Hey guys...so I have a 2010 with the factory Track Package...what should I be looking at to upgrade the suspension parts? I might lower it eventually, but the ride quality is pretty good as it is and I dont want it to be more uncomfortable as it is my daily.

I definitely want to get rid of whatever wheel hop I can.

Looking at the threads it seems like theres a lot of options, but with the upgraded springs, dampers, control arms, and sway bars, where should I go from here?

Any help is appreciated.

 

I don't have a track package but I started with springs/dampers and HD mounts. I am going to upgrade the swaybars and links and then the panhard bar and strut mounts. Don't know where I am gonna go from there.

 

Well i gotta start off by saying the track pack kit is VERY entry level for suspension.

Now knowing that not everyone wants a race car on the street as well,there are FAR better systems or combinations out there. The springs rates are way too weak and the valving for the struts and shocks is near stock save for some slight tweaks. So if you want to spend over a grand and end up being only marginally better than what you were stock then go for it. And I'm not saying 15% even. The FRPP kit will net you about a 5% time gain on a 70 second road race short track but most of that will come from the sway bars only.

Sway bars - I would go with either the Progress sway bars, or ours (not being partial they REALLY are the best of the market for street cars and on sale for a ridiculous price right now) Using adjustable bars actually makes sense since there are plenty of different uses for our cars. Make sure to remember that you can only have so many adjustments before the end link is so pitched that it actually starts serving as additional spring and doesn't do anything for anti-roll. Also remember bars have significant weight differences so be careful which ones you buy. Too big of a bar in the back and this can be a scary ride. You want to have some weight transfer in our cars.

Control arms, stay AWAY from urethane bushings on both ends. It doesn't really matter what the arm is made of steel or aluminum but the big billet arms from some manufacturers forget one thing, if use use hard urethane to increase performance, you inherently screw end the rear end by increasing bind. Our rear axles move on TWO axis, and therefore a bushing that can only move on a single plane does not work. Simple as that. a large bushing can only move up and down, it does not have the ability to "twist" as our axles do when we turn. So in order to get around this they use softer urethane decreasing the potential increase from the arms. Go with a RLCA that has a hard durometer bushing on the chassis side with e rod end on the axle side to eliminate all concerns. They articulate perfectly and ride great on street cars! BMR, Progress, and Griggs make arms like these that cost much less than their billet counterparts and actually work better.

UCA is a very important peice for setting proper pinion angle on our cars as well as taking away a huge deflection point that causes wheel hop. You DO NOT NEED the heady upper brace mount and I would not recommend rod ends for this piece because of how close it sits to the chassis and the sound that can be hear from right behind the driver seat. And as always, BMR makes a great unit for a good price. Even Steeda makes a decent UCA as does Metco. This needs to get adjusted by a professional on a drive on lift with the suspension under FULL load while getting the car aligned!

Strut tower braces, the jury is still out on this one. Ford deleted them from the original 05 Mustang becuase the rigidity testing on the chassis proved it wasnt necessary. But guys like the way they look. I personally have built 3 professional level race Mustangs all 2005+ and we have never used a strut tower brace and have yet to have had any issues with tower fatigue. Even Ford Racings Mustang used for Pro F.D. doesn't have a strut bar. So just another piece of metal the FRPP kit includes for more $$$ that doesn't really give you anything. Put that extra money towards better dampers!

Most pan hard bars do the same thing and are fairly simple in design. I would go with a bar with rod ends becuase this helps to properly locate the rear end and rod ends have come a long way over the past 10 years and dont have the "clunk" they used to. Now they are all lined with Teflon and work perfectly. Again, for weight and design, go with Griggs, Progress, or BMR.

Dampers and springs...... Spend a bit more and go coil over!! (I could ramble on for hours as to the benefits of coil overs but this could go on forever) But if that's not in your budget, and you still want adjustability, KONI is the way to go. D-Specs are cheap but you will end up getting what you pay for. For a great street damper without adjustability, go with Bilstein. It is a nitrogen compressed damper and reacts and stiffens based on additional loads through the valving. H&R makes a great range of springs with 2 different levels of lowering and they both work. The Super Sports from H&R seem to have the best customer feed back we have ever gotten.

