back to within the factory setting range. I forget if this is an issue, as I did the plates anyway, but only because I was focusing on a more track-oriented build. I'd talk to Sam about this, but my guess is that he (like many) is going to recommend you do something about the Ford mounts (they don't have the best reputation).

Best,
-j