Build Your Own S197 Suspension Kit
 

Here are some options for those who want to mix and match their suspension pieces without having to shop around at different sources. This should put a little bit of "ease" to your shopping experience. This will start off with the main modifications, and go to supporting mods from there. If anyone needs help putting together their kit, please don't hesitate to reply, PM, or call! Keep in mind these are list prices, and I sell them cheaper!

Make sure to also read this thread, as it has some great information on suspension and the geometry of vehicles. There was alot of reasearch put into Galaxie's post, and a great amount of technical information. It will further help you make your decision of which of these parts work best for you:

http://forums.bradbarnett.net/showthread.php?t=60937

Now, let's start with springs...

Springs

http://www.steeda.com/images/steeda_sport_springs.jpg
• Steeda Ultralite Springs lower approximately 1" front / 1.25" rear. $239.99

These are ideal for those who do not want to sacrifice daily driveability. Good for lowering, maintaining ride quality, and improving handling and nose dive.

• Steeda Sport Springs lower approximately 1" front / 1.25" rear. $229.99

These are ideal for those who will be building a weekend warrior. Good for lowering, somewhat maintaining ride quality, and improving handling and nose dive. Light weight solid core wire design for strength, and less inertia.

• Steeda Street/Competition Springs lower approximately 1" front / 1.25" rear. $329.99

These are ideal for those who will be building a track car who still want to drive street on occasions. This kit is the highest available Steeda spring rates, and DRAMATICALLY increased nosedive and handling capabilities. Don't expect great ride quality from these springs, as they are quite stiff.

http://www.3800performance.com/Merch...ch_pro_kit.jpg

• Eibach Pro Kit Springs lower approximately 1.3" front / 1.4" rear. $259.99

Very popular for the S197's, lower stance is very aggresive looking. The spring rates allow for the best possible ride quality for amount of drop. Will not feel like factory, but not too harsh for daily driving. Increases handling ability quite a bit.

• Eibach Sportline Kit Springs lower approximately 1.6" front / 2" rear. $259.99

More aggresive drop, and usually requires camber adjustment. A good alignment is reccomended with all springs, but is a must with a drop like this to avoid tire wear problems, etc. The significantly lower the center of gravity, and will improve handling, but will not preserve ride quality. This is for those who want to drop there car as far as possible without the use of an adjustable coil over kit. Most likely will require a bumpsteer kit as well.

http://static.summitracing.com/globa...m-5300-k_w.jpg

• Ford Racing Lowering Kit lowers approximately 1.5" front / 1.5" rear. $225.99

Fairly aggressive drop. Many people like these springs. They're manufactured by Eibach for Ford racing and are very similar to the Eibach Pro Kit. Also a great deal for the price!


There are many other kits available such as H&R and BMR, which lower the car conservatively, and don't require more than a good alignment in order to work properly for daily driving. These are just a few that we carry in stock, because of their popularity.

Let's move on to the shocks and struts...

Shocks/ Struts

There are many different combinations available. Keep in mind if you're going to use this on the street, that you may or may not want to go with an adjustable. An adjustable may be your best option if you frequently drive spiritedly and would like the option of fine tuning your suspension.

If you're moderately lowering the vehicle (ie. Steeda Ultra-lites or Eibach Pro kit), you may be able to get away with using the stock shocks. Keep in mind that if you lower in combination with the right shock setup, you will improve ride quality, for sure!

http://www.steeda.com/images/steeda_shocks_550.jpg

• Steeda Pro Action Shocks & Struts Front /Rear $399.99 set of 4

Very cost effective! These are non adjustable, and good for those who are lowering up to 1 3/4". They are backed by a lifetime warranty, and perfect for those who are going to use occasionally on the track, but mainly street usage (daily driving).

http://www.steeda.com/images/D-Spec.jpg

• Tokico D-Spec Adjustable Shocks & Struts Front / Rear $529.99 set of 4

These are probably considered top of the line when it comes to adjustability for those who are serious in race, and serious in street. These are fully adjustable for compression and rebound, and can be set up for either a daily driver with basic 1-1.5" drop, or a vehicle entering competition events such as SCCA, NHRA, etc.

http://www.steeda.com/images/ford_racing_struts_05.jpg

• Ford Racing Non-Adjustable Shocks & Struts Front / Rear $405.99

For those who do not need the adjustability of the D-Spec or Steeda stocks and struts, Ford has introduced a combination already set up for moderately lowered vehicles and improved handling. Great for everyday use, and dealership-friendly!



