-rpark-

I'd like to stiffen up my mustang and get a little better handling. I want to keep things simple and relatively cheap, want to be able to do it in the garage, and don't want to lower it or mess with anything that jacks up the front end alignment.

All I've done so far is a steeda strut tower brace. I also found this form AM

http://www.americanmuscle.com/frpp-lca-brace-0512.html

I guess it ties in with the strut tower brace on the bottom side.

Is this basically the same thing as above except made by steeda?

http://www.steeda.com/store/steeda-g...d-mustang.html

Also, I was thinking about a panhard bar, and heavier duty sway bars.

Anyway, I'm not trying to build a competition car. I'm just wanting to make the car handle a little better and sportier.

I'm not interested in drag race or quarter mile parts. I mainly use the car for canyon carving.

Any other ideas?

imaredtuna

Replacing the stock struts and shocks will be your biggest bang for the buck. Get in touch with Sam Strano and have him set you up with Koni shocks/struts. They will make a world of difference for daily driving, canyon carving and making the car feel more composed.

With basic hand tools, a floor jack and a rented parts store spring compressor I installed the rear shocks in less than an hour on a Friday night and the front struts in 3 hours the next morning.

-rpark-

I would love a set, but it's way above my skill lever to install...and then I would have to have it aligned (which I hate having done because of past experiences).

imaredtuna

Don't sell yourself short, the install was quite straight forward.

American Muscle has a great user's guide that shows the whole process here:

http://www.americanmuscle.com/eibach...9-install.html

And doing a couple of searches here on the forums will provide a ton of information.

As far as aligning the car, once I was done installing the Konis I went to the alignment shop, had their tech check everything, and no adjustments were required.

I'm not trying to bust your chops here, you should definitely do whatever you are most comfortable with. Just wanted to point out that our cars are pretty simple and enjoyable to work on.

Good luck!

157dB

There is no front end alignment associated with a strut swap.
In fact the front end is not even adjustable. Just TOE.
I wish people would stop spending their hard earned bucks on
front end 'alignments' for the 05-12 Mustang.
The past is the past and this is the future of uni-body.

The strut tower brace is just a waste of time if you
are running the OEM sized tires with the OEM grip.
The S197 body is plenty strong without the need for a STB.
An aftermarket panhard bar is also a waste of $$
for what you are trying to achieve. Just put some
poly bushings (prothane) on the OEM bar and call it good.
Maybe you should invest is a G-Track brace.
And some bigger aftermarket sway bars and
poly bushings for them.
Thats worth the $$.

Whiskey11

Yeah the $125 I'm spending on Monday for a front end alignment is a waste of money. Its not like I installed lowering springs and steeda HD mounts that changed the front end alignment settings...

Ohh wait, I did!

The fact of the matter is that people do things that drastically change the alignment in the front of these cars that don't want the negatives associated with it, like eating tires. I welcome negative camber, but I don't want the toe out to be too excessive and eat tires faster than I eat dinner. I also want MORE negative camber than just dropping the front end allows, and I also want my camber to be equal in race trim on both sides.

Is an alignment a waste when swapping struts? Yeah, it is, but lowering should always come with an alignment and those that don't want the added negative camber can have it turned back to the average alignment specifications from the factory. Those of us who want the settings to be equal can.

I'm not sure I believe the notion that the S197 chassis is as stiff as people seem to make it out to be. Just installing my watts link and steeda sports in the rear showed considerable deflection when putting some pressure on the pumpkin while the rear chassis was on jack stands and it was certainly noticeable by the eye.

Is it stiffer than previous Mustangs, yes, but is it "so stiff" to not need chassis stiffening, I think that may be jumping the gun. SFCs are probably the next performance mod for my car if for nothing else than peace of mind that my body panels stay aligned.

iceguyb14

Unless you have camber bolts or camber plates, getting an alignment is a waste of money. Only the toe can be adjusted. That's what he's saying.

-rpark-

hmmm....this has got me thinking since its all new to me.

what do you guys think of the roush package from just a pure handling standpoint? it says its designed to pull a 1.0g

kit includes:
Front Coil Springs
Rear Coil Springs
Front Struts
Rear Shocks
Front Stabilizer Bar and Hardware Kit
Rear Stabilizer Bar and Hardware Kit
Rear Jounce Bumpers

the roush kit doesnt include the upper strut mounts though. are these really necessary, or are the stocks up to par?

http://www.roushperformance.com/part...2011-2012.html

...

then there is the steeda kit, but it looks like you have to supply the shocks.

it includes:
555-8216 - Steeda Sport Springs
555-1070 - Steeda Adjustable Front Swaybar
555-1057 - Steeda Rear Swaybar with Endlinks

this once doesnt have the upper stru mounts either...nor the rear jounce bumbers the roush kit has.

...

and then there is the ford racing kit. it looks like it has everything you would need and also includes astrut tower brace i dont need because i already have one.

Front Struts
Rear Shocks
Lowering Springs with jounce stops
Front Sway Bar with bushings
Rear Sway Bar with bushings
Strut Tower Brace - does not clear 2007-2010 engine cover
Front Strut Mount Upgrade
...

if i was going to try to pull this off, would it be best to go with the ford or roush kit since they include most everything.

Andy13186

tires would be the best improvement in ultimate performance i think, depending on what your current tires are.

if you have stock rims with p zero neros then lightweight forged aftermarket rims in a wider size, with better wider tires would make a good difference.

the brembo rims with summer only tires are pretty good allraedy though.

Norm Peterson

You may have difficulty finding anything that fits only those two requirements exactly and without a little custom work.

My take on the alignment after lowering is that if you're really lowering it for performance, you might as well at least build in some camber adjustability to make the car suit you and your driving, individually.

Even if you just change struts, there is some chance that due to fabrication tolerances on the strut hole locations you might end up with slightly different alignment specs. This may or may not matter to any given individual driver, but probably not to the 'average' buyer who isn't much into hard cornering.


Norm