0to60

My 18" GT "fanblade" polished aluminum wheels with 235/50/ZR18 BFG's finally arrived! I can't wait to get them on the car, but first...

Time to eliminate that unsightly wheel well gap! I'm going to install lowering springs -- either the Steeda Ultra Lites or the Eibach Pro Kit.

My question is this: what do I need to make the springs work without messing up my alignment, camber, ride quality, or side-to-side measurements; causing wheel hop; wearing out the shocks/struts, etc.

I've been researching similar threads extensively and talking with a steeda rep about these issues, but I wanted to hear from those of you who have done the lowering springs mod about your personal experiences.

1. What springs do you have?

2. What else did you have to install to work with the springs?

3. How do they work? Do you feel like you need anything else?

I'd love to hear about anything from camber bolts to panhard bars and LCA's to a full overhaul of the shocks/struts with Tokico D-Specs. Let me know what has worked (or not worked!) for you.

Thanks!
Tim

blackfoot

the rear springs can take easily 20 min.. you dont even need to get under your car

-jack your car up with stands under the rocker panels (there are 2 notchs cut where the stands go, one on each side)

-bring jack to your rear diff, jack up diff from center to load it up, make sure your center of the diff, not on the edge by the cover

- unbolt your wheels

-unbolt the bottom bolt to your shocks

-lower your jack

- grab spring and wiggle loose, and replace with aftermarket

-reverse steps

make sure your spring sit right.. like the of the spring fits in its groove, bothe front and back springs

now the front, took me 1h 45min , (including time to go buy a mcpherson strut compressor)

- jack up front of car and place on jack stands (notches on rocker in the front also)

-unbolt wheels

- unbolt SLA to sway bar connector (the upper bolt is the easier one)

-unbolt the 2 lower strut bolts

-unbolt abs line from its hanger on strut (10mil)

- unbolt the 4 small upper strust bolts

-remover mcpherson strut

-bolt on compressor to spring

-compress it

- remove top nut

- decompress spring
- remove and replace with aftermarket

-make sure spring sits where its suppost to

- (follow paper instructions included, to re and re your dust boot)

-place top on make it sit where its suppost to and the arrow point in the direction of your lower strut bolt bracket

-compress spring

-tighten top nut

-decompress spring

- and reverse steps

blackfoot

i recomend the eibach pro-kit, its what i got and i love it

people like it so much that my ford dealer is now installing hte kit before they sell the car

blackfoot

from eibach i purchased their alignment kit (which i purchased through my ford dealership)

eibach alignment kit only included 2 camberbolts one for each upper of the 2 lower strut bolts..

on the shaft has a lobe turn the lobe to the outside and you get positive camber.. which is what you want because youll initially have negative camber after the drop..

i drove around for a month before i installed my camber bolts

if your doing it yourself. the washers thats comes with the bolts go on the opposite side of the nut if you know waht i mean, the washer has a tab going inward and it made to take up the room behind the lobe before you tighten it down..

anywho the spring install i recomend.. the camber bolt i recomend bringing it to a shop.. cuzyour gonna need an alignemnt machine anyways

blackfoot

ive heard rumors that people said they had to purchase an adjustable panhard bar upon looking under the car, its impossible for your axle to shift left or right after the drop unless soemthing is bent.. first of all the LCAs themselves wont let your axle shift left or right aslo on top of your diff i guess you would call it an upper control arm, and thats also does not let your axle shift from left or right

beaustang

I had the Springtech's but had a bad experience and switched to the Eibach's. I would recommend having the dealed do the install; you won't run into warranty problems if you have suspension issues. I went into detail in an earlier thread about the problems I had if you are interested.

0to60

Thanks, guys!

So with the Eibach Pro-Kit, the panhard bar and LCA's aren't necessary? How about the stock shocks and struts -- will they hold up over time?

How's the ride quality with the Pro-Kit? A little less body roll, I hope? But not that you feel every little bump in the road?

Tim

blackfoot

word on the street is that shocks and struts will be worn out at half its normal life.. i guess time will tell..
panhard bar and lca's are not neccesary but would be a nice mod in the future

ride quality is amamzing.. my only issue is speed bumps and steep dips in the road, like i mean really steep.. and the more you drive the softer the ride gets.. if anything i think ride quality got better

you have less squat on a launch... and nearly no body roll on corners.. corners that i took turns doing 60km/h before im now doing them at 100km/h

0to60

Ahh! I'm torn. The Pro-Kit sounds great, but this is what I heard from Frank at Steeda:

Tim,
Just do this.

Use our sport springs 555-8215 lowers approx 1" The rear will be a tad lower so the car is flat. Are you going to buy springs from a company who makes springs for 300 or 400 different cars or from one that makes them for a couple of FORD cars and who uses the Ford engineering department for design work?

Use a 275/40/18 tire all around

Do the front and rear sway bars

DO INSTALL the panhard bar AND the brace.

Do install a rear lower arm. Keep the axle under control.

You will think you have a different car.
Frank Stoddard
Steeda Sales & Service, LLC
Sales & Special Projects

justang05

I hear you're supposed to change the shocks and struts when you lower it too. Apparently it puts a lot of excess stress on the stock ones.