This may be all for those who are going to street drive, and have moderate drops. You will have improved handling, and if you chose to go with shocks as well, sacrificed little ride quality. You will have a reliable setup, and a great looking stance!

For those who would further like to help launching at the track, or are concerned with their caster/camber adjustment because they lowered more than 1-1.5", you will probably need to take a look at the following...

Caster/Camber Adjustment

Here are a few options to help adjust the caster and camber.

There are many companies out there who have offset bolts available for caster and camber. Moog, Ingalls, etc. They are great for an inexpensive solution, but can easily be knocked out of alignment. Almost as easily as it was to get the car aligned! So I will not go further into it here, but for those who are interested, feel free to give me a call! Otherwise, there's these...

http://www.steeda.com/images/555-8096-450.jpg

• Steeda Billet Camber Adjustments $209.99

These are made of CNC machined billet aluminum. They're very effective, and consistent as well. You get a wider adjustment of caster and camber, and they're very easy on the eye too! They're made from the top of the line 7075 billet aluminum, and will hold up, unlike offset bolts. Very easy adjustment!!!

The next step to look at would be upper strut mounts. These are great for front suspensions that want to replace the awfully-engineered and noisy factory plastic strut mounts. These can also be used in conjunction with the Billet Camber Adjustments above for those who are into serious racing.

http://www.steeda.com/images/upper_s...t_s197_175.jpg

• Steeda Heavy Duty Upper Strut Mounts $299.99

These allow for an extra degree of camber adjustment, and may be used alone or in conjunction with the Camber Adjustments above. These are also nice because they eliminate the "popping" sound common to lowered S197's. These exceed OE quality, and are a must-have for those looking to concentrate on front camber, or just add an additional degree of adjustment.



Now for the rear of the car! Upper and Lower control arms can always help to stiffen up the rear, and also adjust pinion angle, as well (for those who lowered a good amount).

Lower/Upper Control Arms

Upper control arms are a good idea to replace whether you're going to extremely drop the car, or you're going to leave it at stock height and drive spiritedly. The stock unit is "lacking" and isn't engineered for the amount of torque that most of us can see with simple bolt ons. It's a good idea to look into these if you're purchasing an aftermarket driveshaft as well. (such as the Coast Aluminum Driveshafts for $589.99 CALL ME! :nice: ) They are great when adjusting pinion angle, and make life much easier to adjust the geometry under your car!

http://www.bmrfabrication.com/05Must...A019-small.jpg

• BMR Fabrication Adjustable Upper Control Arms $176.99 w/polyurethane bushings - $209.99 w/spherical bearing

BMR Fabrication came out with these 3/16" thick replacements that make quite a difference compared to the stock 3rd link style unit. This stiffens up the center link quite a bit for you drag racers!

http://www.bmrfabrication.com/05Must...tLCA-small.jpg

• BMR Fabrication Adjustable STREET Tubular Lower Control Arms $259.99/pair

BMR Fabrication tig welded tubular adjustable control arms available with polyurethane bushings and 304 Stainless rod ends! These are a great addition to the suspension needing the added adjustment.

http://www.bmrfabrication.com/05Must...B005-small.jpg

• BMF Fabrication Control Arm Relocation Brackets $129.99/pair

BMR Fabrication control arm relocation brackets are great in conjunction with a set of tubular control arms! They have seen 1.33 60 foot times with these! 1.50 60 foot times and below may require weld in for added strength. This allows you to fine tune your vehicles instant center, and allows for a better transfer of power, and launches! This will correct lowered vehicles suspension geometry. Definetly a must-have for any kind of racer!!!



