New toys, what do you think

[Rootus]

I'm trying to tighten up the suspension, since my car is becoming scary to drive at high speeds or acceleration. The suspension is currently bone stock except for springs and relatively new Tokico (mach1) shocks & struts.

So here is what I have ordered:

1. Bilstein shocks & struts (sport valved)
2. Maximum Motorsports front coilovers, 350# Hypercoil springs
3. Ford 03/04 Cobra front control arms (revised design for more turning radius, more clearance for tires, and comes with new bushings & ball joints)
4. Ford HD rear upper control arms & new differential bushings
5. Maximum Motorsports standard rear lower control arms.
6. H&R springs for the rear (Not ordered yet -- I need to talk with MM to verify what spring is appropriate in the rear with 350# front springs)
7. Not really part of the suspension per se, but I have a set of Cobra brake calipers arriving tomorrow . No more fade

Whatcha think? Anything I'm missing? I'm trying not to spend cubic dollars, just trying to tighten up the suspension a little so I'm not afraid for my life when I punch the gas. Maybe next year I'll go for a panhard bar to finish off the rear. I think I'm going to start open-tracking next year (actually might go some early this winter, track driving in the rain can be a good learning experience from what I hear).

Dave

 

[rudeone707]

can we say pics? Dang man, try and get some racing pics and vids, hope the car feels awesome.

 

[DaveL]

How much did you pay for the Cobra control arms? I'm in the middle of redoing my suspension and was thinking of getting them as well.

 

[Rootus]

$150 for the Cobra control arms, from oemfordparts.com (part# is M-3075-D).

Dave

 

[pleasehelp]

Can you make a list of prices of the parts? If you don't mind that is. Thanks.

 

[94DreamGT]

I already covered this is my other post...but I think you need to take some of the money you are spending on those parts and put it towards some drag radials or sticky tires.

Of course your car is going to feel "loose" with street tires...you're constantly blowing them off and the car is getting hella squirrely on you. After driving on DR's for awhile, I went to normal tires for a short time and thought I was always on wet pavement!

With those DR's...you'll forget all about the suspension

If you're interested in open-tracking, road racing, auto-xing, etc...then I would say its money well spent...but for drag racing, it's more about the tire. Look at Paul...mid 1.6's on basically stock suspension. I've seen 1.4's from NMRA racers on equally stock stuff.

 

[DaveL]

Thanks for the info.

 

[Rootus]

Can you make a list of prices of the parts? If you don't mind that is. Thanks.

Sure, no prob:

From oemfordparts.com ($20.58 shipping):
M-3075-D 03/04 Cobra front control arms, $150
M-5500-A Ford HD upper control arms, $60

From Art's Performance (shipping included):
MMRLCA-1 Std rear lower control arms, $225
E4SZ-5A UCA differential bushings, $29
M-5500-A Ford HD upper control arms, $60
COP-1 Coilover kit for Bilsteins, with springs, $349

From eBay, user "techdeals1":
Bilstein shocks/struts, $469 shipped

From eBay, user "akkcc":
PBR brake calipers (Cobra, though not labeled), $153.20 shipped

Of course your car is going to feel "loose" with street tires...you're constantly blowing them off and the car is getting hella squirrely on you. After driving on DR's for awhile, I went to normal tires for a short time and thought I was always on wet pavement!

I'm not talking about tire spinning kind of loose, I'm familar with that sensation . I'm talking about wobbling back and forth 5* in each direction -- at 80 mph. And it just gets worse, at 100 mph it's practically floating. When you stomp on the gas your car should not turn left on it's own

Dave

 

[rio95]

do those a arms re-position the front wheels at all??? Like will the wheels stick out more or anything like that???

 

[rio95]

I'm assuming that you would have to get a new front end alignment with these a arms????

 

[Rootus]

do those a arms re-position the front wheels at all??? Like will the wheels stick out more or anything like that???

Nope. Exact same specifications as 94-02 control arms, just the stamping has been altered to give more clearance than before. And they come with the newer style low-friction ball joints too .

If you want to move the wheels forward, you can get MM control arms that do that.

Dave

 

[Rootus]

I'm assuming that you would have to get a new front end alignment with these a arms????

