Lowering your mustang on a budget - with new parts!

fiveoho

15 Year Member
Apr 28, 2005
1,958
16
69
TN
1st things 1st on my recent purchase of my 00 GT - eliminate the ground clearance. i wanted to do this correctly and not spend alot of money. the following parts are all NEW and all the prices below INCLUDE tax AND shipping. deals are out there, just had to look around for a few days to find them

*eibach sportline springs (auto-sports-parts-ebay) : $217.00

*upr steel 'shark' cc plates (billetdepot-ebay) : $109.91

*gabriel guardian shocks/struts (autozone) : $109.71

*energy suspension front/rear isolators (summit) : $51.45


total spent on parts : $488.07




the cc plates are considered by others as "bottom of the line". while that may be, they make no noise and worked just fine. only issue was that i believe i was shorted two spacers by mistake. i came up with two to eliminate the slack.

the shocks and struts are more than i expected. i nearly bought the KYB G2's but after speaking with their customer service and learning those shocks are 12% stiffer than stock, i chose oem-like as a alternative for a stock-like ride. the gabriel guardians are stock replacements and work GREAT. excellent ride quality and price!


i do not have the tools, the place or the mechanical ability to do this myself. luckily i have a friend who does. i do computer repair and he does mechanical work as a hobby. we swapped his needs for mine. he done a excellent job.

the only other additional cost is the alignment, which is taking place as i type this thread. so for less than $500 in new parts shipped to your door, one can lower his or her car correctly. this may not be the best option out there but it does work well while giving a sweet stance and surprisingly great ride, all while saving money.

im having my car aligned at my local ford dealership - $69

if anyone is interested in these parts, let me know and i will be happy to provide part numbers. all these parts -should- apply to all 94-04 cars

pics to come !
 
  • Sponsors (?)


Found a better price on those isolators.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ener...ptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

You can step up to Tokicos for a lot more money. Sometimes factory shocks and struts don't agree with lowering.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TOKI...ptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

Kurt

while there may be a better price on iso's out there, the link you provided is just for the front

correct- there are better shocks and struts out there BUT for budgets sake, the ones i listed work awesome and they agree with the eibachs just fine. they will however give out quicker since the car is lowered but not for a while.
 
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...6fff43999&rvr_id=&ua=WVF?&itemid=190349985478


Well worth the extra $100... but if you looked for slightly used parts u could of made out much better


nice prices for new stuff tho.

cant view the auction link

id have to disagree with being able to make out much better with used parts. some money could be saved but not a huge amount. used springs, shocks/struts and iso's would make me nervous. used cc plates would as well, even tho several guys have had great luck with used parts. just my $.02

the concept of the thread is with new parts tho

EDIT- copy/pasted the ebay number from the link. i still rather save $150 and get the struts/shocks i got knowing the ride quality is great. not road racing with my car so ride comfort was more important to me. im guessing the tokicos have a stiffer rebound much like the kybs which may result in a stiffer bouncer ride.
 
cant view the auction link

id have to disagree with being able to make out much better with used parts. some money could be saved but not a huge amount. used springs, shocks/struts and iso's would make me nervous. used cc plates would as well, even tho several guys have had great luck with used parts. just my $.02

the concept of the thread is with new parts tho
got my sportlines with 1k miles on them for $90 guy decided they were too low and put on a pro kit...
Got my kenny brown C&C's $60 shipped
Low mileage Hp Blues for $135? shipped
even got a set of Rear LCA's for $50 picked up...
Alumnium DS $125 shipped

i just like to buy used unless its pushrods or engine parts. being in college means stretching my dollars:shrug:

but $488 is not bad at all id just want at least hp blues or mach1 take offs
 
got my sportlines with 1k miles on them for $90 guy decided they were too low and put on a pro kit...
Got my kenny brown C&C's $60 shipped
Low mileage Hp Blues for $135? shipped
even got a set of Rear LCA's for $50 picked up...
Alumnium DS $125 shipped

i just like to buy used unless its pushrods or engine parts. being in college means stretching my dollars:shrug:

but $488 is not bad at all id just want at least hp blues or mach1 take offs

good deals but i have had poor luck with used parts. new = no worries (usually)

the prices i listed are all current and the parts i got from ebay were BIN auctions from companies, not individuals. anyone could have the same setup for the same money. others may or not find the deals you did

i understand about being on a budget, especially in college - those freakin books are expensive enough! thats awesome you got the deal you did on things, but my luck is never that good and i ALWAYS end up with parts that are not what they were suppose to be :nonono:
 
1st things 1st on my recent purchase of my 00 GT - eliminate the ground clearance. i wanted to do this correctly and not spend alot of money. the following parts are all NEW and all the prices below INCLUDE tax AND shipping. deals are out there, just had to look around for a few days to find them

