Anyone run coil-overs or been in a coil-over mustang?

DougNuts · Dec 7, 2003

I'm tired of my 89 mustang feeling every single bump in the road. My girlfriend's Civic feels like a luxury car compared to it.

Would some soft coil-overs and new LCA bushings give me a more reasonable ride quality? I'm more interested in ride quality than handling as this is my daily driver.

nomuffler · Dec 7, 2003

DougNuts said:
I'm tired of my 89 mustang feeling every single bump in the road. My girlfriend's Civic feels like a luxury car compared to it.

Would some soft coil-overs and new LCA bushings give me a more reasonable ride quality? I'm more interested in ride quality than handling as this is my daily driver.

All the places where dampners mount will need to be braced to support all the load coilovers will put on them from what I understand. If you want it to ride nice get soft suspension stuff from one of the less "sporty" fox body variants. LTD, Granada, Fairmont, Etc. I don't know wich ones will have parts to offer but springs and shocks/struts can't be to different there's probably somthing that'll ruin the handling of your stang. (sorry I'll try to leave opinion out of this) New bushings will increase NVH (Noise vibration and Harshness)

DougNuts · Dec 7, 2003

I'm very familiar with what it takes to do a coil-over conversion. I've just never been in a mustang with coil-overs.

I do not want a softer spring in the stock location, that won't help ride quality much, plus the springs I have are too soft as it is.

Allow me to explain: The stock spring acts against the frame and the LCA. Due to the placement, the wheel rate is approximately 25% of the spring rate. Also, the LCA bushing causes some bind and transfers alot of NVH through the vehicle due to the load it carries.

In a coil-over application, the spring acts directly on the spindle, which then acts upon the end of the A arm. In this case, your wheel rate will be ~90% of the spring rate. The softer spring will allow the wheel to react faster to road irregularities and the position will cause less bind (force) on the A-arm bushings, reducing NVH.

To properly locate coil-overs, a 4 bolt caster/camber plate is necessary. A good one, like from maximum motorsports or griggs. A person may get more road noise from CC plates, but the ride will be smoother from the improvement in geometry that coil-overs give you.

You can get a better ride and better handling in a mustang by switching to coil-overs. Coil-overs must be done properly to avoid damage to the strut towers and I recommend parts from www.maximummotorsports.com.

My question is/was, has anyone riden in a mustang with coil-overs with street oriented spring rates.

http://www.maximummotorsports.com/coilover.asp

mightypoof · Dec 7, 2003

While on the subject....I remeber there was a group buy for X2C coil-overs awile back....any feedback on those? THanks guys....

nomuffler · Dec 7, 2003

Oh, my bad. I've never been in a mustang with coilovers.

DougNuts · Dec 7, 2003

mightypoof said:
While on the subject....I remeber there was a group buy for X2C coil-overs awile back....any feedback on those? THanks guys....

Yeah, you couldn't pay me to put them on my car. Seriously, if your car is a daily driver or road racer, Maximum motorsports or griggs are the ONLY places to buy from.

As far as drag racing goes, I'm not too up on that, but I'm sure MM could fix you up with something. Check out their website.

Any coil over kit that looks like that should not be touched. (that is a granatelli kit BTW)

Dan'l · Dec 8, 2003

Why not?

DougNuts · Dec 8, 2003

Dan'l said:
Why not?

The big reason is the single shear on the bottom bolt.
Second, look good at the picture, it's not even strait.
There is another reason some people brought up, but I can't remember right now.

bhuff30 · Dec 8, 2003

Yah, every single one of those kits with single bottom bolt at the bottom scare me to death.
It sounds to me like you already know a ton about coil overs. You already know that you get a better ride quality, but it is very difficult to quantify that. Just keep that unless you chose a front spring with a rate of less than a rediculously low 100 lb/in you will get better handling. there are several "drag racing" front coil over kits that come with 150 lb or 200 lb springs which will definatly give you a better ride, and even better handling. Your girl's civic uses a true mcpherson strut which in actuallity is a coil over, so your front suspension will be comprable to hers. The rear is a real problem though. It is a live axle instead of just a couple arms to support a hub and wheel like a front drive. I don't know how much coil overs will help there, but it should be noticible at least... just probably not worth it.

nomuffler · Dec 8, 2003

Unless it's a newer civic it has Wishbones in the fornt (ignorance owns me regarding th back) They are far superior to McStruts inmyopiion

DougNuts · Dec 9, 2003

bhuff30 said:
It sounds to me like you already know a ton about coil overs.

Let's just say I've read alot about them, unfortuneately I have no experience with them.

