Well I banged up my car a little over a week ago. I am now waiting on the insurance company to decide what to do. My plan is to keep the car no matter what and fix it up. The shop says the k-member(stock) is bent but fixable. If I can I would like to replace it and go to a coil over setup. Jazzer always asks what the ultimate goals are, so here they are.

1. I plan to start doing more AX and open circuit driving so handling is going to be very important.

2. It will be a DD most of the time so I would like to keep ride somewhat comfortable while still handling great.

3. Car is lowered about an inch now and I really like the look and would like to keep ride height where it is or a little lower if possible.

I don't think I am going to have a couple thousand $ to throw in a MM grip kit so is there another k member coil over kit I can start with and build from? Also what would be good spring rate/length and what struts are there to match those rates/lengths

Rear will probably have to stay stock(lowered) at this point, but my next mod would be to get coil overs there too.

 

A pepe after my own heart *awe*

OK.... looking to do twisties, I would NOT look to any other "K" than an MM or Griggs (maybe Norm can chime in on another good brand) To do AX and open-track stuff, you need to have strength and the benefits of geometry that either of those will bring you. Most "K"s are geared toward 1/4 mile and light-weight. MM and Griggs weigh more, but offer what you need in the driving you are looking to do.

CO spring rates: For AX, you are gonna need to go pretty heavy, if you want to compete. This means probably minumum of 325# (F) and 300# (R) for sure, but another 25#~50# on each end would probably be a bit better.

Additional thoughts: Have you done any AX to this point? If not, go do several days, at least, prior to doing ANY suspension mods. There are many reasons why, but in short, to avoid some of the issues that suspension mods can allow you to "get away with" before learning good driving techniques. If you are gonna get serious about these things, I recommend you begin your focus on brakes before any of the above. Take a look at my Brakes Upgrade thread and consider it, unless you plan on REALLY getting serious in to open-track, as you will need some better cooling.

As always, NVH will be your companion on nearly all suspension mods, so you need to figure out what you can live with, in terms of upgrades.

Jazzer

 

I have read your suspenion and brake guides. The only reason I am considering the k member now is because mine is bent and I am a little skeptical about have it straightened. The ones you mentioned both look good but looks like I would have to get A arms too and go ahead and get the CO setup. I like the idea of coil overs but price of those two systems may be more than I can do right now. So far the insurance compny is really dragging their feet so I am not sure where I stand with them any way. Thanks for the input. If all goes well maybe I can get one of them.

 

If one goes with an aftermarket "K", I STRONGLY recommend you do, I think it makes no sense to use the OEM "A" arms anyway.

I think it would be silly to attempt to straighten your existing and all the work it takes to remove it, is an easy excuse to upgrade to some real support up front. There are aftermarket parts that are designed to use an OEM located spring and I think UPR is the maker of them (not sure). CO's certainly add to the cost of your work here, but will improve the ride quality and cornering performance of your ride as well. If you are looking for AX and open track work, you should be looking at these items regardless, so this seems like a good excuse find a second job to open the wallet and let the Benjamins flow

The issue with an aftermarket "K" is the upper perch is part of it, so CO's are a natural progression with such an upgrade.

Jazzer

 

Not to jack the thread Jazzer, but I'm curious....what are your thoughts on the aftermarket K members that have the upper spring perch and accept A-arms with spring cups?

 

I have no issue with such a "K". I just happen to think that if one goes soo far as to install a new "K", a new set of tubular arms should be installed as well

Do you have one of these set-ups in mind?

Jazzer

 

Our k-member kit is very strong, suitable for daily driving, and carries a lifetime guarantee. At $699 ($629 for MF members), it is a STEAL. The one comment I would add is that if you plan to get serious about autocrossing and HPDEs, I'd invest in good quality struts & shocks.

http://www.uprproducts.com/mustang-p...er-kit-96.html

Note, when you swap to coil overs, you need to add caster camber plates. Most handling gurus will recommend the four-bolt cc-plates, like these:

http://www.uprproducts.com/mustang-c...es-4-bolt.html

 

I was considering it. I found a K-member and tubular control arms with spring cups and thought that might be a good "middle ground" compromise instead of going full out coilovers. I'm doing a V8 swap into my 95 and figured I should dump the old K member while I'm at it anyway. However, if you feel that a setup like that isn't going to cut it, I suppose I could budget for coilovers instead

 

It is really hard to beat a nice set of CO's!

Nice adjustablity for exact ride height and improved ride quality and handling, provided you match springs/struts up well for your needs. You will need CC plates and, in turn, invite a bit of Mr. NVH into your front end. This is just the trade off for improvement of suspension in nearly 100% of the mods you may do.

Keep in mind, that the OEM "K" has the upper spring perch built into it and would need to get an upper perch for most, if not all, the aftermarket "K"s out there. I think UPR carries the upper perch, so check them out

Jazzer

 

Hmmmm. Okay, thanks for the info, Jazzer! I'm still undecided :P I have plenty of time (all winter) to decide, I'm just trying to weigh the pros and cons of both setups.