steelcomp

It's been a while since I've been on here, but thought I'd come back and give an update to my '07 now that it has 115K mi on it. If anyone wants to know about the longevity or durability of aftermarket suspension products, here's a good example.

Track day at Willow.


Under the hood..nothing special here:



Here's the front susp.




Rear:




Here's a rundown of the parts:
Front: Ground Control DA Konis, 385# springs street, 430# track
GC adjustable strut mounts
Wilwood 6 piston/12" brakes
FRPP GT500 LCA
Steeda relocation kit
Steeda bump steer
Steeda lower bushing support (black donuts)
Adjustable roll bar link (home made)
Adjustable roll bar (home made)
Quantum race air duct kit
Rear:
Ground Control adjustable spring mounts. 200# springs
Koni DA shocks
Spohn poly/rod end LCA's
Spohn poly/rod end track bar
BMR track bar support
Steeda competition UCA assembly
BMR upper differential bushing
BMR adjustable LCA mounts
Adjustable rear roll bar mounts (home made)
Stock rear roll bar
Wheels and tires:
Volk RE30 forged 9.5x18 (16lbs ea.)
Michelin PS2 275x40 18 all four corners

Most of this suspension was installed at about 12K mi. The brakes were added at about 50K. and at that same time, all the rod ends and poly bushings were replaced. The poly bushings were actually fine, and to help dispel the myths, I've used blue marine wheel bearing grease on them since they were new with no ill effects.
The rod end on the Steeda UCA went away in about 10K mi. The Spohn rod ends are by far the best I've ever used. When I replaced them @ 50K, I used QA1 rod ends, which were -OK-, but when I went through all the rod ends again about 10K mi ago I replaced them with the Spohn units. They make their own rod ends. The sway bar links take a good beating on the street and get replaced about every 30K when they start rattling more than I can stand.
The suspension has never gone out of alignment. I only check after I replace parts, and have never had to make any corrections due to something moving. When I did the front LCA relocation, I had terrible bump steer (over 1" of toe change through the susp. travel) but now it's at zero. I have over 41K mi on a set of Michelin PS2's, if you wonder how good the tire wear is. That's including a few track days as well. That's a tire with a 200 tread wear, and with 1.6* of camber, 8* of caster, and a smidge of toe in, they're wearing perfectly (34psi). The Koni's are still working perfectly, although it is time for a rebuild, and just a little more low speed dmaping (comperssion and rebound)
I can honestly say that this has been the most fun, best handling, most enjoyable car I've ever had. It's noisy (especially with the light wheels and tires), It's firm (but not harsh by any means) and it's aggressive, but I have as much fun driving this every day as almost anything else I do. On the track it's dead neutral and very adjustable. It puts the power to the ground extremely well and is totally predictable. The steering makes this car feel 500lbs lighter than it is. The "coil over" suspension (it's really not) is nice with it's adjustable ride height. It took me a while to settle on a ride height which ended up being a compromise between looks, handling, and geometry limitations ie: travel, especially in the rear. The only other handling mod I'm working on is a splitter and front tray, and that'll need to be balanced by some sort of rear wing or spoiler. I'm also moving the battery to the trunk.

To conclude, the aftermarket suspension parts I researched and chose have proven extremely durable and reliable, and have stood up to everything I've thrown at them. It's a system that works extremely well in all circumstances, from commuting to track to killing canyons.
Oh, and the engine...well... it's not burning any oil, doesn't smoke, and still gets 26-27 mpg, although it does sound a little loose in the mornings. I've run it hard at least once almost every day.
Still running the stock clutch and drive shaft, too.

socalwrench

Glad to hear it. Seems like you've had no issues with the aftermarket tune either.

sonicx

wow... that really good on a number of things; first to know how durable parts there making these days & how good of gas mileage your getting. Shoot, i get 19 20 ish city mpg & like 24 25 hwy mpg. Dang

steelcomp

Every once in a while (like once or twice a year) there's a hesitation for a split second if I opne the throttle real fast, but other than that, it's been perfect.

steelcomp

I've gotten as good as 29 going to Phoenix. I have the stock 3.31 gears which, for my driving, are perfect.

Retro06MustangGT500

if iam correct u mean 115,000 miles

DRock

How was driving on the Street wth the rod ended UCA? How noisy was it or wasnt it?

Thanxs

steelcomp

It's noisy. The first thing you notice is gear whine and backlash from the rear end. It forces you to concentrate on smooth shifting, but it all works.

steelcomp

Correct.

Red06

Excellent write up Steelcomp! Thank you for sharing your experience with the various mods you've made. I have several Sphon chrome molly parts in the rear and have been very happy with them. I have the poly/rod end combo and use the grease they sell on the poly bushings and have seen no degradation at this point (around 25 track days, ~20K miles).