Transferring suspension kits to newer Mustangs
 

If I buy a nice suspension kit for my 2010GT, will I be able in one or two years to migrate the components to a newer model Mustang? I am thinking Steeda or Bilstein spring/shocks/strut package.

Don't yell, I'm new and don't know very much. This is my first Mustang and it's great, but I can already tell I'll be wanting a newer one with an auto transmission in 2-3 years. I won't be putting more than 5000 miles on the suspension parts.

I ask all this also because I notice that when you go to pick a Steeda package or Ford Sports package, they are very careful to tell you things like "Caution: this package will not fit convertible!" I scratch my head at this kind of thing (what possible difference could the suspension make to the top?), but it's important because my next Mustang may well be a convertible.

Thanks,
Rob

your 2010 is a different animal all together, it has the later stylings with the 4.6 motor. in 11' Ford went to the 5.0 in the same body. "most" of the suspension parts will fit 05'-14' cars. I think the only thing that's different is the strut mounts, and of course the extra weight from the bigger motor. vert cars have extra bracing underneath to compensate for the loss of rigidity of no roof and that adds weight fore and aft. hopefully a vert owner will chime in on that. id do some more research just to see what will and wont fit. good luck

Thanks, bl. I see you are in FW. I'm in Plano. If there are any meet ups in the Fall, hope to see you there.

Get in touch with Vorshlag, they are right in your neighborhood and have extensive and very successful S197 experience.


Norm

Gosh, Norm. Thanks. I'm just a lawyer with his first toy Mustang who has never been in a speed or mod shop, and this whole world of mods and speed is opening up right here in my neighborhood. Makes me wonder what else is going on around here that I never noticed before, LOL. But yeah, I'll definitely be waiting in the Vorshlag parking lot when they open on Monday. Very excited to know this!

quite a few meets going on all the time. the north texas mustang club is based in grand prairie and does monthly meets I believe. I bought an adjustable panhard bar off local CL from a guy at vorshlag.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/mustang...0ce58b16fa.jpg

this badass machine was sitting out front.

Hey, that's what my car looks like right now. Even the decals. Those guys ripped off all my mods!!! LOL.

No, but I read the blog about that build, and you know what I came away with? The pros at that shop ended up dealing with what a lot of the rest of us deal with: getting your money back out of modifications. They were very open in the blog about the frustration of spending $40k to create it and then no one wanting to buy it.

I was warned about this by a client when I had sport truck fever last year. In a nutshell, it's this: my dream car isn't your dream car and vice versa. That's why I am cautiously modding my car with a view towards restoring it to stock when I sell it and cannibalizing any expensive modifications for my next car, to the extent it's possible. Obviously some stuff just won't transfer. But hey, thanks, again for steering me to these guys. Am very excited about Monday.

Also, I really, really like the stance on that car! Is that "slammed" all the way down? I am kind of a wuss, 63, never raced, and have driven Lexuses the last 15 years, and I don't want the car to shake my teeth loose when I go over a bump.

theirs is definitely very aggressive as lowering goes. probably has coil overs which will help but once you lower your stocker it will get more harsh. there are lots of combinations out there. I have SR performance springs with koni oranges and its a feel every bump ride but tolerable for me. as far as meets go, put NTMC in your bookmarks. they have a calendar with upcoming events all the way up to MCA stuff. good luck and welcome!

It's obviously been lowered, but very thoughtfully so, given that the plan for that car was to make it capable of winning or excelling in in a variety of motorsports events to showcase what the shop was capable of doing with the S197 - autocross (in several different classes), Time Trialing, Optima Challenge, and HPDE/open tracking). Like many other things, lowering 'on the cheap' and/or for appearance reasons only is not likely to turn out as well.

There is a difference between a 'firm' ride and a harsh one, and the choice of shocks/struts or coilovers has a lot to do with where the ride quality of your modified car ends up.
As far as getting started with track driving goes, you really don't need to do any more than I've done with my '08 to date (track pads / a good DOT4 brake fluid / some brake ducting / (much) wider wheels & wider, better tires / shocks & struts, adjustability is nice here / adjustable front and rear sta-bars / better front bar endlinks / adjustable rear LCAs with one spherical end / front camber more negative than stock). That's enough to get you signed off to run solo and run at least in intermediate run groups.


FWIW, I was 64 before taking my car out on the track at all, 66 before getting out there a second time, and I'll be 68 later this year. My wife and I rode around in the Mustang this past weekend, including a spur-of-the-moment ride to out to a restaurant we like that's about an hour away. Didn't even bother to dial the shock firmness back from my own daily preference.


Norm