You're right about the rear suspension being independent in the civic vs. solid in the mustang. If you shop around you can get 99-02 cobra IRS's for between $500 and $1000, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Coil overs in the rear do supposedly make a big difference on a solid axle car, but I imagine (guess) that it's not as big of a difference as on the front because you still have the entire axle as unsprung weight.

wildyellow · Dec 13, 2003

Suspension

DougNuts said:
I'm tired of my 89 mustang feeling every single bump in the road. My girlfriend's Civic feels like a luxury car compared to it.

Would some soft coil-overs and new LCA bushings give me a more reasonable ride quality? I'm more interested in ride quality than handling as this is my daily driver.

I'm with you. I want a smoother quieter ride. I don't plan on taking any corners at 80 mph any time soon. If I just cut a little (1") of the springs off for looks, aren't they likely too be a smoother ride than getting lowering springs (Eibach, BBK) which have "sporty" handeling in mind? Then maybe get a decent set of shocks and struts? By the way, what kind of shocks/struts does a 95GT come with anyway? I'm not sure any coil over set ups have "softer ride" in mind. They all seem to be drag race set ups.

DougNuts · Dec 13, 2003

wildyellow said:
I'm with you. I want a smoother quieter ride. I don't plan on taking any corners at 80 mph any time soon. If I just cut a little (1") of the springs off for looks, aren't they likely too be a smoother ride than getting lowering springs (Eibach, BBK) which have "sporty" handeling in mind? Then maybe get a decent set of shocks and struts? By the way, what kind of shocks/struts does a 95GT come with anyway? I'm not sure any coil over set ups have "softer ride" in mind. They all seem to be drag race set ups.

That's the wonderful thing about coil-overs. You get better handling AND a better ride at the same time.

If you want a better ride and a lower look with the factory spring locations, then I'd recommend FMS B springs. I don't recommend cutting your stock springs, I highly doubt you'll get a better ride. I'm not too sure what shock/strut options are available for a nice soft ride. I'd venture to guess that some adjustable tokicos with the B springs will be your best bet for good ride but ride quality (feeling every bump) won't be a whole lot better than stock.

Some 250# coil over springs with adjustable struts/shocks would probably be the ultimate ticket to good ride quality.

mightypoof · Dec 14, 2003

so what are some good inexpensive coil overs?

GTPhreak · Dec 14, 2003

you only need the 4bolt c/c plates on an sn95 where the strut is not "encosed" in the triangle that the mount bolts are in. a 3bolt setup is fine on a fox car

livenfine · Jan 7, 2004

So how about the X2C coil-overs? Very good price, but will they hold up to RR/Autox?

Slugstang · Jan 7, 2004

I currently run coil-over's on one of my 85 Mustangs front and rear. The fronts are D&D I believe... can't remember but I got them through Summit but they ride very nice. Not to harsh and not to bouncy. I use these in conjunction with Lakewood struts. In the rear I run an S&W Racecars coil over kit and it bounces a lot on rough roads, but then I also run 28x13.5-15's MT Streets so that may be the reason for the bounce. I also am not using the mounting method shown in the pick above as my car is tabbed. I do plan on going coil-over in the front and rear of my new 85 mustang as well but I will be getting a much nicer kit for the rear and I'll be running smaller street tires instead of street/slicks.

I have also ridden in several other cars with coil over kits and all have been an improvement over the stock configuration but then these are older cars such as Camaro's and Chevy II's.

Almost all coil over kits used on the rear wheel drive cars are of the single horizontal bolt style. It has been a reliable and safe mounting system for decades. Now if it were the old style type that is a vertical stud on the end of the coil-over I'd be worried.

Mike

mightypoof · Jan 7, 2004

Dude...... livenfire....scroll up and read....I asked the same question like four weekes ago...

Cougar · Jan 7, 2004

nomuffler said:
Unless it's a newer civic it has Wishbones in the fornt (ignorance owns me regarding th back) They are far superior to McStruts inmyopiion

The new Mustang uses McPherson struts on the front, and i'm kinda worried about that. Not sure if it's going to be able to handle with those.

DougNuts · Jan 7, 2004

Cougar said:
The new Mustang uses McPherson struts on the front, and i'm kinda worried about that. Not sure if it's going to be able to handle with those.

So do the M3s IIRC. There is nothing wrong with a McPerson setup. It's the pre-05 modified McPherson setup that sucks.

Slugstang, thanks for the information. Sound like they would make me happy. Unfortunately, I think I'm going to drop the 89 to my brother and pick up a Civic here soon.

My 94 will be getting coil-overs, but they will be set up for racing, not ride quality.

Anyone run coil-overs or been in a coil-over mustang?

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