lowering suspension with better traction

[doubleomustang]

hey guys,
i have a 00 GT and it needs new suspension. for some reason the car sits higher on the drivers side than it does the passenger and it looks really bad. im wanting to lower the car and increase handling at the same time. i also want to do something to improve traction in the back. im running 10.5 rims in the back on 335 35 17 tires and cant keep traction. im about to add a SC to the car which is going to make my problem worse. so im looking for the right combination to lower the car in front and back and increase traction. MM told me that a torque arm would be the best in the back for traction so what should i do about lowering it. i thought about coilovers on the front but i dont know if that would be a good idea in the back with the torque arm. so let me know whats worked best for you guys.

 

[justinschmidt1]

hey guys,
i have a 00 GT and it needs new suspension. for some reason the car sits higher on the drivers side than it does the passenger and it looks really bad. im wanting to lower the car and increase handling at the same time. i also want to do something to improve traction in the back. im running 10.5 rims in the back on 335 35 17 tires and cant keep traction. im about to add a SC to the car which is going to make my problem worse. so im looking for the right combination to lower the car in front and back and increase traction. MM told me that a torque arm would be the best in the back for traction so what should i do about lowering it. i thought about coilovers on the front but i dont know if that would be a good idea in the back with the torque arm. so let me know whats worked best for you guys.

You shouldnt be having any traction problems now..if you are your tires are junk?..What kind are they?..

Best thing you can do for traction would be some drag radials...Lowering the car involves using a stiffer suspension set up s theres less weight transfer...as far as I know theres now way to lower your car for better handling and get better traction

you cant have your cake and eat it.

 

[Winters98GT]

actually there is... You can get drag springs and cut a coil off. However, your not going to improve your corner carving

The more frequently used method is too just pick up a set of fox body 4 cyl. springs for the front, and v8 springs for the back and cut a coil. Its done quite often.

Also, look into some control arms for the rear. UPR makes a good set of upper and lowers. They will help plant the rear end.

 

[tomustang]

hey guys,
i have a 00 GT and it needs new suspension. for some reason the car sits higher on the drivers side than it does the passenger and it looks really bad. im wanting to lower the car and increase handling at the same time. i also want to do something to improve traction in the back. im running 10.5 rims in the back on 335 35 17 tires and cant keep traction. im about to add a SC to the car which is going to make my problem worse. so im looking for the right combination to lower the car in front and back and increase traction. MM told me that a torque arm would be the best in the back for traction so what should i do about lowering it. i thought about coilovers on the front but i dont know if that would be a good idea in the back with the torque arm. so let me know whats worked best for you guys.

You are basically stock from what your sig says, so you must have very bald sumitomos

 

[doubleomustang]

i do have sumitomos but they are nearly new. does anyone have an opinion about the torque arm. can i put that on and coil overs on the front and be ok? can i run lower springs on the back with the torque arm?

 

[justinschmidt1]

sumitomos suck..get some sticky tires and you will hook.

as far as I know theres now way to lower your car for better handling and get better traction ..

actually there is... You can get drag springs and cut a coil off. However, your not going to improve your corner carving

The more frequently used method is too just pick up a set of fox body 4 cyl. springs for the front, and v8 springs for the back and cut a coil. Its done quite often.

Also, look into some control arms for the rear. UPR makes a good set of upper and lowers. They will help plant the rear end.

I said....
as far as I know theres now way to lower your car for better handling and get better traction ..

Again, its gonna be hard to lower your car with stiffer components for better corner carving and get good traction.

Its pretty much drag or corners...

You could always get some drag radials and you should hook either way with a near stock gt.

 

[doubleomustang]

ill look into drag radials but the car isnt stock. its in the process of having a supercharger put on along with full exhaust. its already got pulleys a big TB and ported plenum and a 373 gear.

 

[EPIK]

U can run a torque arm with coilovers in front only. u will just have to talk to MM about what spring rate your coilovers are gonna be & have them set u up with a rear conventional spring that has the correct spring rate. Keep in mind that running a torque arm also requires subframes, panhard bar, & aftermarket lower control arms. Also, MM coilovers require that u use either Koni, Bilstein, or Tokico Struts/shocks & u have to have CC plates too.....Everyone thinks that MM parts are only for road racing, but they can do very well at the drag strip too if the car is set up correctlty....I cant wait to FINALLY get my torque arm installed....

 

[tomustang]

sumitomos wear the road down, they are one of the worst tires for traction. you can switch to any other tire (yeah like a cheap dunlop or general) and would get better traction

 

[jprovence]

air ride, you can do both with air ride, alot of older muscle cars are switching to 4 link air ride systems and open tracking with them. Don't see why it wouldn't work for us. Use double adjustable shocks and change the shocks for drag or corner carving. And just adjust the bags to change spring rate. Doesn' add a bunch of extra weight since you remove the springs. No reason why you could't run a bit of extra air in the passenger rear bag for some good 60's

http://www.ridetech.com/productinfo/mustang.asp

 

[04GTMustang]

what do u mean not having traction? do you mean u dont hook when u just dump the clutch or you are driving along and then mat the pedal in 1st and it just spins like crazy. cause yea you are mostly stock and with 335s u should be hooking pretty well. heck the new c6 z06 uses either 335s or 325s dont remember which but it has 505hp and weighs less than u and has no problem with hooking lol.

get some new tires man. or if u want improve traction for drag racing then get some control arms and then drag radials and u should be good to go. but lowering it wont help u out in the traction department.

 

[Rusty67]

What kind of trans do you have ? Manual or auto ? Be careful with geting your car TOO much traction.... traction + torque is what brakes things......

You said your suspension is worn out and the car sits higher on one side. I think thats provably the main source of your problem with the traction. I think you should inspect your bushings all the way around including the ones actually on the axle housing. Check you shocks/struts to see if you have any that are blown. Also, double check your springs to make sure they are all clocked in at the proper position.

I think a torque arm is over kill for a daily driver but if you want to get into something that crazy I would not discourage you. I'm going to put a watts-link in to my daily at some point... mostly just because I like to drive real hard =)

As others have said, your tires suck for traction. Do you still have your stock rims/tires ? Try throwing those on the rear and see if you traction gets noticably better.

 

[doubleomustang]

its an auto.
i just cant hook. while racing off the line i just cant get the car to hook. ill get some drag radials and have my suspension checked out...