yay!

[Engel]

Got all my bushings replaced, rack, bilsteins, 03 cobra shaft, 03 cobra a-arms, mach 1 springs and tie rod ends!

Hopefully good for another 200,000 miles

gonna wash up the car and take pic


It may not be coil over kit (which id love to switch too) but it definitely gets the job done for daily drivin anyway

 

[Therian]

Did you do it yourself?

 

[Engel]

yep, but i had to call in an old tymer to help me (me dad).

Im very impatient when it comes to mechanics so he keeps me sane. Literally everytime I work on my car SOMETHING goes wrong, not user error, but rather some random little thing or aftermarket part not fitting that ends up costing more time.


Anyway it seems like a 2 day job, This was all using 2 jackstands a floor jack, 2 bottle jacks, and hand tools. To me it was a PITA without a lift. But im guessing the labor would have been monstrous on a job like that . I think all homes should come standard with a lift built into the garage !!




I advise anyone attempting this job to take a good 3 days off in case something goes wrong

The main time killers: front a-arms, rear upper arms, and rear axle side bushings


I left my lower rear control arms stock, bushings still looked great (after 200,000 miles) I was impressed.
The stock front a-arm bushings were still good as well, but I went ahead and threw in the cobra a-arm.

 

[Therian]

did you have to cut any bolts off like I did? I'd say it's a weekend task too, maybe more if you're working on it yourself and have no prior experience doing suspension work (a la me).

On a seperate note, did you notice any real improvement in ride quality? Me and JT were talking about it, and neither of us noticed a really noticeable improvement.

 

[Engel]

are you talking about a certain portion of the suspension or all the suspension together?


noticed a only slight increase in ride quality if any, the bilsteins are slightly better then the 02 gt shocks/struts I had in there (seat of the pants). I did drop the car an inch however.


LARGE increase in the overall stability of the car and handling. Steering is much more tight and the car sticks really well to the road. All my bumpsteer is gone as well. (probably due to the cracked bushing in the back or the steering rack).

I did get it aligned to mm's specs, not the ford specs. But I don't have any experience driving at different caster/camber settings.. not sure how much that improved the handling.



im really curious as to what it is like with coil overs now

 

[Engel]

Need some 18's and do away with the tri bars


I did not want to drop it any lower (although I love the slammed look)