List of Suspension Upgrades and Your Opinions

[HGFireHazard]

I know there are X million of these threads, but I would like opinions of this specific setup, mostly due to the fact that I'm torn between the Pro-Kit and the Sportlines. Here is what we have:

Tokico 5-way adjustable front and rear shocks/struts
Steeda Bumpsteer Kit (blue)
MM Chrome Plated CC Plates (4 hole)
Eibach Pro-Kit (as of this time)
MM Full Length subframes
Cobra Front Lower Control Arms
Steeda Aluminum Lower Rear Control Arms

Should I consider adjustable control arms, I'm not really sure what the adjustment on them does. I love the look of the sportlines, but I don't want to have any problems with my LTs and underbodies, plus I don't want to run the shocks/struts on the firmest position all the time... I am looking for a decent ride quality as well. Is there anything that I'm missing or do I have a weak link here that I should upgrade? Will the rear upgrades be sufficient enough to remove my quad shocks? Would the 3 bolt CC plates do just fine, or is the extra adjustment of the 4 bolt good for this setup? I know some of you guys are thinking about a different K-member, but the $ isn't in the future at this time. Finally, will my stock sway bars fit up to these, or should I get aftermarket ones as well? Is there any drilling (aside from the CC 4 bolts) or modification (besides welding of SFC) that I should be aware of? If there is anything else that I am unaware of or you think I should consider, let me know. Like I said sorry I know about all these threads, but I can't imagine searching for this particular setup in a thread. Thanks guys!

 

[BFORD1]

My $.02 -

Go with a complete kit from someone. If you are getting Maximum Motorsports then get it ALL from them including their custom set up shocks and springs. Don't try to piece meal it together like you are talking about doing. It's all about the combination. Get a complete kit from someone with experience. Maximum Motorsports is my preference. Griggs is excellent and is very similar to MM. The MM stuff is a bit more beefy than Griggs. Both work well. Steeda offers a different type of set up and there are others. If you prefer Steeda or KB or whatever - buy it ALL from one place. Call their tech line and let them know what you are looking for. Street, strip, drag, handling, etc. Let them design a kit for you.

I used Maximum Motorsports for my rear suspension and piece mealed the rest. I put in a tubular K frame and control arms from another company. I used coil overs from another company in front and Konis. I used caster camber plates from another company. What a HUGE mistake! The ride was horrible, It didn't even handle all that great. Certanly it was better than stock but not worht the trouble. We never could get the set up right. It sucked big time! I thought it would all work together but it's not that simple. The solution? Take out ALL of my front suspension and start over with all Maximum Motorsports parts (K Frame, coil overs, Caster/Camber brackets, control arms, sway bar, etc. etc. etc.) The old stuff is now nearly worthless and I wasted tons of time and money by not getting everything from one place.

Buy all of your suspension parts from one place. Talk to them about what you want and have them send you exactly what you need. Trust me - in the end you will be much happier and spend far less. Companies like Griggs, Maximum, Steeda, etc. etc. have spent a lot of time and money on R&R. Learn from their mistakes and do it right the first time. Someone else tried to tell me the same thing. I didn't listen and I paid for it.

Correcting the rear suspension geometry is far more important than the tubular K frame. The K frame mostly saves weight. It does change geomerty some (moves front wheels out and forward). But, the most important thing is to correct the horrible rear geometry on our cars. The torque arm / panhard bar configuration from either Griggs or Maximum Motorsports works wonders. It's like a whole different car. But, it will creek, pop, rattle and ride worse. Torque arm cars handle incredible (especially coming out of a corner). They dig in and just beg for more. The side to side movement and fish tailing that is inherent to our cars virtually disappears. It is trul amazing when set up properly. But, you pay for that in ride quality. Everything is a compromise. Honestly, if you are just going to drive it on the street I would put some H&R lowering springs on it with some Tokico or Bilsteins, put in the sub frame connectors (Maximum's rule but are harder to install) and be done with it.

Less adjustments are often better than more. I know a guy with H/R springs and non adjustable Tokicos in his '95. It looks great, rides like a dream and handles well.

Hope that helps.

