RoadRacer78

I need to get the “K” springs off my car. When I got the car I purchased the FRPP “Handling Pack” the same day. Since then I have added a blower, MASSIVE coolers (about 7-8gal of fluid), 10 rib belt drive kit, bla, bla, bla.

I never liked the progressive springs but now they are downright troublesome. It’s slammed in the front and the front suspension blows through the travel pretty good and then smacks up against the stiff part of the spring (not bottoming). At this point I just want to swap in some more appropriate springs but I’m having a hard time figuring out which way to go, mostly because I don’t really know for sure what I have.

Here are what I have for spring specs (rates are in lb/in):

FFRP K Springs ......F ............173-239 .........R ..............195-236

Steeda Sport .........F ...............200 .............R ...................175

Steeda Comp .........F...............225 .............R ...................185

I’m thinking I want a spring in the front that is about 200-225lb. Whatever the GT500 guys are running probably pretty accurate. I’m not sure going with GT500 specific springs will be a good idea though. The car is quite a bit lighter than one.

In the rear I’m at a bit of a loss. The ones I have seem to work pretty good (aside from being progressive) so using the above information it looks like the Steeda Comps rears may even be on the low side. The car also has a TON of power and a fair bit of traction so it works the rears pretty good.

I’m not looking to do open track events, but I do tear the back roads up every once in a while and I am an ex national level roadracer.
Any thoughts? Advice? What would you go with?

I would like this to be the last springs I buy before going to coil overs (a few years yet), hitting the nail on the head would be nice.

Thanks

Sleeper_08

I'm running the Steeda Comps which are linear springs and my recollection is that these are what Sam often recommends for SC equipped cars.

Of course my SC and associated plumbing is a little lighter than your.

RoadRacer78

Do you still drive the car on the street?

What is your impression of how they ride? I don’t need it to be a Cadillac, but “Race Car” would be a bit over the top.

Do you by any chance have a pic of it from the side with 18” rims so I can get an idea of how it sits?

Thanks a lot!

Sleeper_08

Yes I still drive it on the street but on the occasion I have a passenger they complain about it. It is hard to tell if this is due to;
1) the Steeda Comp springs
2) my leaving the Konis at the track setting of 1 full from hard front and 1/2 from full hard rear
3) GT500 front lower control arms
4) poly/rod end LCAs
5) poly UCA
6) the lousy streets around here

One advantage to having it the way it is - my ex wife has a bad back and so can't ride in the car

I have problems getting pics to work but if you PM me your email address I'll send you an old one I have.

PS - when I first installed the springs they took about a week to "settle" to the present ride height.

RoadRacer78

Well I’m not set up nearly as “stiff” as that. If you can live with it I’m sure I can. As long as my molars stay in my head I’ll be good.

PM’ing you my email address right now.

Thanks!

Ansibe

Roadracer,

Do you have the adjustable FRPP handling pack? It sounds like you want stiffer compression damping, not stiffer springs. I have Koni yellows with steeda sport springs, and I'm quite happy with the way they work on the street (full soft) and track (5/5 at the front; 3/5 at the rear).

As a former bike racer myself (no where near your level, though), I would caution you about going too stiff at the back end. I tend to get on the gas early and hard in corner exits, which is a (bad) habit from my bike racing days. As a result, I seem to like a softer setup for the rear suspension than most. My impression is that the ford setup is stiff at the back to achieve mid corner, neutral throttle balance. That setup doesn't work for me, but you're the only person who can decide if it will work for you.

You could try adjustable anti-roll bars to tune roll stiffness.

parchisi

As for ride quality with the Steeda comps, I'm running them with the stiffer Tokico D-Spec dampers. While its no Cadillac, I'm pleased with the ride.

RoadRacer78

It's the 2006 model FRPP pack. It has an adjustable front bar.


It’s hard to tell. As you know its not like a bike where you feel like the front axle is I your hands and the rear contact patch is wired straight to your footpegs and seat. Right now I’m mostly trying to solve the “slammed” front end which I am guessing has a lot to do with the progressive springs and all the weight I have up there now. I’m not necessarily thinking just stiffer springs, but something linear rate so the first part of the travel isn’t taken up with the weight of the car.

As far as how it drives its hard to tell how much has to do with the progressive rate springs and how much it has to do with the damping in the struts. If I load it up real slow and smooth entering a corner I can feel the progressiveness of the springs. It certainly won’t take a “set” in a linear fashion. I’m pretty sure that is down to the springs because of the low shaft speeds involved. It does tend to want to crash through the travel pretty quick when making quicker inputs though. Not sure if this is just an amplification of the spring effect or of it could use more compression damping also. I suppose it’s probably both.

Interesting insight into the rear end. And your bang on, I like to get on the gas real early. But back there it’s hard to tell exactly what is going on because the car has STUPID torque (over 400ft lb at 2000rpm). It pretty much destroys the tires everywhere. It’s like riding a fast liter bike.

As much as I would love to get really dialed in as far as suspension goes I’m trying not to go down that road ($$$$$). I already have WAY too much money in the car and it’s never going to make a lap around a track. And you can only go so fast on the street. The road racer in me would love to have a fully adjustable coil over suspension on the car, I LOVE that stuff. I would be better off building a second car to go to the track with though.

I have a friend sending me a set of Steeda Sports to try out and I have a set of Comps on the way. I’m going to play with them a bit and see what I can get out of it.

I was told by the Steeda guy today that the rear shocks that come with my FRPP kit have very little rebound in them and suggested I keep running the struts but replace the shocks. I thought that was fairly honest. If he was trying to “sell” me stuff he would have suggested all for corners. Anyone ever heard the rear shocks are lacking in rebound?

Another odd thing I have going on is that I am running a Metco UCA. It swivels in the middle with ZERO resistance which in turn means that the rear has less roll resistance than cars set up with a UCA with bushings that get compressed. I dialed back the front bar to help balance the car out but I think I need either more spring in the rear or more bar to get it where it needs to be.

Thanks for your input and if you have any advice I’m all ears. My goals are relatively mild compared to most posting here but I still need to get a decent balance going on.

Thanks again

RoadRacer78

That’s encouraging. I have Comps and Sports on the way but the Comps will be here first.

Thanks!

Sleeper_08

I've emailed a few pics.

Then I realized that the same pics are in my Profile in Albums. plus some pics of the car on track - which is where it is happiest.