GT Performance Mods 2005+ Mustang GT Performance and Technical Information

Need suspension advice

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Old 4/8/08, 08:11 AM
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OOPS!!! I didn't catch that you kept the stock UCA... The body-side bushing on that thing is as soft as a pencil eraser. THAT I would replace, at your convenience. I would leave the axle bushing, where the UCA bolts up, alone, as I mentioned before.

Sincerely,

Walker, Texas Ranger....
Old 4/8/08, 11:20 AM
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Coming a little late to the party, but here's my $.02.

I see you ordered a front sway bar and not the rear. It's a little late now, but I think that's kind of the opposite way to do it unless you can hopefully set the bar up to be softer than the stock front bar. The last thing these cars need is a stiffer front bar.

Assuming the relo brackets below are for the rear, I would also add either the x5 balljoints or the front control arm relo brackets to raise your front roll center. The balljoints are easier to install (the relo brackets require welding). I just installed mine this past weekend. Kind of a pain (you need to rent a balljoint press) but it was doable.

Dave Kegel

Originally Posted by Cavero
Well I gave CR a call and ordered the parts:

Steeda Sport Springs
Tokico D-SPECs w/remote adjusters
BMR front swaybar
BMR Bumpsteer kit
BMR LCA
BMR LCA relo brks
Steeda Billet Upper strut mounts

Unfortunately I missed out on the spring sale so most of the parts were at list price, the D-SPECs were a good deal but other than that it was std. pricing. Oh man I can't wait till this stuff comes in and I can install it!
Old 4/8/08, 04:19 PM
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DK do you have a bump steer kit on your car?? They seem to have enough adjustment so he wouldn't need the ball joints??
Old 4/8/08, 04:40 PM
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Originally Posted by SoundGuyDave
OOPS!!! I didn't catch that you kept the stock UCA... The body-side bushing on that thing is as soft as a pencil eraser. THAT I would replace, at your convenience. I would leave the axle bushing, where the UCA bolts up, alone, as I mentioned before.

Sincerely,

Walker, Texas Ranger....
Cool. I'll probably order the bushing as soon as I know the pinion angle is still good after lowering.

Originally Posted by dkegel
Coming a little late to the party, but here's my $.02.

I see you ordered a front sway bar and not the rear. It's a little late now, but I think that's kind of the opposite way to do it unless you can hopefully set the bar up to be softer than the stock front bar. The last thing these cars need is a stiffer front bar.

Assuming the relo brackets below are for the rear, I would also add either the x5 balljoints or the front control arm relo brackets to raise your front roll center. The balljoints are easier to install (the relo brackets require welding). I just installed mine this past weekend. Kind of a pain (you need to rent a balljoint press) but it was doable.

Dave Kegel
Dave K, I replaced the rear swaybar, panhard rod, and lateral stiffener back in July after an accident with a floor jack. I'm with Glenn on the ball joints, what's the advantage of the x5's if I already have the bumpsteer kit?

Originally Posted by Glenn
DK do you have a bump steer kit on your car?? They seem to have enough adjustment so he wouldn't need the ball joints??
According to his sig he does

Another side note regarding the LCA's. Ever since I put them in I'm hearing a very light but distinct metallic brushing noise when I'm moving and it seems fairly consistent above 5-10 mph. Is this just because of the poly bushings (i.e. is anyone else hearing this in their cars)?? And before anyone has the chance to doubt my torque wrench skills, YES its all torqued to 130 ft-lbs in accordance with BMR's instructions.

Thanks again to everyone who's posted in this thread. I think I'm getting a handle on all this suspension stuff.
Old 4/8/08, 04:50 PM
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Glen,

The bumpsteer kit and the X5 balljoint do different things... You can picture the geometry this way:

Assuming (for sake of argument) that the lower control arm is parallel to the ground with the stock ride height, when you drop the front end, the control arms are now lower at the frame side than they are at the balljoint. By installing a balljoint with an extended-length taper-shaft, it forces the lower control arm lower, getting it back to parallel. That leaves the roll-center right back where it should be, as close to the vehicle's center of mass as possible. When the roll center is moved further from the center of mass, it alters the roll characteristics, potentially quite badly. This can be worked around with stiffer springs and higher swaybar rates, but that really is a band-aid, as opposed to resetting the geometry properly.

