Best Coilovers??
- Thread starter 89_Cobra
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88stangmangt
Active Member
stangbear427
Active Member
I'll swear by my MM set up: Bilstien Sports with specific rate Hypercoil coilovers. Very nice ride with awsome grip, and both have a lifetime guarantee. Hypercoils have an impressive racing history, are made in the USA, and are as good as it gets. The Bil's are a perfect choice for a street/strip car; self adjusting so you can concentrate on your driving not your shock setting requirements, which will change instantaniously both on and off the track regularly. Nothing worse than getting caught halfway through a lap and realising you shouldn't have set your shocks on "kill" today. The Bilstiens already know, and can adapt to changes as you encounter them. Looks are a pretty much irrelevent factor in choosing coilovers, as any quality kit will be adjustable. They should all be able to be made to look the same when you're parked 
QDRHRSE
New Member
I agree with stangbear but M&M stuff is expensive. Call Gary at Brandt Racing- www.stangparts.org and he'll set you up. I think his prices on D&D stuff is less than if you went to D&D (I think). Anyway, I've used the D&D stuff on a few cars and I like it. No matter what you are doing with your car coilovers are the way to go. The car will ride better no matter how its set up- drag or road. I swear by coilovers- especially in the front of the car.
I like the QA1's...no sleeve, is a threaded strut. But i have ran the Maximum Motorsport kit with Tokico's and it was nice. Comes with the Hypercoils also....don't think theres much better spring quality out there like stangbear mentioned.
Legendary
Founding Member
88stangmangt
Active Member
stangbear427
Active Member
88stangmangt
Active Member
Iowa91LX
Founding Member
IMOP Griggs makes the best coilover kit available.
If you just looking for a lowered car then the difference between Griggs and everyone else isnt worth the money. But if you want the best and you have the money to spend then go with Griggs.
I did not write this, a friend of mine with a GR-40 car wrote this to me when I was wanting to go with Maximum Motorsports.
"I am a big fan of Koni which Griggs uses with their kit. MM uses Bilstein
which you don't see to much of in racing. In my experience it's either Koni
or Penske for the high end cars. Also The way the MM mounts the coil over
sleeve concerns me. If it is the way they explain it they groove the shock
body to accept a ring that the sleeve rides on. IMHO that does not sound
like the best plan. Also Griggs uses a Koni shock that is made to run coil
overs and they put a spherical bearing on one end which is very important
with the load a coil over sees."
Once I got mine I realized the quality and performance that Griggs/Koni provides. Every single Griggs part that I have bought I have been impressed with and have not regretted going with Griggs. Which I wish I could say about all the other parts on my car.
If you just looking for a lowered car then the difference between Griggs and everyone else isnt worth the money. But if you want the best and you have the money to spend then go with Griggs.
I did not write this, a friend of mine with a GR-40 car wrote this to me when I was wanting to go with Maximum Motorsports.
"I am a big fan of Koni which Griggs uses with their kit. MM uses Bilstein
which you don't see to much of in racing. In my experience it's either Koni
or Penske for the high end cars. Also The way the MM mounts the coil over
sleeve concerns me. If it is the way they explain it they groove the shock
body to accept a ring that the sleeve rides on. IMHO that does not sound
like the best plan. Also Griggs uses a Koni shock that is made to run coil
overs and they put a spherical bearing on one end which is very important
with the load a coil over sees."
Once I got mine I realized the quality and performance that Griggs/Koni provides. Every single Griggs part that I have bought I have been impressed with and have not regretted going with Griggs. Which I wish I could say about all the other parts on my car.
stangbear427
Active Member
Incidentally, Griggs also sells Bilstien coilover kits. They are more expensive than their Koni kits, unlike MM, who sells both for the same price. Ironically, the coilover kits are about the same price from either company. In the notes for the Griggs/Koni coilover kit: "works with most common brands". I didn't write a college thesis on this, but that sounds disturbing to me. The groove in the strut body for the MM Bilstien kit is approved by Bilstien, and I don't see how one tiny groove could be more detrimental to the strength of the shock than threading the whole top is- especially for Bilstien, who'se shock bodies are precision formed through a unique seamless extrusion process unheard of in the industry resulting in amazing strength, I think they can afford it. The kit is designed tightly and specifically for the Bils. Where is the bearing he's talking about? All I can think of is the c/c plate, which is how MM makes them too. Don't see much of in racing? They have been building hydraulics for 100 years, and been involved in performance shock technology as long as Koni- who started out as a sowing shop fixing horse saddles. From the Bilstien website:"From racing and testing in Formula 1, NASCAR, SCCA, Rally, and Off Road to original equipment on BMW, Ferrari, Jaguar, MercedesBenz, Porsche, Subaru, Toyota and GM trucks, Bilstein Gas Pressure Shock Absorbers have proven to be the best." There is some pretty high end in there. Of course they're going to pat themselves on the back, and I believe Koni is just as good. The choice is not one of quality, but of preference- which is a decision I was torn over since the same $ would have bought me the famous Konis. Some people presume to be knowledgable enough to adjust them themselves, while others prefer to let someone smarter take care of it, and constantly monitor it. The Bilstien is smarter than the tuner- and can change it's mind without pulling over to adjust. Griggs makes many products I'm impressed with, like the c/c plates, which look better to me than MM's. For the most part though, I find thier website to be a fantastic dictionary of suspension dynamics, and very little hard number information on their products. Unlike MM, whose site is easily navigated and filled with sizes, measurements, thicknesses, etc, Griggs just says they are the best and shows a picture (sometimes). I guess I'm supposed to take their word for it? Some things, like the Panhard design, I'm just not falling for- especially without a length at least. The fact is, whoever is shopping around needs to talk to them both and decide who they are most comfortable with. Which car would win, if each company fully equipt one? The one with the better driver, even if they switched cars. You shouldn't be dissappointed with either. Each has their strengths and weaknesses, and declairing that either company is the best would be foolish. About the only thing that's for sure is which one is more expensive. I'm sure I'd be equally thrilled with either.
