Tubular K member

[JD1964]

Nice setup ! BTW, Billet Specialties makes a similar wheel I also like.

Billet Specialties | Home

In 1985, Billet Specialties began producing accessories never before seen for the street rod industry. The attention to detail, fit, and finish were unprecedented.

www.billetspecialties.com

Now I need to shop around for coil over kits. But after I watch some Battlebots with the kids!

 

[Mustang5L5]

I will say the adjustability of the front suspension is absolutely kick ass. Just jack up under the k member and reach behind the dropped wheels and spin the collar. Done.

Add in some adjustable rear arms and you can really dial it in where you want.

I had some pics buried in my thread of full up and full down on the front and rear suspension. Decent amount of range

 

[TOOLOW91]

@ TOOLOW91, absolutely hard feelings and I appreciate the contributions of you and everyone else in this forum. I can promise you my mind was not made up when I began this post. Not only that but because of members responses here, my mind has changed on things more than once. I'm still not sure exactly what I'm going to do. It will probably be a combination of advice received on here and my own quirky preferences.

I like the idea of adjustable ride height and now understand that the lowering springs I currently have in the front will not help my goals. Because of these things I'm considering a coil over adjustable strut in the front. I've read that there can be clearance issues if the front rims are wider and mine are so I have to get over that hurdle. Spacers to move my wheel out are a no go for me.

I'll be considering changes to the rear suspension too but focusing on the front now.

Tires are in the future but not until I'm ready to get wheels too. I'm dying for Weld S71 in 17x10 for the rear and 17x6 for the front. As you can see they are pricey!

Weld S71

I run 17x8 front wheels with my coil overs . This was all taken into consideration when doing the kit as I didn’t want to have to run a skinny .

Next is that you can make the front suspension come up all ya want . If you don’t make the rear squat or seperate when it needs to you are still going to end up in a blaze . You’ll get a start to hook then boom the tire goes up in smoke . It all works together . But to prove a point the rear is much more critical then the front which is why i got away with regular lowering springs in the front for so long .

On the fast stuff like nicks green car , the blue car I just did etc we run the front stuff with almost no travel and the rear is where the magic happens .

 

[LAFF]

You make my brain hurt.
Want more weight in the back throw in some concrete blocks in the back, and find another driver that doesn’t think too much.

 

[FastDriver]

Hey, some folks like to think

 

[JD1964]

About the rear suspension, I've heard it stated that the stock rear springs are not all that bad as part of a combination of other good things. Is there any validity to this? I have a pair of Strange rear adjustable that came off of the vert. Only, on one of them the adjuster knob is frozen and wont turn. I wonder what setting its on and if I can find a way to free it up.

As for adjustable struts there are s/a and d/a I'm now learning. As I understand, the s/a adjustment will either soften or stiffen the strut in both directions, and, on the d/a there are two adjusters, one for the extension dampen and one for the compression dampen. Is this correct?

 

[Gear grabber]

Strange s/a are steel body rebound adjustable only. At your power level,stock springs are fine.
If you stay with strange s/a. I would not even mess with it. A new set is cheap, you know they will work and you can start moving forward.

I use Viking Crusaders,aluminum body D/A ,32 clicks of compression and 32 rebound all 4 corners.
The struts are threaded so no adapters for coil overs

 

[TOOLOW91]

About the rear suspension, I've heard it stated that the stock rear springs are not all that bad as part of a combination of other good things. Is there any validity to this? I have a pair of Strange rear adjustable that came off of the vert. Only, on one of them the adjuster knob is frozen and wont turn. I wonder what setting its on and if I can find a way to free it up.

As for adjustable struts there are s/a and d/a I'm now learning. As I understand, the s/a adjustment will either soften or stiffen the strut in both directions, and, on the d/a there are two adjusters, one for the extension dampen and one for the compression dampen. Is this correct?

Strange sells the knobs they are like 20 bucks if that’s the issue .
I bought my s/a new that one was dropped and needed a knob

Stock v8 spring rate works well with 1 coil cut . This is where I mentioned in my other long post - team z makes the rear drag spring at a height of a coil being cut while keeping the spring rate of a stock v8 rear spring . That rear spring is in my car in both pics I posted .

You will be perfectly fine with a s/a shock in the car , as long as you address the Rest of the stuff mentioned. Other wise you could have a 1200 dollar santfhuff or mencser shock back there and it still wouldn’t matter . Everything plays a role together

 

[JD1964]

Ok thanks. Back to the front.

