I have 4 eighty LB bags of concrete in my trunk (320 Lbs.) I know that this should help me in the snow but will this cause stress on my rear suspension? Should I take one the bags out? I have them towards the back rear the seats.

 

No, you are fine, just think of it as having two 160 lb people in your back seat all the time.

 

Make sure that the bags are sitting on or as close to the back wheels as possible. if they are too far back, it makes the problem worse, kinda like a pendulam effect. Also, if will hurt your fuel economy quite a lot!

 

I was rear-ended November 29. The guy hit me at about 20 mph -- I was at a dead stop. I had 2 80# bags of sand in the trunk and they still moved 12". I found that the car just doesn't handle right with that extra weight in the trunk, and since the suspension has been totally redesigned on the '05 Mustang with the distribution of the weight moved back and out, I had my son remove the sand bags from the trunk. Even he agreed with me on the handling. So, I'll see how the car handles -- so far so good. I'll keep you posted.

 

If you start to go into a skid and the weight shifts, it has been proven that the extra momentum from the weight you added will prevent you from recovering from a spin situation.

I never put extra weight in my car. I just put on the proper snow tires and away I go with no issues.

 

Kelly.. you don't have to put so much weight...I've put only 50 lbs and remember that the rear end of the 05 is longer than his predecessors(99-04stangs)and have a better weight distributions..last week I had one feet of snow and I drove it slowly ...slowly is the key

 

320 pounds is a lot, and you don't have much for cargo otherwise.

I think a better investment would be top of the line snow tires

 

And use bags of sand or rock salt, then they have a dual purpose, you can use it for traction around the tires and to melt ice.

 

Kelly,
The car is heavy enough. If I invested that amount of money on a nice new car like the 05, was going to winter drive it, the first thing I would do is invest in the best winter tire out there. That way when the spring comes, you'll still have your baby in 1 piece!

 

If you run into something hard that stuff is gonna rip through your car and find you.

 

Yup....what they said.

 

I can see it now! ...yeah, he suvived the impact with the truck, but a 80# sandbag ripped his head off from behind. Bummer.

 

hmm... or in the trunk to, I could think of a few bodies I could throw in the trunk...

 

With the Mustang balance being 52/48 I'm going to try 250lbs of kitty litter. Must better in help getting out and no salt to leak out and turn your Mustang into a rustang

 

I hope that is new kitty litter......

 

I just make my wife ride in the trunk everywhere we go.

 

Kelly....WAY too much weight, IMHO. The car already has excellent f/r weight distrubtion, which you are severely imbalancing by adding that much weight to the trunk. Many have argued (see adrenalin's post), and I find myself moderately persuaded, that the addition of ANY weight does more harm than good, as the small gains in traction are more than offset by the handling disadvantage you will now have when the roads get slippery. The tail comes out quick enough on these cars; do you really want another 320 lbs of momentum behind it when it does? You've got trac control (which works wonders). Get a pair of rear snow tires if you must, but consider eliminating (or at minimum REDUCING) the weight in the trunk....

my .02

 

Forget about the extra weight in the back, I don't have traction control or the better weight distribution of the 05 Mustang and do not put anything to weigh down the rear of my 98, yet I never had any problems in the snow......Why are people so paranoid about driving their mustangs in the snow ? , you just need good snow tires!

 

One bag of kitty litter is fine. No need for all that.

Just pay attention to the morons around you and don't jump the gun when started.. like anyone with a pony would do during the summertime. I know I do haha I have to calm the old lead foot down in winter