Bullitt Springs

newskool · Sep 6, 2011

I was wondering if anyone has pics of coupes with Bullitt springs. I've seen verts and hatches, but not really any coupes. Anybody know what change in ride height would be?

newskool · Sep 6, 2011

Anything?

slow90coupe · Sep 6, 2011

newskool said:
Anybody know what change in ride height would be?

Not enough. It will still have a ton of wheelgap and look pretty much stock from everything I have seen. IMO, if you're not going to lower it more than 1.5", I wouldn't even bother with it. Just my opinion though.

newskool · Sep 6, 2011

not really looking at lowering it per say. Just looking for a better ride with a stockish appearance. I've heard of 3/4" drop, but no pics to back it up on a coupe.

stang&2Birds · Sep 7, 2011

slow90coupe said:
Not enough. It will still have a ton of wheelgap and look pretty much stock from everything I have seen. IMO, if you're not going to lower it more than 1.5", I wouldn't even bother with it. Just my opinion though.

Depends if you want the ricer look and ride.
IMHO, ANYTHING over a 1" drop on a non FULL CUSTOM (i.e. full MM setup) is for looks only!
In the real world, more than ~3/4" drop on a fox/sn95 HURTS HANDLING (again, on a non FULL CUSTOM handling setup). MANY MANY MANY threads have gone over WHY that's the case.

From MY point of view, lowering a street car 1.5" when it has only 2.5" of travel and also lowering the force required for full jounce, then fully justifies my statement of those drops as ricer-level drops.

Back to the orig question: The drop will be very slightly less on a coupe than a hatch because of the slight reduction in weight (~4%?).
So, if you want a "pull it from my **** guess" , I'd say ~~0.8" drop for a coupe, but with the ~+/- ~0.2" variation due to many factors in the real life production and aging of the cars.

The look of the lowered car also varies by the YEAR of the Fox/sn95, and of course, the tires. The fenders change over the years. And, many "245/45/17" tires have the width of a 225 tire (cheaper tire, and give a BS rating to the width - like pants and dress sizes). Some tires are also wider than average, but that costs more.

The Foxes and sn95s were not designed to have their tires tucked inside the sheet-metal.

Good Luck!

stang&2Birds · Sep 7, 2011

newskool said:
not really looking at lowering it per say. Just looking for a better ride with a stockish appearance. I've heard of 3/4" drop, but no pics to back it up on a coupe.

You'll get better handling, but at the sacrifice of comfort.

In the real world, there are trade-offs. And, sorry, the Ford engineers were/are not some blithering idiots that did random stuff. Pretty much, EVERY design detail can be justified for some real life considerations.

But, hey, screw getting a degree and having many years experience, clearly, the people on the forums that are not professional designers/engineers know how to design a car that handles to 300Gs on city streets, has 10,000HP, gets 1,000,000 MPG, costs less than $1, and has the best ride and safety ever designed!

Thank goodness they don't start a company and put Ford, Toyota, GM, etc out of business!

FWIW: Going to an expensive strut/shock could help with handling and comfort.
As for why the stock strut/shock aren't like that, consider that over 600,000 Camry's are sold per year. And, if Toyota increased the cost for the shocks on that car by $200, that would be ~$1.2million dollars of profit lost! There's a line between profit and making a good reliable long-life car.

[on soap box]
IMHO, GM has shown that for the past 20+ years, they side on profit.
Ford and Toyota have sided more on reliability, quailty, and features. So, is it any wonder why GM and Chrysler keep seeing their sales go down and fewer repeat customers. While Ford and Toyota see their sales go up and more repeat customers?
[off soap box]

Oh yea, add in people on the forums knowing how to make a gazillion dollars profit in 3 months and a company that's 30,000 times bigger than Apple and Microsoft combined!

newskool · Sep 7, 2011

Thanks for the input. Like i said earlier, I'm not really doing it for the drop. Biggest issue for me is that my tires rub sometime now and i didn't want a drop that was going to make it way worse.

Gearbanger 101 · Sep 7, 2011

stang&2Birds said:
In the real world, there are trade-offs. And, sorry, the Ford engineers were/are not some blithering idiots that did random stuff. Pretty much, EVERY design detail can be justified for some real life considerations.

Random stuff....no, but I would exactly say they were purpose built either. Remember, this chassis was used for 25-years, in about half a dozen different models and 3-different Mustang reskins. I'd say they did a pretty decent job of "compromise" considering what they had to work with, but as a whole.....Fox's weren't a really a "well thought out" set up. That's why there's such a large aftermarket for them....because almost every part on the car was designed as a compromise between comfort, longevity and cost. In the "bean counter" era they were built in, performance was probably one of the last things on the list.

Mustang5L5 · Sep 7, 2011

newskool said:
Thanks for the input. Like i said earlier, I'm not really doing it for the drop. Biggest issue for me is that my tires rub sometime now and i didn't want a drop that was going to make it way worse.

I think you'll find they fit the bill perfectly.