B Ford

 

[HGFireHazard]

BFord, thanks for bringing this thread up top for me with some great info. I've heard both sides of the table about people piecing together different companies parts. I know MM stuff is top notch and I would love a complete setup from them, but we'll have to see how much green I can come up with. The car is my daily driver and odds are it will never see an auto-x course, but I really would like to see what this car is capable of with some nice parts. I'll search around some more and look into giving MM a call and tell them what I'm looking for. Thanks for the time in posting that monster, greatly appreciated.

 

[bimmertech]

i don't have a problem mixing companies together as long as you know what you are doing.

i say a panhard bar is a must on a street car. if you plan on being competetive then do the torque arm as well---just beware that a torque arm is a safety issue if you are ever in an accident.

here is my simple guidline to a decent street setup:
eibach pro-kit or any other 1.5" drop---no more than 1.5"
caster camber plates
03 cobra arms---just easier than pressing in new ball joints
bigger front sway bar
full length subframe connectors
rear lower control arms
stock uppers with new stock bushings---this is key
panhard bar
good shocks and struts--tockicos are cheap and work well
a good alignment
some wider wheels/tires---example would be some 17x9's with 265/40/17 front and 275/40/17 rear

if you want to help your front end out more without the big $$$$ of the k-member then get a set of mm offset control arms and a coilover kit for the front.

 

[BFORD1]

If you keep it very simple you can use different companies parts with success. But, why not use a combination that's tried and true? There are lots of examples of cars that work extremely well with relatively minor modifications. The shock and strut valving may on one combination might be totally wrong for another. Some set ups work better with bigger sway bars. Some work better with no sway bar at all. It's all about the combination.

How radical do you want to get?

Sub frame connectors are a definite.

Simple mods - 1.5" lowering springs and shocks and struts that will compliment the springs. Personally, I don't like the Eibachs. I ditched my Eibachs. H&R Springs with Tokico non-adjustable shocks work well together. That's just my opinion and you know what opinions are like.

You will get a big improvement over just lowering springs (1.5" max as bimmertech stated), sub frame connectors and better shocks/struts provided the springs and the shocks/struts work well together.

If you want to do a little more than that: Caster Camber plates for the front will allow for more adjustment. (You'll need someone other than the local brake shop to align the car as a regualr shop will simply set it to factory specs. In some palces it is hard to find someone to align cars with caster camber plates and if you have a tubular k-frame most shops won't touch it.)

In the rear some quality lower control arms will help. The lowers are much more important than the uppers IMO. (Plus if you go with a Torque arm then the upper control arms and the quad shocks will all end up in the trash - you won't need them anymore.)

The panhard is a good idea for any Mustang. The main reason the car wants to fish tail so much and is not predictable is that the rear end of a stock mustang moves back and forth under the car several inches under side loads. The Panhard holds it in place. But, the panhard does not correct the poor rear suspension geometry.

Any more than that and I would look hard at a kit from Maximum or Griggs.

Maximum makes a kit that uses the stock K frame up front and a torque arm set up in the rear that is far less $ then the full tubular k frame set up.

Talk to either Griggs or Maximum. They know what works and what doesn't.

 

[fawcett]

Great advice from BFord1, I want to go with either of those two companies. I really want Grigg's new SLA front suspension and its coil over rear set up. That stuff looks soo killer. In my opinion our cars are blessed with everything but suspension so if you are willing to spend the dough go balls out ditch everything suspension related for something that was redesigned to actually take a corner.
FYI Im going to have to save for like a whole year for this but whatever, if you price everything out that you'd need to do some basic spring/strut/shock/bushing upgrade your almost spending 1/3 of what it would cost you to buy a full kit. And keep in mind if you havnt seen underneth a lowered stangs front end the k-member is lower than the a-arms, while your rear suspensions roll center is still way high in the air.
-fawcett

 

[HGFireHazard]

I've been pretty much sold on the panhard bar and the torque arm after all the reading I have done between yesterday and today. My original list remains fairly the same with the exception of removing the steeda rear lower control arms for a set from MM. I work late tomorrow so I can call them early before I go in and get some solid advice from them. Just curious, though, why is the torque arm a hazard during an accident?

 

[bimmertech]

Just curious, though, why is the torque arm a hazard during an accident?

they will probably tell you it isn't, but the arm itself has a tnedancy to come up throught the floor board in a big impact---acting like a spear.