From lower control arms are a HUGE increase in performance! Anyone doing this install will see the size of the rubber bushing Ford used and literally scratch their heads?!? I have personally seen our race car coming around a turn and I though someone forgot to tighten the wheels because of how much the wheel was moving and bouncing around as he passed the apex. Plus if you have lowered your car, you can raise the innner mounting point (relocation kit) to correct the geometry and reduce the camber gain.

Dont forget bump steer kits. Our cars have serious issues here. Almost all of the kits out there are about the same, MM, BMR(QA1), Steeda, all do the same thing. Just remember that this is a very timely installation and anyone who says they can set bump steer quickly because they've done it a bunch doesnt know what they are talking about. This process requires the technician to remove the front springs and set the chassis at ride height and use rear plates and gauges to measure the toe change as the suspension is raised and lowered. Then the car still needs to be aligned.

There are several other available systems for our cars, k-members, Watts links, and such but each of those is its own thread worth of explainations. Hopefully this information helps and I know that our own web site needs serious updates as to the parts we sell but please feel free to call or email me if you need anything, even though some of the parts I mentioned are still not up on our website!

PM me for more info......

 

Interesting...

I'll say this upfront but a lot of people who review cars for a living seem to be very happy with the upgrades from the Track Package. Hell, the car is pulling over .9 G's laterally during independent testing. I can't see myself upgrading basically everything. The rear control arms are all pulled from the GT500, as are the sway bars.

Strut tower bars I do understand your point though. The car did come with one but I honestly dont see the point as the structures of cars now are so stiff that it seems more for look/show.

I had coilovers on my last car...and honestly, the ride even after spending hours adjusting them and trying different damping rates didnt seem to help all that much. It was just way too much for a daily ride.

The biggest thing I want to do is really just eliminate wheel hop as much as possible. After lowering the car I understand that a lot of other things are affected and need to be readjusted or replaced to get all the suspension geometry correct again.

I do understand about the poly bushings in the control arms...had them on my last ride...wayyyy rough for one and were constantly out of alignment...not going down that route again...and the constant squeaking drove me nuts...

 

jasezero, call Sam Strano.

You have goals, you have a specific problem you're trying to resolve, you don't need to revamp your entire car's suspension package. If you're happy with most if it except for one thing, address that thing. There's NO need to go through all the other stuff, given your stated goals.

Call Sam, tell him your goals, and he'll set you up without trying to sell you a ton of other things in the process. I'm guessing the new UMI control arms with roto-joints will be of keen interest to you (they'll nix the wheel hop and be decently tame on the sound front).

Best,
-j

 

+1 for this. Sam is the perfect person to talk to.

 

+1 That guy just knows what he is talking about.

 

+1000 - Get in touch with Strano.

 

I asked sam the essentially the same question, and this was his answer. :



I think the track pack's rear bar is too big. They jumped from 20mm to 24mm. I run/use an 22mm rear bar that's adjustable (so you can make it stiffer, or softer). I also run more negative camber in the front to increase grip. The shocks are much better on a Track pack, but still lack control over what I prefer, and the springs are still very, very tall which means the Cg is just sky high.

As a stock car it's way better balanced than a normal GT, but they did it by just stiffening the rear up which takes mechanical grip away, and did not do anything to lower the mass.

So pretty much, the same things apply. Better dampers (I'd recommend adjustables here), lowering springs to get the Cg down and keep air from packing under the car, and help lessen brake dive. Something like Steeda HD mounts that offer you camber adjustment to help with tire wear and balance. And adjustable bars, again to tune the balance of the the to you liking (balance does change with other mods, even a different set of tires will make the balance change).

 

track pack is only ****ty GT500 suspension with HELLA sticky tires.

Get some better Bars, LCA, and dampers/springs and your set. No wheel hop. UCA isnt mandatory i dont have AM UCA and i have zero wheel hop.