Iowa91LX
Founding Member
I agree that both are great companies, and Griggs website does suck when you compare it to MM. They have very few pictures, and dimensions. They do have a photo page. I dont remember what the link is, but I will try to find it.
Call Griggs and ask for them to email you pictures. I have done it and they were emailed the same day. They show installed pictures and will tell you up front about the problems installing them.
If you want to talk history about companies, then talk about Griggs. They were the first company to produce and offer the Torque Arm and the Panhard Bar, Tubular K member, front and rear coil overs also.
Also I do agree with you that unless you have some data collection device, then getting the DA's is usually not worth the extra money over the SA's.
About the P-rod. I dont know if MM even offers an adjustable model like Griggs? But I like the idea of the adjustable P-rod to be able to change the roll center of your car to compensate for different tire sizes, or compounds. I do not have the adjustable P-rod, I am just running the solid P-rod on my car and I still like it. Is it any better than MM's, Probably not?
All I can say is call and speak with both companies. Tell them your considering both MM and Griggs and ask what theirs a better choice. They know all about each other, and I know that they have been asked the question before. Just dont mix-match suspension products, thats asking for trouble.
Call Griggs and ask for them to email you pictures. I have done it and they were emailed the same day. They show installed pictures and will tell you up front about the problems installing them.
If you want to talk history about companies, then talk about Griggs. They were the first company to produce and offer the Torque Arm and the Panhard Bar, Tubular K member, front and rear coil overs also.
Also I do agree with you that unless you have some data collection device, then getting the DA's is usually not worth the extra money over the SA's.
About the P-rod. I dont know if MM even offers an adjustable model like Griggs? But I like the idea of the adjustable P-rod to be able to change the roll center of your car to compensate for different tire sizes, or compounds. I do not have the adjustable P-rod, I am just running the solid P-rod on my car and I still like it. Is it any better than MM's, Probably not?
All I can say is call and speak with both companies. Tell them your considering both MM and Griggs and ask what theirs a better choice. They know all about each other, and I know that they have been asked the question before. Just dont mix-match suspension products, thats asking for trouble.
cjones
Founding Member
stangbear427
Active Member
And the price goes up... da-da-da-da-daaa...Matt90GT said:
Right on. This is the key to unlocking world class handling in your Mustang, regardless of how much you have already spent on your suspension. Worth the money. A two inch drop is too much for a stock K. If you are determined to fill the wheelwells and don't want to do the K, you'd be better off +1 'ing the wheels to 17's (well, I suppose on an '89 that would be +2) and keeping it a tad higher.
Especially if you do a K-member! These are two of the highest priced K-member kits in the industry, and there is a good reason why. Inferior tubular K's and A-arms fail on a regular basis. These two are stronger and better designed than stock. Unless your car never goes around corners or is mainly a trailor queen, it is in the best interest of preserving your life that you get your K-kit from Griggs or MM. I regularly hear of people nailing the brakes in a turn and bending a "lightweight" tubular A arm at 100mph, some are luckierr than others but it doesn't have to happen at all. Critical components are worth shelling out more $ for, and these are more critical than most people realise. Griggs and MM are the only ones I have not heard a single issue about. (No, wait, I never heard of a Kenny Brown arm failing, but like Iowa said- don't mix parts...)Matt90GT said:
stangbear427
Active Member
Yes, MM's is adjustable. This is one of the few Griggs parts I'm not crazy about compared to MM.Iowa91LX said:
Not to hijack the thread any furthur, but I have your page bookmarked and check back often hoping for more pics. Outrageous! One thing I noticed and kinda scratched my head on, is the thousands of dollars in Griggs hardware, and the MM c/c plates. I've always wondered why? The only reason I don't have Griggs plates is my religious aversion to mixing brands and I'm an MM guy. Why'd you do it? I think Mm's c/c's are better than most, but the blue Griggs peices are just a work of art... one of these days I'm going to break my code and swap'pem. (indian term)
Iowa91LX
Founding Member
I bought the MM CC plates after I had bought the Griggs suspension. The MM pieces are very high quality and I am very happy I went with them. The guy at Griggs told me that mixing MM caster camber plates on my car would be fine. I went with the MM because they are $130 cheaper than Griggs, and they are both very high quality. Im sure I will never break or wear them out, plus have great adjustability.
I also have a MM strut tower brace thats not in my signature, and I am also very happy with the quality and fit of that.
I will get back to you with the picture page that Griggs has. I cant find it now.
I dont want to badmouth MM, because I run some of their parts, and have seen their cars in action. They are a great company. I was asked which company made the best coil overs, and IMOP it is Griggs, I also am a fan of Koni, which Griggs uses.
I also have a MM strut tower brace thats not in my signature, and I am also very happy with the quality and fit of that.
I will get back to you with the picture page that Griggs has. I cant find it now.
I dont want to badmouth MM, because I run some of their parts, and have seen their cars in action. They are a great company. I was asked which company made the best coil overs, and IMOP it is Griggs, I also am a fan of Koni, which Griggs uses.
Iowa91LX
Founding Member
Here it is. If you thought their website was bad to navigate through, wait until you try this.
Griggs Racing Photo
Griggs Racing Photo
stangbear427
Active Member
You weren't kidding. I could spend hours clicking away on that and never know what I'm doing. Oh, whatever happened to 89 Cobra? I've noticed that if I hang out in a thread long enough, the thread starter tends to disappear. Should I be reading some writing on a wall somewhere?
