joihan777

Hello Everyone,
I've been reading through many posts trying to learn a thing or two about V6 suspension.

I have a V6 convertible without Pony Pkg.

I recently bought some Koni STR.T dampeners and Eibach sway bars (Thanks Sam.. that was quick!) I'm considering springs. I want to decide before I have the shocks/ bars put in to save $. After reading many posts, I still haven't found out what causing dipping when braking.

Is it the shocks or springs?

If it IS the springs.... what springs would work for a V6 that DO NOT lower the car?
I've seen conflicting data regarding GT springs on a V6 car.

Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks!

Thevesh

Both and neither. Its a little bit more complex. Try this:

http://blogs.mustang50magazine.com/6...kit/index.html

Jan

Sam Strano

The dive is mostly a function of geometry... If you look at a car "diving" on the brakes, you'll find a huge majority of it is in the rear end going up, not the front actually slamming down. Sure the nose does drop, but it's mostly the *** end moving up, and quickly, that makes things feel so sudden.

The dampers will help in that they won't let the car's body move around so abruptly. Springs can help both because the fronts are stiffer but also because the rears are shorter and don't want to extend as suddenly.

My recommendation is just put on what you have. GT's have as much "dive" as a your car does. GT springs would just be a waste of money for what you want.

joihan777

Thanks Sam, that's exactly the kind of input I needed.

kingnut

the lower your car is, the less dive your gonna get. if your front end is low with good springs, there no were for your car to dive to.

2005Redfire6

Agreed when I went with the eibachs there is little to no dive.

joihan777, go with some springs that have a little drop to them .8 or so and they should be stiffer and counteract that dive...

Rubrignitz

You can either counteract dive/squat by throwing stiff springs on and cranking down the compression damping or adjust it with relocation brackets and front control arm relocation kit/modified balljoints.

I chose the latter. Nice comfortable ride and very minimal squat/dive.

Norm Peterson

Just as Sam said, it's a geometry issue. The technical stuff involves the "anti-lift" geometry of the rear suspension - the control arm inclinations as seen in side view. This is the sometimes evil twin of "anti-squat", where the dragstrip fix is to relocate the axle side pivots of the LCAs downward to provide more "anti-squat".

Neither the V6 nor the GT S197's come originally with very high rear "anti's", and the end result is exactly what you have noticed - the rear end moves up/down a lot for any given amount of rear spring or shock damping.

LCA relo brackets would reduce this effect some, but understand that doing so does not come free. The car will become at least slightly "looser"-handling, maybe a little too "tail-happy". Another possible downside from having too much anti-squat/anti-lift is "brake hop", which is pretty much like wheel hop on burnout except that it happens during hard braking (when all you really want is for things to just quietly go about the business of getting you stopped).

As a dragstrip mod, I guess it's do-able and more or less something that can be lived with if driven with a little awareness of the potential downsides. But I wouldn't at all recommend doing LCA relo brackets just to stop the tail from rising under braking. As unpleasant as you may find this motion to be, you're probably better off having it happen than trying to specifically get rid of it.


Norm

Sam Strano

Allow me to toss in some more insight here...

First, the OP wanted the best ride possible, and at the time we spoke wasn't inclined to lower the car either.

Trust me on this.... the dampers will help a ton. Yes, springs would also cut some "dive" out, but most of it is a geometry thing anyway--and springs will have other trade-offs I'm not sure he wants to get into

Johann... at least do the bars and the rear shocks if you are unsure about the springs and see how it changes. If it's headed the right way, then you can feel more confident about the front struts alone. At the very least you can see where you stand and have a better idea if you want to make a spring change before we tear the front end down.

Avalanch3

GT springs is a no-no. They might actually raise your car because they are same height but stiffer.

Before I got my H&R's installed I just had Tokico D-Specs. They alone improved the squatting a little but the most noticeable improvement was when I installed the springs. There is virtually no squat at all anymore. Also my braking improved greatly as well.

May I ask why you do not want to lower the car?