The bump-steer kit is designed to correct for, well, bump-steer. This is the phenomenon where the motion of the suspension (jounce and rebound) creates a change in the toe angle, and has nothing to do with the roll center of the car.
Old 4/8/08, 04:55 PM
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Originally Posted by Cavero

Another side note regarding the LCA's. Ever since I put them in I'm hearing a very light but distinct metallic brushing noise when I'm moving and it seems fairly consistent above 5-10 mph. Is this just because of the poly bushings (i.e. is anyone else hearing this in their cars)?? And before anyone has the chance to doubt my torque wrench skills, YES its all torqued to 130 ft-lbs in accordance with BMR's instructions.

Thanks again to everyone who's posted in this thread. I think I'm getting a handle on all this suspension stuff.
Not casting any doubt on your skills at all, just asking the question to eliminate this as a possibility... Did you torque the bolts with the suspension loaded at ride-height, or did you torque them with the axle hanging? If they're torqued with the suspension unloaded, once you drop the car on the ground, you have pre-loaded the bushings badly, and noise, harsh ride, and premature bushing failure will result... Note that Ford selected very soft control arm bushings for the production car for NVH reasons, so once you tighten the rear suspension up with higher-durometer poly (or rod) bushings, you WILL get more road noise, axle noise, and suspension noise transmitted to the body. This is simply a price that has to be paid to keep an extra 450lbs of soundproofing out of the production car so Sally Grocery-Getter won't whine about her car being noisy.
Old 4/8/08, 05:07 PM
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Originally Posted by SoundGuyDave
Not casting any doubt on your skills at all, just asking the question to eliminate this as a possibility... Did you torque the bolts with the suspension loaded at ride-height, or did you torque them with the axle hanging? If they're torqued with the suspension unloaded, once you drop the car on the ground, you have pre-loaded the bushings badly, and noise, harsh ride, and premature bushing failure will result... Note that Ford selected very soft control arm bushings for the production car for NVH reasons, so once you tighten the rear suspension up with higher-durometer poly (or rod) bushings, you WILL get more road noise, axle noise, and suspension noise transmitted to the body. This is simply a price that has to be paid to keep an extra 450lbs of soundproofing out of the production car so Sally Grocery-Getter won't whine about her car being noisy.
Yeah that's a fair question Dave. Yeah I had the rear axle loaded to the same point it would be on the ground (marked the shocks with marker before I put it in the air) and then because the axle wanted to sit about half an inch rearward after unbolting the stock LCAs I had to use a ratchet strap to bring it back forward enough to easily thread the mounting bolts back in. it didn't take much but nothing I could do by hand. It actually kind of funny, lifting the rear axle high enough to hit the marks on the shocks started lifting the car off the jack stands so I had to put as much weight as I could find in the trunk to load the suspension back down.

I was expecting extra NVH just not a constant brushing noise that sounds almost like a dragging brake pad (but the car's not pulling to one side or the other).
Old 4/8/08, 05:40 PM
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Originally Posted by SoundGuyDave
Gig: If you have the Roush kit under your car, I would stick with them and get their bars as well. I'm a firm believer in matching springs and bars, unless you have the budget and facilities to perform serious testing.

I have always respected your "sound" advice ()

I ordered the D-specs and adj. kit from Tillman and the front & rear stabilizer bars and front springs from Roush.

Any suggestions on the "setting" for the D-specs. I was close to getting the strut/shock kit from Roush BUT I just couldn't quit thinking about the adjustability of the D-specs...I did break their kit with that change...
Old 4/8/08, 07:20 PM
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I just bought Maximum Motorsports caster/camber plates. I hope I can find alignment shop that knows what to do....
Old 4/8/08, 11:05 PM
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Cavero: The noise you describe sounds like dry bushings to me... did you lube them prior to installing them? If not, yank them back out and run some grease through them, and pop 'em back in. You do want to have some grease on the sides of the bushings before you slide them into the brackets. If that still didn't do the trick, you may be up against the NVH demon, and then it'll be your call if you can deal with them or not. You can also put down some dynamat above the LCA mount points to absorb some of the noise. Does it kind of sound like you're driving on a gravel road? That kind of background rumble and hiss? That's the NVH deal. If it's a creak or groan sound, that's dry bushings.

