Suspension Question

You need to figure out how much you want to spend first.

What *exactly* do you want a new suspension for?
Looks (lowered), handling, drag, etc? IMHO, that Summitt kit is cr*p, regardless of application.

"Lowered Springs"?? Yup, nothing says a well thought out package or setup than going with "Lowered Springs". How about putting in a Ford "cam" next?

For handling, get Bullitt springs and struts. PPI has a good price.
For a lowered kit, make sure that you have at least C springs (600 rate springs). Even then, those are *way too soft* for the drop, and that drop (more than 1") will make the handling *worse* than a stock GT.

Also, go with MM CC plates. IMHO, CC plates are the one of the last places you want to save money (unless you plan to sell the car, or show it only in shows). Also, with CC plates, 4->7 years or 30K->50K miles is *good*. If you go for lowered/looks, also consider getting a bumpsteer kit (again *MM*). That won't cure the horrendous bumpsteer you'll have with a car that is too low, but it'll at least help somewhat.

five_oh18 said:

I just looked at the PPI site, the bullit kit looks interesting, what kind of drop does it give?

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In general ~3/4". That's the lowest you should go to keep handling. Also, it has the correct spring rate for the drop.

The drop depends on many factors. Is your car 100% stock with a T5 and AC? That's where the ~3/4" drop that people quote comes from.
A Stang with an auto tranny has more drop. Alum heads, less drop. No AC, a little less drop. Verts, lot more drop. Poly isolators will raise the fender by ~0.1". And, so on. All of this stuff adds up in a number of cases.

So, with the Bullitt springs, figure very roughly ~3/4" lower than where your fenders are now.
Note: It'll take about a month of driving for the *isolators* to fully seat and compress. That effects your final fender height. The "spring sag" (which does NOT exist) that people talk about is really the isolators compressing and settling.

You *should* still get MM CC plates. Otherwise, your camber will be off, your tires will wear too much on the outside edge (and therefore too fast), and your handling/braking won't be what it they could be. Also, considering the cost of an alignment, you want to put in the CC plates with new springs, not afterwards.

Strange struts and shocks are so-so. They are better than KYB which is similar to Monroe.

The Bullitt struts are Toks. I now have the adjustable Toks. I had the sport Toks (similar to the Bullitt struts, but for an 87-93). They are MUCH better than any other strut I had before. But, Koni is better (and more $$), and Bilstein (sp?) is still better (and even more $$$ . I say that Toks are the best for the money. But, like with everything, you want to stay within some budget (that's why I didn't go with the better and more $$ adj Konis).

Here, you can see how you can hurt the life of an expensive tire by having poor camber. Look at the left edge of the tire on the left. At ~$160/tire, losing that much tire life because or a prematurely worn edge hurts! IMHO, the MM CC plates look like a great deal when you consider that!
http://www.veryuseful.com/mustang/tech/tmp/re720vsBlizzak.jpg

The wear on that edge was done before I put on my MM CC plates.

Good Luck!

FWIW: My car:
http://www.veryuseful.com/mustang/tech/misc/Mustang1986_with_Mach1_springs/

I put my money where my mouth is. Note that I have the Steeda spring spacers to gain more fender height (approx 0.4") (but still keep the stiffer Mach1 springs). Also, because I have an *86* and I want to keep good 245/45/17 tires on the front (not the cheapo ones that are thinner than some 225's), and I don't want to push the fenders out, I can't go lower. People with 92 & 93's have more fender room up front, and have more options for height.

I would have liked to go ~0.4" lower (no Steeda spacers), but *I* do not have the fender clearance in *my* setup on *my* car. And, those are the orig OEM fenders, never taken off or replaced.

BTW: Don't you love the fit of the Ford hood. <rolleyes> Yup, orig hood, never taken off. Also, 275's are going on the rear this year. As it is, my rear tires will rub the fender lips on full jounce. I have the sn95 rear axles. So, on *my* car, the rear, like the front, can't be lowered too much.

FWIW: For a mere ?$500? , you can get MM adj rear control arms. I may go that route next year (and lower the rear by ~0.3"). And/or add air bags for a little extra protection against full jounce and to gain a higher rate. BTW: Air bags last ~3-6 years on street cars. I have them on my t-bird to increase the rear rate. My t-bird is lowered ~3/4". But, no tire clearance issues on my t-bird, like I have on my Stang.

I would go with Strange struts and shocks. They are 10 way adjustable and by FAR the most affrodable adjustable kit's for Mustangs.

I am going to make that purchase for my 81, but not until after I drive it. I want to see the before and after with 75K used ones to new adjustables.

Tokico HP's, Ford Racing springs and of course the MM c/c plates would be a good inexpensive setup. Or the Bullitt kit, which is very similar, but might not lower quite as much as the B or C springs.

Do NOT lower the car without c/c plates and a proper alignment if you want to drive it at all. Trust me... or you'll learn the hard way by replacing two $100 tires plus + $45 for another alignment... the c/c plates are not something that is optional and you should invest in good ones...

five_oh18 said:

Do alignment shops in general know how to make adjustments with the c/c plates?

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They better! In fact, it's much easier for them with CC plates. The only problem I once had is when I told a shop I wanted *both* my caster and camber installed because I had CC plates. The stupid mechanic looked at the instructions, then my car, and went inside to tell me that he can't adjust both because the car doesn't allow it. So, I once again nicely mentioned that I had CC plates. The mechanic said "Oh, they should have noted that on the work order". Huh? Just open the stupid hood and check!

_______
Joe

five_oh18 said:

I'd like to have about a 1" drop I think, so the Tokico HP's/Ford Racing Springs/MM c/c plates sounds good. Do alignment shops in general know how to make adjustments with the c/c plates?

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I'm more into handling than performance, and after I bought my car, I immediately installed Eibach springs w/Tokico combo on my 90GT. It's about 7yrs now, but I think I bought the pkg from Steeda and the Eibachs give about a 1" or maybe 1.25" in the front and 1" in the rear. It's a nice drop - fender is right on top of the tire. The rear has slightly more room above the fender. But after alignment, I haven't had any tire wear issues. After reading this thread, I'm not sure why?

Cornering is wild !! O..I have 245/45 17 in front & 265/40 17 in rear. But after one of those new M5s beat me on a corner(and it wasn't a big one-I think I need 275 in the rear now), my Mechanic informed me on the benefits of CC plates. So I'm now seeking to install these plates. But my reason is to increase handling performance and not to resolve tire wear issues.

Good luck on your choices.

i'm not sure if it will fit your car but the ford racing bullitt setup is really nice. It lowers the car around 1" and thats probably all you want on your car with 17's. Plus the performance is better than both the cobra and mach 1 packages.

don't forget a bumpsteer kit if your lowering your stang