These are just a few of the choices that are available for suspension junkies! There are ranges everywhere from your daily street driver who just wants to get ride of the wheel well opening a little bit, to the guy that wants to pull the front wheels off the ground and plant them 60 feet down the track!

Take your time, and make good decisions by reading reviews and figuring out exactly what piece will produce the right results for your application. There are plenty of people out there who have tried just about every combination. You can learn from their mistakes, and their successes.

If anyone needs any help in deciding, feel free to give us a call whether you're getting the parts from us or not. There are many choices out there for quality parts, and very affordable. It all sounds complicated at first, but it comes down to a simple matter of budget and expectations. We can find out what you expect to gain, and what you expect to pay.

Hopefully someone will gain from this, if not at least we have an easy way to navigate how much of a drop comes with each spring, and pricing!

Good luck!!!

CR
Tillman Speed
610-497-5776
610-497-3736
www.TillmanSpeed.com

when will the tillman online speed shop arrive?

Give me a week or so, and you'll see all of our parts on our store! I'll keep everyone posted! Programming inventory is a PITA, but we're slowly getting it done! Thanks!!!

CR
Tillman Speed

I'm going to do panhard bars, etc. today... bear with me.

You're hand-coding your inventory? I admire your spunk, but I'd recommend driving nails into your skull for more entertainment...

We're hand doing our inventory for our webstore because we want to have the most information, and want it to be correct. I mean't I'm going to do panhard bars, etc. on this thread today. Our webstore is going to be worked on all this week by yours truly (yes, by hand!). :banghead:

CR
Tillman Speed

Dude, save some headaches and especially future headaches, and make that content database driven!

It is database driven. But you gotta enter the data into the database! :)

It's all done through excel spreadsheets, and once it's done anything can be changed seamlessly. For now, it's just a PITA until I get it all in.

However, if you have any advice how to make it easier, I'd appreciate it. Manually entering part titles, numbers, prices, and description is a killer task!!!

CR
Tillman Speed

Remember to muliply the shopping cart price x 0.9 or more for all TMS members.

:banana:

Discount code "TMSMember" takes care of that ;)

Ah, I thought you were doing it all by hand.

Easier? Well, if the data is in some kind of electronic format already, like tables or spreds, you could probably slush it all together and do a batch import.

Of course...now we're both hijacking the thread! :nice:

LMAO, yea lets get back to topic while I brush up on my Excel lack-of skills! :banghead:

hire some hottie college student to do data entry?

The old lady already wonders why I love going to work... LOL

good post :nice:

what's your opinion of the Roush suspension package? My style is more daily driver but on the weekends I hit the mountains. The Roush package is a little pricey it seems but I've read raving reviews about it...

I like the Roush suspension. I've driven a customers car with it, but to be completely honest, you could build a much nicer suspension for that price. If it was a little more reasonable, I'd say go for it, because it really drove well!

CR
Tillman Speed

I'm all ears :grin:

What package would you put together that would be better? As you can see from my sig I have the Stage 1 Roush which means I have the stock GT suspension. I'm looking for a kick *** handling package but don't want to pay out the *** :nice:

I'll tell you what, if you want to give me a call in the morning, we can definetly work something out. You let me know what kind of price you have in mind, and I'll give you all of the options. It's much easier to communicate than on here! I'll be in at 10AM EST until 6PM EST. We'll get you squared away, for sure! THANKS!!!

CR
Tillman Speed
610-497-5776
610-497-3736
www.TillmanSpeed.com

Sorry for not getting a chance to do panhard rods, I'll get that done today!

CR
Tillman Speed

Quick question, can you ship internationally? There's quite a few of us 'Stangers in the UK and getting stuff can be:

a) a PITA
b) a ripoff for shipping costs

Would be great to have more of a 'one stop shop' for the most commonly installed mods. I must have used at least a dozen vendors so far with very mixed results!!!