Gig: Good call on the MM plates, I'm saving up now for the same ones! The D-Spec setup is killer, and you won't be sorry. I would start with them 3.5 turns out from full hard, and then do your road testing, and get them as hard as you (and the car) can stand, then back off a touch. Too tight will knock the fillings out of your teeth, and the car will kind of bounce all over the place on bumps when the wheel can't track the surface changes. Too loose and the car will feel completely disconnected from the road, sort of like you're driving by remote. Get it in the sweet spot, though... THAT'S fun! Once you get your base settings dialled in for the street, write them down so you can always go back.
Old 4/9/08, 03:39 AM
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Originally Posted by SoundGuyDave
Cavero: The noise you describe sounds like dry bushings to me... did you lube them prior to installing them? If not, yank them back out and run some grease through them, and pop 'em back in. You do want to have some grease on the sides of the bushings before you slide them into the brackets. If that still didn't do the trick, you may be up against the NVH demon, and then it'll be your call if you can deal with them or not. You can also put down some dynamat above the LCA mount points to absorb some of the noise. Does it kind of sound like you're driving on a gravel road? That kind of background rumble and hiss? That's the NVH deal. If it's a creak or groan sound, that's dry bushings.

Gig: Good call on the MM plates, I'm saving up now for the same ones! The D-Spec setup is killer, and you won't be sorry. I would start with them 3.5 turns out from full hard, and then do your road testing, and get them as hard as you (and the car) can stand, then back off a touch. Too tight will knock the fillings out of your teeth, and the car will kind of bounce all over the place on bumps when the wheel can't track the surface changes. Too loose and the car will feel completely disconnected from the road, sort of like you're driving by remote. Get it in the sweet spot, though... THAT'S fun! Once you get your base settings dialled in for the street, write them down so you can always go back.
Yeah, the BMR's come with grease fittings now, so I put 2 pumps in before installing them. There was only a light coating of grease on the sides when I installed them but over the last couple days, loads on the LCAs forced grease onto the sides from the flutes. Last night I slowly put in another 2 pumps and let it sit overnight so the pressure could slowly release and not split the bushings.

I'll try to get a recording of the sound but the best way to describe it is if you were to lightly touch a brake pad to the disc. Its a kind of light, hollow, sound like somethings lightly brushing against metal.
Old 4/9/08, 07:28 AM
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Exactly. The way I understand it, when you lower the car, the Center of Gravity lowers a little but the Roll Center lowers a lot. If you look at the front of the car and draw imaginary lines along the front control arms, the RC is where the lines intersect. In the center of the car, below the CG. As Dave mentioned, when you lower the car the control arms flatten out, which lowers the RC. The longer distance between the CG and RC acts as a lever, or moment arm, which will actually increase body roll.

The X5 balljoints help restore the RC but introduce bumpsteer. Again, as Dave mentioned, bumpsteer occurs when the tie rods move at a different arc then the control arms. As the suspension compresses, the toe will change. So you need the bumpsteer kit with the X5 balljoints.

Dave

Originally Posted by SoundGuyDave
Glen,

The bumpsteer kit and the X5 balljoint do different things... You can picture the geometry this way:

Assuming (for sake of argument) that the lower control arm is parallel to the ground with the stock ride height, when you drop the front end, the control arms are now lower at the frame side than they are at the balljoint. By installing a balljoint with an extended-length taper-shaft, it forces the lower control arm lower, getting it back to parallel. That leaves the roll-center right back where it should be, as close to the vehicle's center of mass as possible. When the roll center is moved further from the center of mass, it alters the roll characteristics, potentially quite badly. This can be worked around with stiffer springs and higher swaybar rates, but that really is a band-aid, as opposed to resetting the geometry properly.