@TOOLOW91 You say you are using a upr coil over kit with 12” 200lb springs up front. I assume this lets you set the front lower than stock.

I want to be about an inch lower than stock in front. Would this strange kit work for me? I’ll get in to strut choices later.

Strange Engineering Mustang Front Coil Over Kit - 12" 200lb (79-04)

Save weight and improve performance with this Strange Engineering 200 LB 12" spring coil over kit!

lmr.com

 

[TOOLOW91]

Ok thanks. Back to the front.

@TOOLOW91 You say you are using a upr coil over kit with 12” 200lb springs up front. I assume this lets you set the front lower than stock.

I want to be about an inch lower than stock in front. Would this strange kit work for me? I’ll get in to strut choices later.

Strange Engineering Mustang Front Coil Over Kit - 12" 200lb (79-04)

Save weight and improve performance with this Strange Engineering 200 LB 12" spring coil over kit!

lmr.com

My whole coil over and k member kit came from sharad at upr . But yes the strange kit should work . You need to decide on the strut because most kits the sleeves will only work with certain struts .

My car is pretty low up front so you will get the adjustability you need as far as ride height

 

[JD1964]

Cool! I like stock height in the back, and a little lower in the front. You know, a slight bit of that hotrod rake look. Like so

 

[JD1964]

So, for increased weight transfer on acceleration i understand the softening of extension in the s/a front struts such as the Strange 10 way. But when it comes to the rear, do you also want a softer extension? The info at Strange website basically describes the exact same function for both front and rear s/a parts. Why would you want a softer extension on a rear shock. Wouldnt you want a softer compression on the rear.

 

[JD1964]

Looking around on the web a little i found some info that explains basics on the rear suspension. I now see why stiffer compression and lighter rebound is good for the rear too. This vid did a good job of explaining basics i think.


View: https://youtu.be/VkrVi7EQ4iI

 

[JD1964]

Alright then, my LMR cart is full of $631 worth of coil over kit and adjustable shock / struts. Now all I need is a coupon code. I'll wait it out if I have to.

 

[JD1964]

You make my brain hurt.
Want more weight in the back throw in some concrete blocks in the back, and find another driver that doesn’t think too much.

You know, there's something worth considering here now that I "think" about it enough.

Extra weight over the rear tires not only adds traction but also compresses the rear suspension. The compression could put the control arm geometry in a better position for that down force effect on launch.

100 lbs would cost you a tenth on et in overall weight. But, if it knocked a tenth of the 60', that reduction is worth two tenths at the end of the track. So, theoretically, its possible that adding 100lbs to the trunk could net lower et.

In more "thought", I don't want to mislead everyone about my goals because this is a street car, not a track car. I just need a little better traction so I can enjoy the power Im making.

 

[JD1964]

@ TOOLOW91 You are running the 12" 200lb coilovers and I know your stance is lower. I like my front a little lower too, appearance wise. I have one question before I pull the trigger on 12" 200lb coilovers. Is there enough "up" adjustment to get to stock height in front? I'm wondering because my quest for better traction might include that.

 

[JD1964]

[QUOTE="FastDriver, post: 9184520, member: 19642"

Ps... why 6" up front? Is that an in-between? I have 17x8 up front for the street and 17x4.5 (I think) for the bias skinnies at the track.
[/QUOTE]

Yes, looking for a best of both worlds place. Wanna set it and forget it. i don't want to fiddle with things just because my mood might change. I know it's not perfect for either extreme but I'm sure you get my point.

Looking for 17x9 in rear with 275/40 drag radial and 17x6 up front with maybe a 225/50 touring tire. Maybe a 215/50, not sure

Only problem is my dream combo with Weld S71's will total almost $3k all in. Yikes!

 

[TOOLOW91]

@ TOOLOW91 You are running the 12" 200lb coilovers and I know your stance is lower. I like my front a little lower too, appearance wise. I have one question before I pull the trigger on 12" 200lb coilovers. Is there enough "up" adjustment to get to stock height in front? I'm wondering because my quest for better traction might include that.

I’m sure you could get it stock height up front but I promise you you won’t need to . NONE of the fast stuff I have ever encoutured sits stock height .



Still seems you’re very fixated on changing the front stuff up . I’m telling you some of your answers lie in the rear suspension as well . It makes a huge difference .

 

[FastDriver]

Ok, man. No problem. You know that stock pony rims are 7" wide right? So, you're going even narrower than stock.

 

[JD1964]

Ok, man. No problem. You know that stock pony rims are 7" wide right? So, you're going even narrower than stock.

I'm aware, thanks