Suspension Newb

Sick96Stang said:

I dont really know much about suspension but I am intrested in doing some road racing. Can somebody explain to me what some parts of suspension are and how they affect your cars handling and acceleration? Such as springs, UCA's/LCA's, K-member, Caster/Camber plates, Subframe connectors, Anti-Roll bar, Swaybar, Coil overs, wheel spacers any other suspension parts that I missed.

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UCA's and LCA's keep the power to the ground and reduce wheelhop, and side to side motion in the rear axle.

I have Maximum Motorsports LCA's with spherical berring ends on both sides. They were the most feelable suspension mod I have done, and I would highly recommend them if you are serious about making your car handle well. They are noisy for the first 2 weeks of break in, but after that you won't notice the difference from stock.

The stock K-member is a little on the heavy side but it is quite strong. Some aftermarket K-members are weaker in some areas and can also affect alignment negatively. I would get the other susp. stuff first.

Caster Camber plates are only needed if you are lowering the car 1.5" or more with coiil springs, or if you went with a coilover kit. The 4th bolt is needed in the coilover kits to provide sturdiness in the strut towers. Coil over kits are more responsive (i'm saving up right now for a front coilover kit). They are quite expensive but arguably the best if you want the car to perform.

Subframe connectors help make the frame of the mustang 'quasi' uniframe. They reduce the caterpillar feel of the car and will prevent the frame from becoming misaligned under hard use.

Coilovers like i said are arguably the best. They will save roughly 25 pounds in front if not more. Maximum Motorsports has the most reputable and popular kit. They have one for bilstein's and one for Tokicos/koni dampers.

Swaybars aren't a big noticable change from what i gather; you might want to do those last.

Otherwise, rims and tires made a big difference in handling. Going from my 17x8's to 18x9's was very noticable.

Anyways, check out www.maximummotorsports.com primarily, and also some stuff from www.griggsracing.com. They are the best companies to buy from. If you have any questions of which products to go with feel free to ask.

-wade

As far as the rear suspension goes, the main point is to positively locate the axle under the car, and maintain it's position front to back, side to side, and keep it from rotating in place. There are several different setups for the rear suspension, my personal favorite is the 5-link, honestly because it looks cool in diagrams