The bump-steer kit is designed to correct for, well, bump-steer. This is the phenomenon where the motion of the suspension (jounce and rebound) creates a change in the toe angle, and has nothing to do with the roll center of the car.
Old 4/9/08, 05:26 PM
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I can't believe how much money I'm spending on this... Regardless, I aim to do this right the first time since I'm doing this for handling not for looks. Just gave CR another call and ordered up the X5's. So now here is my total pending suspension setup (including whats already installed):

*Steeda Sport Springs
*Tokico D-Specs
*Steeda x5 ball joints
*BMR bumpsteer kit
*BMR Front swaybar
*BMR rear LCA's
*BMR LCA relo brckts
*Steeda rear swaybar
*Steeda adjustable panhard rod
*Steeda panhard brace
*Steeda heavy duty upper strut mounts

The anticipation is killing me...
Old 4/9/08, 08:07 PM
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Originally Posted by Cavero
I can't believe how much money I'm spending on this... Regardless, I aim to do this right the first time since I'm doing this for handling not for looks. Just gave CR another call and ordered up the X5's. So now here is my total pending suspension setup (including whats already installed):

*Steeda Sport Springs
*Tokico D-Specs
*Steeda x5 ball joints
*BMR bumpsteer kit
*BMR Front swaybar
*BMR rear LCA's
*BMR LCA relo brckts
*Steeda rear swaybar
*Steeda adjustable panhard rod
*Steeda panhard brace
*Steeda heavy duty upper strut mounts

The anticipation is killing me...
haha! sounds like me now! Since I started spending $ on suspension parts it just keeps getting worse.(or "better"). I can't stop!

Something I added today (and I THINK you may have forgotten..) Steeda Street front swaybar endlinks. I bought theirs since I couldn't find better ones easily.
Old 4/9/08, 08:10 PM
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Gig that is going to be an awesome ride!
Old 4/9/08, 08:24 PM
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Originally Posted by tom281
Gig that is going to be an awesome ride!
I sure hope so... My wife keeps saying her car rides better than mine.. (her gt auto) and she see's all the money flyin' out the door... at least "us guys" can understand that it should be awesome and all..

Thanks!
Old 4/10/08, 09:54 AM
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Yes, it's a slippery slope. As you can tell I don't post too often. I have this problem where the more I read the various forums the more money I spend. Some sort of disease I suspect. During the winter when the car's in storage it's not too hard to keep off the forums. But once spring hits and the car gets uncovered, it's hopeless. I start reading again and ordering stuff.

Good luck with all the new parts!

Dave

[quote=Cavero;5546591]I can't believe how much money I'm spending on this...
Old 4/14/08, 08:19 PM
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Alright here's the update and its not good:

I got the shocks/struts and springs all installed Sunday and the relocation brackets. decided not to install the bumpsteer kit until I get the x-5 ball joints in. I placed the order for the ball joints with Tillman Speed wednesday night, paid for 2-day shipping and God only knows where the hell they are. I keep bugging CR about a tracking number but the dude always says he'll get it and nothing ever comes of it. The same **** thing happened with the springs and as it turns out they were still sitting on the loading dock as of Friday night. I got apologies up and down but the only way to get the springs in time for installation was to drive 2 1/2 hours to the shop myself to pick them up. AND STILL NO REMOTE ADJUSTERS. My level of frustration is hitting new highs. I NEED THE **** BALLJOINTS BY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON SO I CAN HAVE THEM INSTALLED IN TIME FOR THE ALIGNMENT APPOINTMENT AT 9:30 ON THURSDAY SO THE CAR IS READY FOR THE AUTOCROSS ON FRIDAY. THIS IS KILLING ME. ON TOP OF THAT I'VE NEVER INSTALLED BALL JOINTS BEFORE SO I'M NOT SURE HOW DO DO IT AND A VEIN IS PULSING IN MY FOREHEAD. I ordered all this crap 2 weeks in advance (except for the ball joint which is still 1 week) and here I am with the rush again. PLEASE ANY ADVICE on how to install balljoints, any where I might be able to get them faster because Tillman lately is a total waste of my time. I also need to know where to get a pinion angle finder quick so I can adjust that because its definitely off (so much more resistance when accelerating). PLEASE HELP.

And on top of all this, I've got a clunk from the front driver side. So I need to recheck all my torques tomorrow. Ordinarily I wouldn't be freaking out so much but I still have a HELL of a lot to do in very little time because the aforementioned shop dragged their *** on getting me my parts.
Old 4/14/08, 10:10 PM
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LOL!! Okay, Cavero, calm down, have the adult beverage of your choice, and take a deep, relaxing breath...