I have Mach springs on my hatch. mach springs are about 1/4" taller, so def spend the time to find real bullitt springs (PN begins with 1R, vs 3R for the Mach)

Ride is nice, handling is still excellent and i can turn my wheel lock to lock now. Best part is i hit a bump and i don't bottom out!

skunk21 · Sep 7, 2011

I have the bullitts, cannot help you pic wise since I have a hatch. I would def. get them, huge improvement over stock for handling and ride. you do get a slight drop, it closed up the wheel gap enough to make it much better looking and it gets rid of enough gap so it doesn't look 4x4ish. Leave the drop look for the ricers and people who don't care about real handling, a track car and street car are 2 different animals and trying to get both is a balancing act besides most lack the talent. get the bullitts and enjoy what you thinking for dampers ?

Gearbanger 101 · Sep 7, 2011

What are the Bullitt springs going for new now?

ill advised · Sep 7, 2011

I wish I'd grabbed a set of Bullitt springs when I had the chance. Performance Parts, Inc carried them (along with Mach 1 springs) for a while. I can't recall the price but I seem to remember it being very reasonable.

Mustang5L5 · Sep 7, 2011

Gearbanger 101 said:
What are the Bullitt springs going for new now?

I don't think they are available anymore.

They were sold as a package with the Bullitt shocks/struts and sway bars for $399. The sway bars were useless for a fox, so you could recoop $100 or so right there to an SN95 owner.

Nowadays, you gotta get used. I paid $75 for my Mach springs

newskool · Sep 7, 2011

Thanks for the input. I already have the springs. Picked them up last week for $50. I'm not sure what shocks/strusts i'm gonna go with, but probably something adjustable. Any suggestions?

Gearbanger 101 · Sep 7, 2011

Anyone got a part number for them? I'd hat to pick up a set on eBay and find out they're stock GT springs.

skunk21 · Sep 7, 2011

Gearbanger 101 said:
What are the Bullitt springs going for new now?

Long discontinued..

Front spring part # 1R3Z-5310-CA

Rear spring part # 1R3Z-5560-AA

got mine brand new from ford over 2yrs ago( just the springs for around $200), I think they where gone shortly after.

slow90coupe · Sep 7, 2011

stang&2Birds said:
Depends if you want the ricer look and ride.
IMHO, ANYTHING over a 1" drop on a non FULL CUSTOM (i.e. full MM setup) is for looks only!
In the real world, more than ~3/4" drop on a fox/sn95 HURTS HANDLING (again, on a non FULL CUSTOM handling setup). MANY MANY MANY threads have gone over WHY that's the case.

From MY point of view, lowering a street car 1.5" when it has only 2.5" of travel and also lowering the force required for full jounce, then fully justifies my statement of those drops as ricer-level drops.

Ricer... Well let me see here. Is this "ricer" in your book?

let's compare to stock with no isolators on the same car... which would round out to about the bullitt springs stance.

Yea... Even if it rode like it was on bricks and barely turned, I would still rather have the first stance no matter what.

"Ricers" Usually don't even have good stance. They have body kits, 15" stock wheels with hubcaps, and 4x4 stance. An "Import" has great stance and stock body parts, besides a lip. A "Street" car can be lowered 1.5" and still ride good from all of my experiences. My coupe rides better now with the "RICER" stance that it has now that it did with the stock springs and struts. Not to even mention handling. Plus I have ZERO rubbing issues at this height. I don't see how you guys are having rubbing issues on your 4x4s. But I did go with coilovers, so that's probably part of the reason. My 97 GT rides exactly the same that it did with stock springs. It has Eibach sportlines on the STOCK 128,000 struts. It handles better and looks 50,000 times better.

skunk21 · Sep 7, 2011

slow90coupe your rear stock pic is still on the high side for bullitt springs. plenty of ricer dropped imports in my area, they hit a little bump or hump in the road and I can see the driver bounce around more than a freaken truck driver. most of them aren't running very good set ups and are going for looks vs function. you can lower and get function but also it gets to point where it starts going the other way, you would really have to drive hard enough to find that the car is over/understeering more than it should or be around a well set up car to see the difference. again street vs track are 2 different things. running a real low stiff set up while good looking granted can be much slower on the street when trying to make turns on rutted roads, etc and the car washing out ( in very basic terms). sweet looking notch though

slow90coupe · Sep 7, 2011

skunk21 said:
slow90coupe your rear stock pic is still on the high side for bullitt springs. plenty of ricer dropped imports in my area, they hit a little bump or hump in the road and I can see the driver bounce around more than a freaken truck driver. most of them aren't running very good set ups and are going for looks vs function. you can lower and get function but also it gets to point where it starts going the other way, you would really have to drive hard enough to find that the car is over/understeering more than it should or be around a well set up car to see the difference. again street vs track are 2 different things. running a real low stiff set up while good looking granted can be much slower on the street when trying to make turns on rutted roads, etc and the car washing out ( in very basic terms). sweet looking notch though

Thanks! BTW... I love your car. So clean and tasteful!

Mustang5L5 · Sep 7, 2011

slow90coupe said:
Yea... Even if it rode like it was on bricks and barely turned, I would still rather have the first stance no matter what.

That's exactly what he was getting at.

There comes a point in life where practicality overtakes looking cool. You may not be there, but many of us are. Ive done enough 12-point turns and cringing when I see a pothole or turning around because I can't make it over a speed bump to last a lifetime. Not a whole lot pf strut travel when the wheels are even with the fenders...tended to bottom out the struts a lot. I was very happy the day I took my lowering springs out and put the bullitt/Mach springs in. I drove 10 years lowered..I was done with it. It may not look cool, but now I can drive my car and enjoy it...which is the entire point.

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