info on 4 cylinder springs

im not entirely certain, but i am suspicious that my car has 4 cylinder springs. My car is an original LX 5.0 (i have checked the VIN). It just sits a little lower than most other bone-stock 5.0 mustangs. hell, it sits lower than most other stock V8 mustangs in general (my dads 2000 is like a 4x4). Regardless, my advice on this subject is to just save up the money and get proper springs. Mach 1 and Bullitt springs are not that expensive at all. Theyre not junkyard-cheap, but straight from the ford dealer than can be had for under $200 or something (just going off memory, dont quote me). Those springs (though not identical, but similar / close) are a very popular swap for fox bodies because theyre ford pieces. Theyll give you the best compromise of street ride, ground clearance, and tractibility. Those are what i would recommend. Again, i am not certain, but i am suspicious that my car (which has been in an accident. salvage title) was built by an owner who was too cheap to do it right, and it rides pretty low. When i really cut corners the body roll is pretty huge. It rides ok though. In your situation, i would just do the mach1 springs. Properly spec'd for a V8 car thats going to see WOT often, not too expensive, and wont break your back when you have to get from A to B.

You only use 4 cyl springs if you have a quarter mile *only* car They are used to help with the weight transfer to the rear during take-off.

As always, I have to ask why do you want to lower your car?
o Handling?
o A little better handling and a slightly more aggressive a lower look?
o Looks *only*?
o Quarter Mile *only* car?
o and so on.

I help people that are *honestly* looking for better handling. For the first two cases, as mentioned, the Bullitt/Mach1 Springs are often your best bet, especially if you're on a budget.

If you want the (IMHO, ricer) lower look, then you can do it cheaply, as many people have done. Or, you can spend a lot more money. Regardless, either way, you would still have a car that in real-life handles worse and has many suspension geometry problems compared to the cheapest base stock Mustang. But, if you're interested in *only* looks (often slammed), then handling is not the concern.

As I said, it all depends on why you want to lower your car.
For a qtr mile car, yes, people go with the 4 cyl springs to get better weight transfer on take off. But, otherwise, it's honestly a very foolish mod for a mainly street car.


And, yes, I put my money where my mouth is. When I re-did my suspension, I did it from an engineering point of view.
http://www.veryuseful.com/mustang/tech/misc/Mustang1986_with_Mach1_springs/

Leave your car the way it is.
4cyl springs work great for drag racing, but are fairly dangerous on the street, especially if you are used to driving a car more set up for handling.
And to get the ride height correct with 4 bangers, you may need to istall them, see where it sits, and then remove and start by cutting 1/2 coil at a time.

I tried them for a couple of weeks, hated street drving with them. Car feels like it's going to push through every turn.
You want to launch better, get a set of adjustable shocks and struts.

Ride height depends alot on whats done to the car, and what has been removed or added. If you are using isolators will make a difference too.
It's going to be trial and error to match them up with lowering springs in the back. More than likely not as easy as tossing them in, and going.

$40 is not a great deal. I paid $15 at the junkyard.
You probably don't even want new, likely they will sit higher for quite some time, before the car settles.

Not sure what you mean by "lift". If what you mean by that is you want the nose to pop up when you step on it.
Trust me, get a good adjustable shock setup, one of the best things i've done.
I can make my front lowering springs behave similar (not quite the same though) as drag springs.
I use koni red adjustables in the front, and i was told that setting is equivalent to a 70/30 drag strut on the soft setting.
If you are looking for budget minded traction, put the battery in the hatch, very effective.