Horseowner

I've completed several mods that have been a real mixed bag. :notnice:

1.- Steeda Tri-Ax shifter: Great shift-feel and nice throws but it SQUEAKS like a cage full of mice and EVERY SINGLE WHIR, WHIZ and GRIND in the already-loud Tremec gearbox is AMPLIFIED into the interior. It's really unacceptable and I'm going to be looking for an alternative. :stubborn:

2.- Bassani Axle-Back Mufflers: These look awesome and sound even better, BUT... they cause SIGNIFICANT rattles and vibrations in the rear half of the vehicle along with squeaks each time the body flexes- apparently from the joint between the exhaust pipe and the muffler itself. There's no more tightening left to be done so I'm going to take it to a muffler shop and see if they have any ideas. It's very irritating but they sound so good I'll live with the squeaks and rattles if I have to.

3.- C&L Cold Air Intake: A mixed bag. The aluminum design gets HOTTER THAN BLAZES inside the engine compartment- hardly a good idea for a "Cold" air intake. Clearly (in my mind) this was a case of someone in design/engineering not thinking very clearly. It's anything BUT a "cold-air intake" but it does increase the MAF size and move more air... just HOTTER air.

I'm satisfied with the performance gain: the net measured gain WITH the appropriate C&L tune via Diablosport Predator was 15 HP COMPARED to the factory air intake after removing the trap and replacing the stock element with a K&N element. (I didn't do an absolute factory/stock baseline) So I'm GUESSING there was probably a total of 20 HP gain from the C&L/Diablosport duo compared to bone-stock factory. :scratch:

I'm interested in hearing other people's downsides on various mods and specific products.

The more I change out Ford factory pieces the more I see that Ford engineers made some pretty shrewd trade-offs on each and every item: Cost vs. performance, ergonomics vs. performance or driveability vs. performance.

Who's next?

Steve :drive:

emperorjordan

Thats intresting about the shifter.... I was planning to get one. Any other things you can say about it? How are the shifts? and how bad is the noise?

Enfynet

The only downside I've experienced so far is they cost money.

Horseowner

Shifts are great... noise is absolutely unbearable. Take a very long, very thick screwdriver and place the blade against the block of your engine while it's running... then place your ear against the handle of the screwdriver. THAT'S what the shifter sounds like. WHIR, GRIND, etc.

I had it installed at a performance tranmission shop that campaigns a 6-second Pro-Stock Ford and has been into Ford racing for 40 years- specifically transmissions, rear ends, clutches, shifters, etc.

The owner himself installed it (along with 4.10's and lower control arms) and handed me the key saying, "I don't think I've EVER heard that much gear noise from a transmission before!!"

There was almost no noise with the factory shifter before installing the Steeda unit. As I said... I'm looking for an alternative. I don't think I can live with this much noise... not to mention the squeaks between gates and the excess transmission heat that is transferred through all that billet aluminum. Yes- you can FEEL the heat radiating off the shifter now.

Ahhh well,

Steve

Badsnke98

Ahhh, yes the trade offs. Always there. :bang:


1. Antenna mod.

2. Removed the visor decals. (looks much better)

3. Painted cam covers. (just installed)

4. Removed some engine bay factory decals. (to many langages and paint marker lines) :notnice:

5. Removed the Hyrocarbon filter.

6. Sequential Tail Lights.

7. Cleaned up the finish on factory Tail Pipes. (no rattles) :scratch:


I wish I had more mods. But I'm working on that now that winter is gone bye- bye.

MustangCat

The biggest downside here is I foresee me always wanting more. Working on exhaust right now. At least I've got a year to work the word "supercharger" into conversation with my wife.

05stangGT

I have a CAI, a tune and several other interior accents....

1. The interior accents are great. No issues.

2. They DO cost a lot of money

3. All the parts for the 05 are much more expensive than previous model years. The manufacturers need to bring some of their prices down and I think they will

4. I do want to start saving for some exterior body parts like louvers or scoops, splitter, rear facia, and more aggressive side skirts.sell more units if they did. I mean...over $500 for a cat-back??? That's just crazy!

Overall.....Just plain LOVIN' THIS CAR!!!

MTAS

So far:

Steeda urethane shifter bushings: No down sides

BMR tubular LCA's w/urethane bushings: No down sides

Redline Hood Struts: No down sides

StangNut

This is a really good thread although not many people are willing to stand up and admit their mod isn't 100% perfect.
The only ones I've made so far are cutting the antenna and window tint.
The good & bad of both of those are obvious.
Thanks for the review of the Tri-Ax. I had one in my '03 with absolutely no downside from my experience, but I think I'll stay with stock for now.

05GT-O.C.D.

My Mods:

Window Tint:
Upside = Looks, and cooler, longer lasting interior.
Downside = Hard to watch for cops in your rear view mirror at night.

Ducktail, Painted the Lower Insert in the Front Bumper:
Upside = Looks great and appears to be stock.
Downside = I've got 10 holes drilled in my car, and it's not stock anymore.

Painted Calipers:
Upside = Looks great
Downside = a little bit rice

Engine Start Button:
Upside = Looks great, functions perfectly, everyone thinks it's OEM
Downside = Lost the power point in the dash, a little rice too.

Subwoofer in Trunk:
Upside = Great sound, looks custom.
Downside = Takes up enogh room for a suitcase

Shortened the Stock Antenna:
Upside = Looks better
Downside = Not stock... oh, well.

Edit to add...

