pascal

I agree with Norm...
$150 for an alignment is a rape.
Going rate in most State is $59 for a 4 wheel job.

Also, on these cars, there's no need to use a spring compressor as there is very little load on the spring once it's off the car.
I use 2 big tie wraps on each side of the spring if I'm by myself (or the weight of the lift) to keep things together.
You don't want to drop any of the little ball bearings.
If I have help, one guy just need to push down with both hands while the other undo the nut.
When putting back a new lowering spring, there will be enough threads sticking out the mounting plate, so that eliminates the need to compress the spring.

angryBits

Cool thanks guys, if anyone is in the bay area and wants to help me, there's beer in it for you!

Rubrignitz

I could remove and replace those parts three times in five hours...without a lift and airtools! If you're going to take it somewhere, hunt down a specialty shop that does performance work on mustangs and know what it entails. If they throw a ballpark number out there like 5 hours labor (and I agree with Norm, $150 for a front end alignment is absurd) tell them thanks and go someplace else. There should be plenty of mustang specialty or dedicated suspension shops in CA.

angryBits

Thanks guys, thats what I wanna hear.

$100 an hour isn't so bad around here, but I didn't know if 5 hours was reasonable. It sounds like it isn't.

I'm looking for other shops, but its hard without references.

Rubrignitz

Be careful with coilovers. While it's nice to have the ability to adjust height and corner weights most of the setups have excessively high spring rates and limited availability of lower (i.e. street) rate springs. If I went with a coilover setup for the street I'd look at steeda's offering which utilize standard hyperco springs in assorted rates of 150 up to 600#.

Rubrignitz

See if there are any local mustang clubs/forums in your area. We have central texas stangs here in centex. Those guys will be able to point you to some trusted shops in the area.

angryBits

I googled Pro Street S spring rate and found this: http://performance-suspension.eibach...cted_language=

It's for the Camaro but probably the same.
it says 160-228lbs in front and 228-445lbs in rear.

Sounds decent.

Norm Peterson

No, they won't be.

The fronts are sort of in the same range, but the rears are definitely going to be different. The reason is that the motion ratio for an independent suspension is somewhere between 1/2 and 3/4, so the IRS spring ends up being anywhere from two to four times as stiff as a S197 just to give a similar ride.

There is a spring chart in a thread somewhere in this section. Even if it isn't "perfect", it'll at least give you an idea where the spring rates fall.

Incidentally, the OE rubber control arm bushings actually contribute some "wheel rate".


Norm

Sleeper_08

You mean this one?

https://mustangforums.com/forum/s197...g-allowed.html

angryBits

I see. This thread has been very informative!

So what spring rate should I be shooting for, front/rear?

The higher the spring rate, the more stiff the suspension will be and potentially more bouncey and probably more NVH?

So whats the street-rate --> track-rate range for a 2011 Mustang GT for front to rear?

I really appreciate the help!