ok i have a budget of about $750 and i'm looking for some ideas on some simple suspension upgrades for my 86, one thing i'd really like is a lowering kit to give the car a more aggressive stance(front lower than the rear). this will be nothing major since its a street only car so nothing like a racing suspension, i'm just looking for a general improvement to the handling of the car

 

OK, to make your money stretch further you can go this route....

-FRPP "B" springs-$140 @ Buyfordracing.com
-Energy Suspension Polyurethane rear control arm bushing kit-$70 @ Summit Racing
-Energy Suspension front sway bar bushings- about $15 @ Summit
-Energy Suspension sway bar endlink kit-about $20 @ Summit
-Caster Camber Plates- $200 @ Maximum Motorsports
-Monroe Struts/shocks-$150 @ Advance Auto or Autozone-Don't get the Sensatrac...get a gas charged or gas matic.

That brings you up to about $600 which allows money for shipping and some to have someone install the control arm bushings if you can't since the old ones have to be burned out....assuming of course you are installing all these parts yourself. Going the bushing route saves you money buying complete control arms and achievs the same handling gain. Leave the bushings in the axle housing rubber and change all the rest to poly. There are better shocks out there but for your budget I recommend this...don't waste your money on KYB GR2s...they are garbage, I've tried them on different vehicles and always end up hating them.

With the above parts you will not believe the change it will make to your car....

 

ALL KYB shocks are garbage. I have the AGX shocks and they don't improve a **** thing, even with the adjustability....

Regarding the caster camber plates.... do they have to be adjusted to specific settings and the car re-aligned or as soon as you bolt them on will they improve the suspension geometry immediately?

 

The only application I find KYB's suitable for are vintage Mustangs but with that there are better options as well. My personal preference is Koni and also why I am a Koni dealer but that is out of the budget for many people.

Caster camber plates are only as good as the alignment specs....a stock alignment can be performed making them useless having the same settings as stock. The Old Kenny Brown Caster Plus plates made Caster already as much as you could get so those would have an immediate benefit but most caster/camber plates have both settings fully adjustable and therefore can be set to stock...so you would definitely want to use their settings and make sure your alignment guy uses the specified specs.

 

Well I learned something new about CC plates, just never looked much into them before.

Actually I was just looking at Koni Yellows the other day, it seems that theres the sport single adjustable ones and then the double adjustable ones (right?) The DAs are almost twice the price of singles (1000 from MM) I sure wouldn't mind saving a bit and getting the DAs, but I also see Tokico Illuminas and they seem nice for the money (BTW- whats the difference between the Illumina and the Drag Illumina if they're both adjustable???)
So do you recommend the Yellow DA's over anything else?

 

The Koni DA's are really overkill unless you are seriously into road racing....they have adjustable compression and rebound and require you to do a bit of tuning...more so than the SA's. The Sport Single adjustables are fine for most people...very few people are in need of the DA's. The Yellow SA's are adjustable from the top both front and rear so they are easy to adjust and that adjustment is the compression.

Generally a Drag shock is valved differently for better weight transfer so that would be the difference between any standard vs. Drag specific shock/strut. One of the major perks of Konis is the lifetime warranty...Tokico doesn't have that.

Regardless if you are interested in Konis just drop me a line and if you want to find your best advertised price I am sure I can beat it .

 

As soon as my funds recover from my Carlisle adventure (and getting the bottom part of the car painted) you'll be hearing from me. I also need some springs...

 

thanks for the heads-up on the KYB's. don't want to thread-jack here, but how are bilsteins (non-MM valved version)?

 

Paul will know more about them, but considering Bilsteins are factory on 03 Cobras I'd say they're pretty good

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...0439666&rd=1,1

or for a little more drop eibach pro springs, struts and rear sway bar.
camber bolts from napa or I think auto zone has them.

http://eibach.com/cgi-bin/htmlos.exe...72865900024994

 

that ebay auction is for S197 mustangs not fox bodies

 

Doh!!! sorry.... never mind then. I'll try and pay better attention to the titke of the thread next time

 

Bilsteins are good shocks as well but I am not sure if they offer anything for the Fox Mustangs anymore. I talked with the Sales Mgr at Bilstein a few years back and he told me they were discontinuing the Fox application. You would have to check with Bilstein to see if they have anything available for the Fox Mustang....

These shock companies are basically stupid in their outlook....I've discussed this with both Bilstein and Koni....when a car is new and does not "need" shocks/struts" they make them....then as the car ages their sales drop off and they discontinue the application before the big need arises as the car gets old enough for people to start replacing the shocks/struts. If you think about it, the Fox market is now more ripe than ever for shocks/struts but they are more worried about the brand new cars. Koni stopped making the standard reds adjustable at the top which means they are now "compress and adjust" which means you have to unbolt and remove them to adjust them...who is going to do that?!? That's why I go with the yellow SA's. The went that route with the reds to get cost down but they lose the ease of adjustment so I don't recommend them for that reason.

 

heres an ebay auction for Bilsteins: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BILST...spagenameZWDVW

and MM still sells the HD Bilsteins besides the sport and race valved units

 

OK, then Bilstien still has them available.....last I talked to the sales mgr. about 4 years ago he told me they were going to discontinue them....glad they didn't...or brought them back if they did.

 

maybe it was your convo with the manager that persuaded them to keep making them?

 

It'd be nice to think that reasoning had an effect but I wouldn't think my opinion held much weight with them....

 

ok here it is more than two years later and i'm still interested in my car's suspension. while koni shocks are rather expensive but if there worth the money then they are not out of my price range. now would there be problems if i replaced my entire rear end suspension and left the front untouched with the exception of the front sway bar for a short period of time if there is than can I get some suggestions on complete ront and rear suspension parts, kits would be preferable but what ever would be best for a street only car that'll give me the best ride possible

 

* with out going completely on price or giving me more than i would possibly need

 

IIRC, Bilsteins cost a little bit less than Koni shocks/struts, especially if you want to keep it simple - no single or double adjustable shocks/struts and won't be going the coilover conversion route. I've heard of people adapting the New Edge Bullitt/Mach 1's (Tokico) suspension including the springs to Foxes. IMHO, may as well get both ends of the car done at the same time.