I just purchased my first Mustang a few weeks back. The first thing I want to do to it is change the coil springs out. The previous owner put lowering spring on it which I am not a fan of at all. I am not sure as to the brand or amount of drop. If I had to guess I would say the car is in excess of 1.5" lower than stock. I would like to return the car to stock height or as close as possible to it. The car was purchased as a weekend cruiser to keep the miles off the family SUV. I have spent a long time searching for OEM replacement springs for a GT and have had little to no luck. I also would not mind Mach1 or Bullitt springs as I have discovered they offer a better ride than stock GT with little drop in ride height. Any suggestions?
Coil springs replacement
- Thread starter DNW
- Start date
evolucion311
Member
- Mar 19, 2009
- 236
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I really like the ride quality of my Eibach Pro Kit. My stock suspension was sagged and shot.... really changed the ride up nicely, even though lowered.
BurningRubber
10 Year Member
- Dec 6, 2004
- 1,865
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I would also suggest Mach or Bullitt springs. They are just a little lower than stock but have better spring rates and will help your handling a little.
I will tell you this - it's a pain in the butt to put the stock-height front springs back on the car. The rears go in fine, but the fronts want to fight about it. There's not much room for using a spring compressor, either.
I will tell you this - it's a pain in the butt to put the stock-height front springs back on the car. The rears go in fine, but the fronts want to fight about it. There's not much room for using a spring compressor, either.
When I did my front springs, I didn't have to use a spring compressor. Just get a nice, burly jack and center it between the two control arm mount points. I used my foot to push and keep the control arm in position. Once the holes lined up, I quickly slipped the pivot bolts back in and was home free!
I would think hard about what you plan on doing to the car in the future before I make a decision. If you are going to do springs, think through putting some better shocks on at the same time. I'm a fan of Steeda products for a better street ride if you don't want to go berserk. I would suggest springs and Tokico adjustable shocks. Not much difference in the ride quality but much better handling. There are other companies out there also like Eibach but I don't have any experience with them. I can tell you that I added the anti-sway bar and stronger rear control arms and the car can be driven 400 miles or driven at 160mph with no problems. The handling difference was signficant over the stock car going around corners.
Rejekt
Member
Trade someone your lowering springs for their stock ones? Put an ad up on craigslist.
I threw mine in the garbage after offering them free to anyone for a month.
I threw mine in the garbage after offering them free to anyone for a month.
BillyT903
Banned
Flghtmstr1
Member
That might have been me who said that. Let me clarify: I think shocks make a much larger difference in ride quality than springs, and the Bilsteins I have are excellent. Also, ride quality is subjective; you might think that my "better than factory" suspension setup is like driving on a washboard. The "C" springs are slightly stiffer than the springs Ford put in the Bullitts, Mach 1s, and Cobras.
twogts4us
15 Year Member
twogts4us
15 Year Member
Respectfully disagreeing.
The shocks and struts (or a more apt yet seldom used name for them is dampers because that is exactly what they do) help dampen the compression and rebound of the springs. But it is the spring itself (along with your tires - let's not forget how much of a factor they are on ride quality) that absorbs the dips and bumps and tries to give you the best ride quality without sacrificing handling. The dampers try to control the spring rebound...trying to keep you from bouncing like a ricer.
Furthermore, I'd say that shocks and struts make a large impact on your ride performance, but not necessarily your ride quality. While you certainly need decent shocks and struts to get decent ride quality, it's the springs that have more impact on the entire suspension setup if you are talking about ride quality.
Ford B or C springs give a good ride and an approx drop of .75" in the rear and 1.5" in the front (for a slightly raked look). The B springs will be a bit softer as the are progressive. We had B springs on my wife's 01 GT and I thought it was a great stance - you could tell it wasn't the stock 4X4 look anymore, but it wasn't screaming, "Look at me down in the weeds!".
The Mach 1 or Bullitt springs are also excellent choices. While the specs are the same for both, they actually come with different part numbers. Both will drop you about .75", and are rated: Front - 600 lb/in and Rear - 250 lb/in. By comparison, the B springs are rated 425/530 in the front (these are progressive springs) and 200/300 in the rear (also progressive). The C springs are also 200/300 in the rear (also progressive), but they are a stout 650 lb/in in the front.
Part numbers:
Bullitt: 1R3Z-5310-CA (front), 1R3Z-5560-AA (rear)
Mach 1: 3R3Z-5310-AA (front), 3R3Z-5560-AA (rear)
B Springs: M-5300-B (sold as a set of 4)
C Springs: M-5300-C (sold as a set of 4)
I hope this helps.
Chris
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