No, the dimensions are the same. But I will probably get an alignment anyway because I'm doing more than just the control arms. I may raise the front end slightly when I do the coilovers.

Dave

 

[pleasehelp]

What kind of setup is this? Drag? Street? Course/track?

Oh, thanks for posting the prices!

 

[95BLKGT5.0]

I want this set up also.

The only thing I would change is your RLCA.
Your getting front coil overs then why not get the MM adj. RLCA-2

• The optional ride height adjustability feature gives you exceptional flexibility to accommodate all your racing needs.

Then if you get drag tires you can adj.
Please let me know how your setup works because I want to do the same setup but with the adj. RLCA

 

[WHITE94COBRA]

Dont forget some MM full length subframes, deffinately gets the power to the ground better and no more chassis flex. MM also has a new trick setup that works like a panhard bar but fixes the rear geometry without any bind, cant remember what its called though. All in all you have a great setup going.

 

[swingline]

Crazy Dave! I ordered the exact same things except I ordered the front/rear MM coilovers. Looks like we will have a similar handling GT. Only thing different is I will have a tubular K member going in this winter along with the new motor.

 

[go-stang5.0]

I would get a MM panhard bar, some MM aluminum rack bushings and some adjustable tie rod ends to fix your soon to be bumpsteering car. YOu'd also get better response and feedback from the steering wheel w/ the bushings and tie rod ends. I would have waited on the coil overs if I were you. Work on the rear suspension first then make your way to the front. THe stock front isnt too bad. Its the back thats the problem. But hey the coil overs shave weigh off the front (which is also needed, so I guess its ok). Oh, and do you think you will be ok with race valved bilstiens on the street? If there valved my MM then there gonna rattle your fillings out. Even my illuminas are pretty bad when you turn them up to 4 or 5, but in my case I can turn them down in 1 min. or less. Not to shoot down your thread or anything. But I hope you know what your getting into with those bilsteins. Good luck with your install, I hope you Rear LCA bolts werent frozen like mine. I had to have my mechanic put on the MM PHB axel mount. Now if I could just get the time to finish the rest of the install....I'll let you know what it feels like when I'm done.

 

[baglock1]

If there valved my MM then there gonna rattle your fillings out. Even my illuminas are pretty bad when you turn them up to 4 or 5, but in my case I can turn them down in 1 min. or less. Not to shoot down your thread or anything. But I hope you know what your getting into with those bilsteins.

I've never had anything remotely resembling a harsh ride with my Bils, of course they're not MM valved either. As far as the Tokicos, the adjustment is made to both rebound and compression, but in the same direction. As you bump the rebound up to a usable rate with heavier springs, the compression also increases to a point of absurdity for the spring rate. IMO, the only adjustable shocks/struts that are worth a damn with high spring rates are the Koni DA's. But properly chosen Bilsteins (based on spring choice) should have decent ride quality AND performance. Of course, eventually you get to a point with spring rate where street manners will be horrible regardless of dampener rates.

For the record, I'm running 00R struts, roughly 6/1.5 (R/C) valving. A regular Bil strut is about 5/2. The MM rates are proprietary (to the best of my knowledge) and I haven't seen the actual dyno charts for Toks. Those numbers have nothing to do with the 1-5 Tok uses but rather the industry standard:
1 = 80
2 = 120
3 = 160
4 = 210
5 = 260
6 = 320
7 = 380
8 = 500
9 = 600
For comparison, the typical Koni DA's are adjustable 1-9/1-6.

 

[Rootus]

My Bilsteins are just regular ones, not MM race valved, so I'm guessing it must be 5/2 like Dan says.

Good catch on the subframes from WHITE94COBRA, I'll add those to the list. My brother will be very happy (not) ... I made him weld the full-length MM subframes on my 99 Cobra, and he was cursing about it for a couple days afterward .

Someday I will probably do the panhard bar, though not right this moment. I have other things to deal with, and the panhard bar will probably require some extra work to give the exhaust proper clearance.

I'm not trying to work on either end specifically at this point, I'm trying to do the whole thing -- so if you think I'm unbalancing it, I'm interested to hear your thoughts on that. I really don't have specific plans to take the rear much farther, perhaps a panhard bar -- no T/A though.

Dave