*eibach sportline springs (auto-sports-parts-ebay) : $217.00

*upr steel 'shark' cc plates (billetdepot-ebay) : $109.91

*gabriel guardian shocks/struts (autozone) : $109.71

*energy suspension front/rear isolators (summit) : $51.45


total spent on parts : $488.07




the cc plates are considered by others as "bottom of the line". while that may be, they make no noise and worked just fine. only issue was that i believe i was shorted two spacers by mistake. i came up with two to eliminate the slack.

the shocks and struts are more than i expected. i nearly bought the KYB G2's but after speaking with their customer service and learning those shocks are 12% stiffer than stock, i chose oem-like as a alternative for a stock-like ride. the gabriel guardians are stock replacements and work GREAT. excellent ride quality and price!


i do not have the tools, the place or the mechanical ability to do this myself. luckily i have a friend who does. i do computer repair and he does mechanical work as a hobby. we swapped his needs for mine. he done a excellent job.

the only other additional cost is the alignment, which is taking place as i type this thread. so for less than $500 in new parts shipped to your door, one can lower his or her car correctly. this may not be the best option out there but it does work well while giving a sweet stance and surprisingly great ride, all while saving money.

im having my car aligned at my local ford dealership - $69

if anyone is interested in these parts, let me know and i will be happy to provide part numbers. all these parts -should- apply to all 94-04 cars

pics to come !

Since nobody else will say it, I will...


Good job! Glad you got good deals on a ride you're stoked about! Also impressed to see you NOT set it up for open tracking, since very few of us get to do that. :nice:

I'd be interested to hear more about the Gabriels as you put some miles on them. I'm in somewhat the same boat as you are, although I already put my springs and cc kit on; kept the stock shocks/struts for this past summer, but next spring new dampers are on my list.
 
Since nobody else will say it, I will...


Good job! Glad you got good deals on a ride you're stoked about! Also impressed to see you NOT set it up for open tracking, since very few of us get to do that. :nice:

I'd be interested to hear more about the Gabriels as you put some miles on them. I'm in somewhat the same boat as you are, although I already put my springs and cc kit on; kept the stock shocks/struts for this past summer, but next spring new dampers are on my list.


thanks man :D

im curious also how they will do with more miles. i feel pretty confident they will be just fine. i ran this exact setup on my 95 with the exception of the shocks/struts. i took a gamble ( and lucked out ) buying a set of used 20k mile take-off 2000 GT shocks/struts. I had put 20k on them in addition to what they already had when i sold the car. always rode well and had no issues or problems.
 
Nice work man, Ive been considering doing the same kind of thing. I have BBK springs, but original shocks/struts and CC plates. Im thinking about buying stock replacement fox shocks and struts since they are a little shorter and should be good with the drop my BBK springs give the car. I did splurge on some Maximum Motorsports CC plates already though. I think you helped me make my decision. You should throw up some pics if you have any.
 
Nice work man, Ive been considering doing the same kind of thing. I have BBK springs, but original shocks/struts and CC plates. Im thinking about buying stock replacement fox shocks and struts since they are a little shorter and should be good with the drop my BBK springs give the car. I did splurge on some Maximum Motorsports CC plates already though. I think you helped me make my decision. You should throw up some pics if you have any.

thanks man :nice:

ive also heard about the fox shocks working well bc of the shorter travel. that may be a even better option. will try to get some pics up soon. ashamed to take any right now....been raining buckets and the car is just under a carport at the moment.....pretty dirty :nonono:
 
I hear ya with the weather. We just got about 10 inches of snow in the last 24 hrs. Thank God for my 4X4 Dakota. I love takin off from lights while others sit there spinning their tires at a stand still! I didnt mention that I plan to cut half a coil off my front BBK's to drop it a little more, hence why I think fox dampers will be a good fit for my application. Its all good with the pics, take your time and make the car look good, so there is less for us to pick on being its a new edge.
 
another small note when buying *gabriel guardian shocks/struts (autozone) : $109.71* buy them for a fox mustang... the fronts are shorter and will handle the lowering better (more travel). Just might let a stock style strut last longer
 
another small note when buying *gabriel guardian shocks/struts (autozone) : $109.71* buy them for a fox mustang... the fronts are shorter and will handle the lowering better (more travel). Just might let a stock style strut last longer

Good info. I had long forgotten that little tit bit.

Kurt
 
another small note when buying *gabriel guardian shocks/struts (autozone) : $109.71* buy them for a fox mustang... the fronts are shorter and will handle the lowering better (more travel). Just might let a stock style strut last longer

i read about that and thought about trying it. guess i just wanted to stick with what worked well on the last car.

but thanks for the suggestion. will def keep in mind when lowering my next mustang :nice: