Recommended Suspension upgrades/mods

what do u want to do?? Drag or autocross.. but for each of them you will need a good set of rear upper and lower control arms ( if you get a good enough set they will hep wheel hop down and you will be able to remove the quad shock and be able to run bigger tires), bigger swaybars, and lowering springs with correct shocks dont use the same ones b/c u will have a horrible ride will get you a good start.

First things first, SUBFRAME CONNECTORS. You need them.

Like said before, a good set of upper and lower controll arms for the rear, they make a big difference on launch and cornering. When it comes to struts and shocks there are many different ways to go. Bilstiens are the best, but cost the most. KYB's are much better than stock, cost the least, but not near as good as billstiens. As far as springs go, a good set of Eibachs or H&R's will really help. Firmer springs will help in the corners, but softer will help on the launches. If you can, I would consider coil over's over regular springs.


www.maximummotorsports.com get their phone number and give them a call and they will give you some good advise. They are high price, but their products are worth it.

Sub frames are a must as said. Then i would go fr a rear control arm set. As fr springs, get a set of coil overs and new shocks.

One thing i've always wondered about the control arm myth is is it the different bushings that come in them or is it a revised geometry thing or both that make them better over stock? And if so, with all the various ones out there, how do you know who has ones that are better than the other out there?

87'GTstang said:

One thing i've always wondered about the control arm myth is is it the different bushings that come in them or is it a revised geometry thing or both that make them better over stock? And if so, with all the various ones out there, how do you know who has ones that are better than the other out there?

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The majority of it is the lack of defection in the control arms themselves. If you have rubber bushings they are going to deflect no matter what, the rubber they use in the aftermarket control arms is better than stock, but still rubber nonethe less. I would put some polyeurothane bushings in there. You can really tell how much teh stock arms bend and twist if you get your stock ones "boxed". aftermarket ones are better still. If you want an all around car, i would not touch the front sway bar, it's a good compromise between handling and hooking. When at the drag strip, unbolt your linkpins to the front sway bar and she'll really grab. However, I would replace the rear swaybar with a much stiffer one, it will drastcally reduce body roll - more than springs will - on turns and aid turn-in for cornering because believe it or not, the foxbody mustang will understeer when pushed to the limit, it only oversteers when you overpower the rear tires and break them loose. Also, the stock camber plates are actually adjustable, so you can dial in a little bit of static camber which wll go a long way... don't get too crazy though or it'll really eat the inner edges of your tires. The stock springs really aren't that bad except that the ride height is about an inch too high for optimum cornering. The stock shocks however do need to go, billstiens really are the way to go, tokikos (spelling) are also pretty good, koni are waaay overprice for what they are, so leave them alone.

If you're feeling frisky you can modify your stock springs to get a pretty damn good spring, assuming they aren't currently sagging you can cut 1/2 a coil from all 4 corners to drop the ride height slightly, and also increase the spring rate a little bit. If both ends of the spring aren't flat, then cut the 1/2 coil out of the end that isn't flat, and you're done. If both ends are flat then you want to cut out 1/2 a coil, and then go 180 degrees from where you made the cut, and heat that bit of the spring with an acetaline torch for a few minutes, then turn the spring upside down and press it into the ground to bend the coil down flat. This is a great nearly free job for the person who is on a budget, and the results are damn good. But I will say that it's not quite as good as getting a correct set of Eibachs.

Good advise from prev. posts.

It's not that Mustang's handle badly, it's that they are unpredictable. It doesn't feel right and when it gets to the breaking point, it goes all over the place. It also has to do with balance. Working in a shop I drive alot of different cars. Some cars can't handle worth a crap, but you can ride them past their limit and still have controll. What I am trying to get at is that what causes this is the inbalance of the suspension and the horrid deflection in the suspension parts. Especailly if you have 10+ year old weathered rubber bushings.

Just doing LCA's and UCA's will keep the axel in the back pointed straight in the car, both in cornering and takeoff. After I did them I found out that all I need to do when steering hard is to use the front wheels to point where I want to go, hit the gas and the car goes there.

Knowing how to use RWD is also important. Most people don't, and they can loose it easy. Those who do think FWD is for sissies. My beater is FWD, it could go into corners hard but by the end of the corner my 5.0 would be way ahead of it.

90mustangGT said:

Good advise from prev. posts.

It's not that Mustang's handle badly, it's that they are unpredictable. It doesn't feel right and when it gets to the breaking point, it goes all over the place. It also has to do with balance. Working in a shop I drive alot of different cars. Some cars can't handle worth a crap, but you can ride them past their limit and still have controll. What I am trying to get at is that what causes this is the inbalance of the suspension and the horrid deflection in the suspension parts. Especailly if you have 10+ year old weathered rubber bushings.

Just doing LCA's and UCA's will keep the axel in the back pointed straight in the car, both in cornering and takeoff. After I did them I found out that all I need to do when steering hard is to use the front wheels to point where I want to go, hit the gas and the car goes there.

Knowing how to use RWD is also important. Most people don't, and they can loose it easy. Those who do think FWD is for sissies. My beater is FWD, it could go into corners hard but by the end of the corner my 5.0 would be way ahead of it.

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Which style/brand of control arms did you decide on? They sound like they are really working for you.