Hello. I have a 2006 GT Edelbrock supercharged/intake, long tubes, Detroit rocker cams, etc. I have completed all of the engine modifications I planned to do and I’m now moving on to suspension. I picked up:

-Boss 302R Rear LCA’s
-Bose 302S fear LCA brackets
-Fayes2 watts link
-Konis yellows all around
-FRPP lowering springs

my question is, what would be the best sway bar upgrades to mitigate nose dive and help plant the rear? I was planning on using the Scott Drake 35mm front and 2010 v6 vert 18mm rear, but I am open to suggestions and recommendations as I am not Very suspension savvy. Thanks!

 

Sway bars won't affect nose dive, you'll have to address that via springs and damping short of changing suspension geometry. Sway bars only come into play when there are different loads on the left vs. right (of vice versa) suspension by distributing some the load from the higher loaded side to the less loaded side. This helps with body roll but you have to work both ends in order to avoid excess over or under steer.

 

To add to what wjbertrand1 said, for the rear, you can start with control arm relocation brackets. These reduce squatting on initial take off from a standing start or low speed (rolling). This is getting into changing the suspension geometry that was mentioned above. Squatting is one way you lose energy/acceleration from a stand still or low speed roll because the rear suspension must first travel downward (compress) before the car is thrust forward. The relocation brackets reduce/eliminate this squat and allow the energy to transferred more readily to the rear wheels for rotation motion vs compression of the suspension. Again as mentioned, you can also use a higher rate spring or greater dampening. Any change though do affect drivability so you have to plan it out or use adjustable dampeners. .

 

thanks guys. Man this is a lot more intricate than I thought :/ Im that guy who always has to have the best of the best part (somewhat), but sometimes I end up doing things that are overkill or counteract eachother, etc. when it comes to some modifications. So here’s my final setup, if you see anything that doesn’t make sense or I am missing, or I don’t really need please let me know. I really appreciate all of the feedback, thanks guys.

-FRPP lowering springs
-Koni Yellow shocks/struts
-FRPP boss 302 relocation brackets
-FRPP boss 302 rear LCA’s
-Fays 2 watts link
-2010 v6 vert 18mm rear sway bar
-Scott Drake 35mm front sway bar
-Racecraft inc upper rear control arm and bracket
-Steeda Torque Box
-CHE 4 point K member brace with torque limiters
-Shelby trans scoop (A-arm brace)

Do I want a bumpsteer kit or caster/camber plates? As of now the front tires pull the front end every different way and I have a ton of negative camber...

Everything has been purchased, but only the lowering springs have been installed at this time.

 

Just a gut feel on my part but that 18mm rear sway bar seems a little whimpy for your set up. Try it and if you find the front wants to push wide (under steers) instead of turning in sharply when run hard into corners, maybe upgrade to a 24mm bar.

 

Thanks. When it comes to sway bars, I have no clue what I’m doing. Since I’ve got so much power I was reading some forums that said a 35mm up front with 18 in the rear, would make it plant the tires awesome. I looked at the OEM sway sizes for all mustangs and noticed the 05-10 convertible V6’s came with an 18mm rear, so I bought one on eBay on a whim since it was super cheap.

 

What kind of hard driving are you looking at here?

Drag racing in a stick-axle car usually wants a light front sta-bar (or none at all) combined with an unusually stiff rear bar. This tends to equalize rear tire loading against the effects of driveshaft torque and increases total forward traction a little. When hundredths of a second are important, this matters.

If you're looking at an unusually powerful road course kind of car, it's more the other way around in order to be able to put power down sooner on corner exit.


Norm

 

I actually don’t race on courses or at the drag strip. Just like to drive spiritedly from time to time lol. My main goal is just to put as much power to the ground with my setup as I can, and improve turning and reduce bodyroll; and to just make sure everything is straight, pinion angle(driveshaft) is correct, caster/camber are good, etc..

I have a ton of power adders, but no suspension upgrades at this time. Wheel hop and bumpsteer are out of control right now. My engine setup is:

-ported edelbrock supercharger with 3.5” pulley/cold air Intake
-frpp long tube headers
-pypes H pipe
-Detroit rocker SC cams
-‘10 GT500 mufflers
-2013 GT500 intercooler
-miscellaneous mods I am forgetting, but these are the major power adders.

 

Wheel hop - start with rear LCAs that have firmer bushings or possibly a spherical joint at one end. The UCA would be next, but since the UCA is kind of a PITA job I wouldn't bother if most of the hop is quieted down by the LCAs.

I'd be surprised if a stock ride height would make for much bumpsteer, but how far did that supercharger cause the front end to drop? Bumpsteer correction takes time and expertise - it's much more involved than simply trying to match the tierod inclinations to the front LCA inclinations.

Even if you're not doing any real racing either in straight lines from a full stop or around corners, your focus may be more on the straight line than on the corners, or vice-versa. So you'd probably want your sta-bar selection to favor one over the other without being hardcore drag or hardcore road-race. Adjustable bars are your friends here.

Somewhere along the line, you'll probably want at least front springs that are a bit stiffer to cover for the added weight of the supercharger. This can affect your bar choices, and would definitely urge you to shop for better shocks & struts.


Norm

 

Thanks. I should have mentioned, I do have FRPP lowering springs on the car right now. That is the only thing suspension wise that has been installed so far. Along with strut tower brace and bump stops, but koni yellows, lca’s and brackets aren’t on yet.