satchmo72

Hey guys, new to the board and to Mustangs, my wife has brought me over to the Ford camp from Mopar and in the process brought me from working on cars that were built in the 60's to cars built in the 80's. The car is newer to us with 51K miles. It's 23 years old though and looks to be original.

The suspension and steering on this thing is loose, harsh, creaky and just plain worn out. I am looking to replace whatever needs replaced including shocks, struts, springs, bushings and anything else while I am doing it.

I am looking to maintain the suspension, the car is going to be street driven mostly by my wife. She would like to lower it just a bit but nothing drastic. I will be looking to upgrade intake and headers but nothing big HP drastic.

I am not sure how to attack the sloppy steering.

I have done some homework and here is what I have so far.

Bushings: Learned not to use urethane in the rears but use them in front which throws out a lot of the kits. Probably get these from LMR

Shocks,Struts: Thinking about these: http://www.maximummotorsports.com/st...oducts_id=1074

Springs: Not sure how much these will lower the car though.
http://www.maximummotorsports.com/st...roducts_id=747

Thoughts?

Jazzer The Cat

Those springs will give you 1.75" drop (front) & 1.6" drop (rear), according to the manufacturer. This is fairly aggressive and WILL change the ride qualilty over that of OEM.

If your Mustang has only 51K on the ODO, the "sloppy" steering is more relative to whatever your use to driving The exceptions would be if something has pre-maturely worn out or previous owner modified something.

Best way to think of suspension mods, is the addition of NVH (Noise Vibration Hashness) as a natural by-product of its modification. You want to improve the cornering or just lower it for appearance, you WILL get NVH, in nearly 100% of any mods you do. The exceptions would be sticking with OEM everything, installing a set of FLSFC's (sub-frame connectors) and "maybe" a set of dampers, depending on brand. If you're looking for a moddest drop, my recommendation would be to stick with no more than a 1" drop and will limit other issues of suspension geometry changes. I would recommend a "Bullitt" suspension pack, as a nice alternative, but is not for your model being a Fox Body

Contact MM and run your ideas by a tech on the phone. He/she can discuss expected changes in ride quality and steering response with given mods to your suspension. You may just want to run it by your mechanic, just to make sure all the bushings and stuff are consistant with OEM and your current mileage.

Jazzer welcomes satch to MF's

satchmo72

Thanks Jazz!!!! I have my doubts on the mileage but I can see the rubber is drying out on the bushings and I figured it was just old age.

The backend gets real squirrely and bumps hurt so I know shocks and struts are in order. I am fine taking it back to stock but thought I might upgrade a bit as I go but not wild. I will call MM when I get ready and we can line things out. Good call.

Gots lots to learn.

Jazzer The Cat

Feel free to chime in if you have more questions and just make sure you research ALL that is effected by whatever changes you make to your suspension.

Jazzer

satchmo72

Hey jazzer, figured out that part of my suspension issues are actually because I think the frame is bent. The passenger tire sits nicely in the middle of the well, the driver though is more towards the rear of the car, I had wondered why the tire was rubbing the plastic towards the back of the wheelwell.

Jazzer The Cat

Likely the "K" is bent Were you the owner when this damage occurred or did you purchase it this way?

Jazzer

satchmo72

I purchased it this way. There is slight misalignment in the hood lines but nothing I thought that screamed bent until a body guy friend of mine pointed it out.

I am going to take it to a frame and rack shop and have it checked out. It drives ok, just a bit of a shimmy at 40mph.

Jeff

satchmo72