TailLamp Mod:
Upside = More noticeable at night, doesn't look like I have a light out
Downside = Messing with wiring for brake lights

HC Trap Delete:
Upside = I think it's faster
Downside = It probably isn't any faster

Horseowner

I love this! I think we could ALL identify with that concept!!

I didn't mention any of my mods at the start of this thread which don't seem to have a downside. Those include...

BMR Lower Control Arms: A notable improvement in performance... VERY inexpensive, no notable downside.

Ford Racing Parts 4.10's: GREAT performance jump.

Several Dress-Up DooDads: No downside with any of those items.

Ford Racing Parts Hood Pins: Personally I love the look and they get lots of positive comments though when the vehicle is 40 years old (I'll be dead by then) whoever owns it will undoubtedly CUSS THE MORON that drilled holes in that beautiful, factory aluminum hood and ruined it!!!

I'm enjoying the thread and want to see what others have to say.

Steve

ZRX4ME

did a steeda axle back exhaust-no downsides. It does not rattle and sounds just perfect-throaty,but not obnoxious.If you like rolled tips go with the borla axleback.same exhaust with different tips.

hydrocarbon trap removal and rubber intake boot on airbox-no downsides.
waiting for my BMR strut tower brace-i'll let ya know what I think.

frdtch05gt

Anyone got a link on those BMR control arms? Sounds like a pretty good product from what I'm reading here.

FordRacing

http://www.bmrfabrication.com/2005Mustang.htm

Kingpin2B

Gotta second the comments on the tri-ax, the shifting was excellent, but it really makes you feel as if something's broken in the transmission just by the way it sounds. With every shift comes a crunching sound (which I assumed was the aluminum shift handle hitting the aluminum shifter body, sounds like hitting 2 pieces of hard wood together is the best way I can describe it) not to mention the various assortment of extremely annoying whirs and rapid-succession-clicks at high revs. And on top of all that, shifting into 5th and reverse required too much more elbow grease than I want to exhert when shifting (yes I made sure the shops greased those bushings excessively). It wasn't a botched install either as I had it installed at a ford performance shop and then re-installed at a performance ford dealer, after which I put the stocker back in, and all is well again .

My other mod is the eibach pro kit which I couldn' be happier with, gives the car a little better cornering with little ride quality sacrifice, imo makes the car look better, and lastly gives the car a really sweet stance that just rocks my shorts!

Oh I got a shorty antenna too that keeps getting bent everytime I go to the car wash, but looks great

Future mods include nothing, with fomoco being so up tight about warranties these days(and me buying the extended warranty :bang: ), I'm saving for a cobra, hopefully by the '09 model year the prices will come down to MSRP or below. I've been down the drivetrain-modding road with my 79 pace car and, yeh, not going that route again.

Faber

Shifts are great... noise is absolutely unbearable. Take a very long, very thick screwdriver and place the blade against the block of your engine while it's running... then place your ear against the handle of the screwdriver. THAT'S what the shifter sounds like. WHIR, GRIND, etc.

I had it installed at a performance tranmission shop that campaigns a 6-second Pro-Stock Ford and has been into Ford racing for 40 years- specifically transmissions, rear ends, clutches, shifters, etc.

The owner himself installed it (along with 4.10's and lower control arms) and handed me the key saying, "I don't think I've EVER heard that much gear noise from a transmission before!!"

There was almost no noise with the factory shifter before installing the Steeda unit. As I said... I'm looking for an alternative. I don't think I can live with this much noise... not to mention the squeaks between gates and the excess transmission heat that is transferred through all that billet aluminum. Yes- you can FEEL the heat radiating off the shifter now.

Ahhh well,

Steve
[/b][/quote]

it sounds to me like the installer never reinstalled the lower shift boot. I have a tri-ax and installed it by the book (you have to remove it and install the lower boot and reinstall it) and i have no issues with additional noise. the shifter has been awesome for me.

yank your shift boot and look for the rubber lower boot, i bet it is not there....

also if it is there you could probably add some insulation to that cavity where the shifet resides to soak up some of the noise.

also fomoco 4.10 gears will be a bit rough and rattley till they are broke in.

for what its worth....

Horseowner

It sounds to me like the installer never reinstalled the lower shift boot. I have a tri-ax and installed it by the book (you have to remove it and install the lower boot and reinstall it) and i have no issues with additional noise. the shifter has been awesome for me.

yank your shift boot and look for the rubber lower boot, i bet it is not there....



Nope.. the lower boot is there and the shifter was installed by a Ford driveline performance shop specializing in Ford racing transmissions, rear-ends, etc. They've been in business for 40+ years and they campaign a 6-second Pro-Stock Mustang.

The owner installed it himself and said: "Wow! I've never heard that much noise out of any Ford transmission/shifter combo before!"

Lucky me :bang:

Steve

StangNut

HorseownerI would think gas mileage would be a downside to 4.10's.

The Lyin' King

Bump . . . . I'd like to hear more of this

rrobello

horseowner...are you sure you dont have something wrong with the tranny....or maybe I dont understand the noises you have the squeeks can be taken care of by lubing the shifter this should have been done during install, but the shop that did mine (JBA) skipped that proceedure as most people do because it just doesnt occur to them as they never really had to in the past...mine did that went back took 5 minutes to have them lube it squeeks gone. and the only other noise I hear is when engaging in a gear the locking click is much louder than stock but I think it sounds more race carish and I dont even notice it anymore, other than that it doesnt hold back much outside noise but I also drive around with my windows down so no big difference there but no noise from the tranny

05GT-O.C.D. how is painted calipers rice...many performance cars come with them painted like the Ford GT you have three color choices