Shelty

hey everyone, so I am finally stockpiling parts for spring to lower my 2005 GT. order some K springs for it the other day, next thing on the list is some struts and a panhard bar.

I dont race the car, its more of a cruiser. are Caster camber plates really needed on these cars? the only other mustang Ive had was a 91 foxbody ragtop that i never got around to doing anything suspension wise so this is unexplored territory for me

do I need the plates or will I be fine with just the GT500 strut mounts? also are those eilbach camber adjustment bolts needed to make sure the car is properly aligned?

thanks in advance

Jay@Hypermotive

GT500 strut mounts should work just fine for your needs. I would get a set of camber bolts especially when dropping your car. You also may want to look into an Adj Panhard bar however, I would wait to even see if the drop alters the rear center of the car. Let me know if we can help you out at all or if you have any other questions.

Jason

UrS4

I would advise to get Steeda HD strut mounts instead of the GT500 mounts and camber bolts. You get some camber adjustment with the steedas. The GT500 mounts are just like the stock GT mounts but with a stiffer rubber isolator.

Shelty

thanks for the tips. i was not aware of the steeda mounts. i would rather have camber adjustment over anything else. dont feel like eating front tires.

as for the rest of the suspension, I do plan on getting an adjustable phb and Koni reds.

LCA and UCA will come eventually, i just dont know what I want yet. would I need ball joints as well? or just check them when I take it apart? car only has 68,000 miles on it if that. I rarely drive it.

I just cant wait to get rid of all that wheel gap in the rear.

Norm Peterson

While checking the ball joints is probably a good idea, know that it is not necessary to separate the ball joints in order to replace the front springs or struts.

Ditto on the recommendation for the Steeda HD mounts. Aftermarket camber ("crash") bolts that can only be torqued down to about half of what the regular strut bolts are supposed to be tightened to . . . make me nervous even for a car that isn't driven very hard.


Generally, unless camber is WAY off, it's bad toe settings that are really responsible for most cases of severe tire wear.


Norm

Norm Peterson

You can get a fair idea where your camber will end up after lowering if you know where it's at right now. There are several DIY methods available for doing this, with a digital angle finder and a level setup area being about as easy as it gets.

For an inch of lowering you can expect camber to shift about 0.6° further negative, or about 0.8° more negative for 1.5" lowering.

The OE preferred spec for camber is -0.75°, with plenty of tolerance either side of that. Even if the use the car will see is as mild as I think I'm hearing, you'll want to keep the camber at least at -0.5° but probably no greater than -0.8°. Strut suspensions should never be run at zero camber (EVERYBODY would be wearing the outside shoulders of their front tires faster than the middle of the tread and the inside shoulders at that setting)


Norm

E_cox310

I put the FRPP springs on my 06 as well and I just put on the Eibach Cam bolts to keep it aligned. I didn't need to put on the caster camper plates.

Old Mustanger

You will get a good idea on what you need if you look where your OEM adjustments are in their travel. Usually you don't need CC plates if you are only dropping 1"-1 1/2". But I did with my Cobra. From the factory I was almost at my limit of adjustment, so I HAD to get CC plates to get enough adjustment. I used the MM plates and was 100% satisfied, they are a very well designed & manufactured kit.

Ditto on the cam bolts, I would not trust them, not even a little bit.

Shelty

i'll scratch the eilbach camber bolts off the list.would rather not have any issues due to them and just spend more money on the steeda plates and do it right. I am much more of a do it once and do it right kind of person. lol

if I ever look to get more performance from the car i can always swap stuff later but for now she is just gonna be a fast street car,and my DD when I dont need the company car.

you mention that the toe setting is what eats tires, but unless I am wrong, toe is adjusted with the tie rods correct?

Norm Peterson

That is correct.


Norm