Originally Posted by Cavero
Alright here's the update and its not good:

I got the shocks/struts and springs all installed Sunday and the relocation brackets. decided not to install the bumpsteer kit until I get the x-5 ball joints in. I placed the order for the ball joints with Tillman Speed wednesday night, paid for 2-day shipping and God only knows where the hell they are. I keep bugging CR about a tracking number but the dude always says he'll get it and nothing ever comes of it. The same **** thing happened with the springs and as it turns out they were still sitting on the loading dock as of Friday night. I got apologies up and down but the only way to get the springs in time for installation was to drive 2 1/2 hours to the shop myself to pick them up. AND STILL NO REMOTE ADJUSTERS. My level of frustration is hitting new highs. I NEED THE **** BALLJOINTS BY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON SO I CAN HAVE THEM INSTALLED IN TIME FOR THE ALIGNMENT APPOINTMENT AT 9:30 ON THURSDAY SO THE CAR IS READY FOR THE AUTOCROSS ON FRIDAY. THIS IS KILLING ME. ON TOP OF THAT I'VE NEVER INSTALLED BALL JOINTS BEFORE SO I'M NOT SURE HOW DO DO IT AND A VEIN IS PULSING IN MY FOREHEAD.
Take it easy, we WILL get through this. A lot of times the vendors don't necessarily have the part in their hands when you order, and they have it drop-shipped from another vendor or direct from the manufacturer. Not saying CR is blameless, but this is seriously not a huge deal... If you go to your local parts house and ask to rent a balljoint press and ask for some instruction, you'll see that it's really pretty easy. The press itself looks like a giant C-clamp, with a handful of adapters for the two jaw ends. To press out the old joint, you select a top adapter that is smaller than the diameter of the ball joint casing, and a lower adapter that is larger. When you screw the clamp together, the ball joint gets pushed out of the control arm. Simple, no? To install, it's just a matter of reversing the adapters, and screwing the clamp together again, this time pushing the joint into place. It'll take you about 30 minutes a side once you get the car up in the air. Take your time, and relax, and it will all go smooth.


I ordered all this crap 2 weeks in advance (except for the ball joint which is still 1 week) and here I am with the rush again. PLEASE ANY ADVICE on how to install balljoints, any where I might be able to get them faster because Tillman lately is a total waste of my time. I also need to know where to get a pinion angle finder quick so I can adjust that because its definitely off (so much more resistance when accelerating). PLEASE HELP.
Okay, as for the balljoints, we have that covered. If Tillman can't help you in the time frame you need, PM SteedaGus here on the board, or call Steeda direct, and ask for Gus. He's a good guy, and if Steeda has them in stock, he'll have them out to you that day. They're in Florida, so plan your phone call for 8:30AM EST and have Gus red-tag the box to you at work, so you can sign for it. For the pinion angle, go to sears and get a digital angle finder, for around $40 IIRC. Measure the angle on the flange face at the trans, and on the flange face on the diff, and do your adjustments. Don't use the shaft, and don't use the diff housing, you will not be accurate.

And on top of all this, I've got a clunk from the front driver side. So I need to recheck all my torques tomorrow. Ordinarily I wouldn't be freaking out so much but I still have a HELL of a lot to do in very little time because the aforementioned shop dragged their *** on getting me my parts.
Welcome to the world of racing... there is NEVER enough time to get it all done. Just remember that Murphy is riding shotgun with you, and all will be good! Re-checking all your torques is an excellent idea, but if you want to save some time, stop by your dealer, and pick up a set of front swaybar end-link nuts, and just replace them. I had issues with them not holding torque, and I know of about 4 other people that had the exact same problem. Also, you did replace the upper strut mount bearing when you did your spring swap, yes? That is also another common failure point.

Good luck, and let us know how it all turned out!



P.S. The "adult beverage" is not a suggestion, it's a prescription...
Old 4/15/08, 07:25 AM
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The only thing I would add is that it's a PITA to get the balljoint boots on. I ended up using a fairly blunt screwdriver to push the flange of the boot on around the outside edge of the balljoint. The boot's are pretty tough, but still be careful not to tear them.

SGD may have a better method of installing the boots.

Dave Kegel


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