I want to lower my car! what do I need?
 

Well after three years of constant instruction to "lower that thing because it looks like a 4 wheeler" I've decided to finally go for it. I do drive spiritedly on occasion but it's mostly fairly normal city/highway stuff, autoX is not something I've tried so performance at that level isn't a concern. I do head to a drag strip a few times a year so I'd like to keep the launch fairly intact.

I'm currently looking at the Ford Racing K-Springs ( http://www.americanmuscle.com/fr-200...9%5E2%5E579.98 ) and Eibach Pro-damper shocks and struts ( http://www.americanmuscle.com/eibach...9%5E2%5E579.98 ).

If anyone has some recommendations for parts instead of these or for additional things I may want to consider purchasing (adj panhard rod??) , they would be greatly appreciated as I know next to nothing about suspension parts. Also, how realistic is it to do the install myself? I've done exhaust/oil changes/fuel filter replacement so I'm fairly used to being under the car.

Buy new upper strut mounts. I'd recommend the J&M ones that are for sale on AM right now. If you reuse the stock ones you will get a terrible popping sound. I'm swapping in the J&M ones this week because I was short sighted and didn't upgrade.

They're easy enough to do yourself. Just a few bolts to keep track of.
http://www.mustangmonthly.com/howto/...cks/index.html

Thanks, added those to my list. Anyone have opinions on the adjustable panhard rod?

I just did this a couple weeks ago. I ended up with Koni str.t shocks struts and the steeda sport springs. Huge improvement over stock. Install wasnt too hard. Can be done with basic auto knowledge. Panard bar was not needed in my case because it was a mild drop.

Are you sure about -1.5" for a daily driver? FRPP also offers -1" springs that would give you a little more bump travel and leaves you at slightly better geometry.


An adjustable PHB can be installed at any time without affecting anything else, so wait and see if you need it.

When you lower the car, loosen the control arm bolts, settle the car at its new ride height, and retorque them (with a little medium strength locktite). This will help the bushings to live longer after lowering.


Norm

Fairly reasonable. You will want to have a good set of spring compressors to get the old front springs off so you can re-use the isolators. Installed springs are under compression and can be dangerous if they get loose, so be a little careful with them once you've got the strut nuts off. Rear springs will not be under much compression (if any) once you've got the axle drooping and the shocks disconnected.

Pay attention to the torque specs, and now would be a great opportunity to upgrade the strut to knuckle bolts to the newer fine-thread version that goes down at ~166 ft-lbs rather than the 148-ish of the older coarse-thread bolts that I'm sure your car currrently has. Call this cheap insurance, don't balk at the price, and maybe shop around for them.

I'm going to suggest using the Steeda HD upper strut mounts, as they're better than the OE mounts particularly for lowered cars, plus they offer some camber adjustment. You won't need caster adjustment, so not having any is not a deficiency. They're fine for any driving you're ever likely to be doing, from normal daily up to and including autocross or open-tracking (I doubt you'd ever notice they were there - I certainly don't).


Norm

All you need to do is call Sam Strano with www.stranoparts.com. Sam will steer you in the right direction. He likes the SRT-t shocks/struts with Steeda sport springs for a mild drop. You can get the gt500 strut mounts from LRS cheap.
http://www.latemodelrestoration.com/...rut-Mount-Pair

Wait on the adj panhard bar, you might not even need it. After you lower it you might find out you have wheel hop. Then you can get a set of non adj BMR lca's and relocation brackets. Just my .02