The Reverend

I must be crazy, but you know the feeling reading this thread. I want to replace as much as possible/feasible the rear suspension. Here are the parts and the explanation. FWIW, No Watts link setup considered at this time. What feedback I am requesting is missing parts, equivalent parts(no one part overkill or under) and brand feedback(real life problems with parts, etc).

Starting from the ground up.
1. $940 Dunlop Star Specs in275/35/18
2. $596 Kazera KS-D, 22.2 lbs. 18x8.5
3. $190 FRPP K Springs, M5300K, 1.5" lower F&R
4. $720 Koni Sport Shocks and Struts
5. $149 Roush Billet Lower Control Arms
6. $165 Steeda Adj. Upper Control Arm
7. $96 CHE LCA relo brackets
8. $160 Steeda Adj. Panhard Brace
9. $90 Steeda Panhard Bar

When is a panhard relo bracket necessary?
When is a HD UCA mount needed?

Why the above parts?
1. The best non-R compound tires, Yes?
2. The lightest wheels under $800, even $600.
3. Lowest drop rate springs without problems.
4. Better than D-specs.
5. Got them on sale, work like other fixed length LCAs. Or will the rubber not be firm enough?
6. Quality adj. UCA
7. I saw failure of BMR and Steeda requires weld. Might still want to weld the CHE.
8. End instead of middle adjustment.
9. Steeda quality.

Thanks for listening.

shaun_beauchamp

1. $940 Dunlop Star Specs in275/35/18 - no research on this item, but sounds fine.

2. $596 Kazera KS-D, 22.2 lbs. 18x8.5 - less weight is better. Your budget allows these...good.

3. $190 FRPP K Springs, M5300K, 1.5" lower F&R - Did these on my 06 Vert, not too bumpy, much improved cornering - car leans "slightly" and then progressive rate tightens up the body roll and you can corner well. The balance with springs is softer is better for a straight line. You may want to look into a sway bar with these. I did the Steeda Comp springs on my coupe and you don't need a sway bar as they don't allow body roll. Cornering can be done at much higher speeds with the Comp springs, but the straight line ride lets you feel frog dung on the road. The FRPP was approved by the wife as far as harshness and feedback, but I like the Comps because I need to go fast through corners and although the feedback is intense, I put on about 3K miles a year.

4. $720 Koni Sport Shocks and Struts - did the D-Specs on a friends car. They truly are amazing as you can adjust them to full soft "Cadillac like" ride quality and then full hard which is about equal to FRPP springs and stock shocks and struts. I think if you do any "over-the-road" trips you will appreciate the adjustability. If your car is a weekend warrior, the Koni Sports are stated to be a great product, but I have no real world feedback on these.

5. $149 Roush Billet Lower Control Arms - Uncle Jack builds nice stuff. It's a metal bar under compression. They all seem fine. For "normal" use I would do nothing above poly bushings. You will get NVH (noise, vibration, harshness) going from stock to poly, which will aggitate you a bit if this is a DD, but you will go absolutely NUTS with heavy duty adjustable parts if this is not a track only car. Rubber should be fine. You may get a little wiggle, but the poly bushings usually squeak (except if Steeda Gus sold them to you, then they're perfect - kidding) and sound like egg cartons in your trunk.

6. $165 Steeda Adj. Upper Control Arm - This is good. You can control your pinion angle for drag launches. If you don't plan to track this car, adjustable parts add NVH and won't do much. When we did the FRPP springs on the Vert it didn't need adjustable parts. I put solids in for everything.

7. $96 CHE LCA relo brackets - bolt in, but if you can touch a weld or two it will help in extreme cases. I haven't seen this brand bend, and I haven't seen the Steeda weld-ins bend, but "other brands" have known to twist like taffy.

8. $160 Steeda Adj. Panhard Brace - Start with just the bar. If you need the brace, you can buy it and install it simply in the future.

9. $90 Steeda Panhard Bar - aftermarket definitely noticeable during cornering. Feels like you were running on low tire pressure the whole time once you put this in. The "seat of the pants" feel is so much more confidence inspiring.

When is a panhard relo bracket necessary? - not sure, probably when you add something like a CHE axle brace.

When is a HD UCA mount needed? - If you have over 500 WHP? Someone else will chime in shortly.

Steeda Q cars pose impressive "G" forces and slalom times. If you look though, with just springs, LCAs, Panhard rod and camber bolts (Correct Alignment), many of the Mustang community stop because the "bang for the buck" is limited after that. If you track the car or are making money driving it, then by all means toss a checkbook at the thing. If you just want to turn through a clover leaf and scare your passengers while you feel confident, you'll be fine with just a few stiffer replacement parts.

P.S. Correcting the camber by 1 degree is necessary when using the FRPP springs! Add either the camber/caster plates or Eibach camber bolts to your list.

chuckieduck

1. I think that the 275/35-18 is a little too low a profile. I have 275/40-18 Kumho Ectsa MXs which were only $199.00 each on Tire Rack and Steeda sport springs which only give 1" drop. But the front wheels fit perfect in the wheel well. Any lower or a lower profile tire I don't think it would look right.

2. Springs. Steeda Sport Springs. $229.96. Great ride and I think they would give you all the performance you would require.

3. Shocks. I think you might be surprised at my shock selection. Steeda ProAction shocks. Only $399 Same shocks I have. I have adjustables on my '94 and what a pain in the *** to get out of the car and pop the trunk and hood when I all of a sudden want to do some spirited driving. Plus with the money you save you can get a set of upper strut mounts which I belive is a must if you are already have the struts off.

4. Roush LCA. I just bought a set of these the other day. Glad I got one of the last sets. Should be here Tuesday. The rubber bushings are somewhere between the stock rubber and polly bushings. You can't beat these arms IMO. Plus I'm sure I can find polly bushings or rod ends to fit if I need to.

5. LCA relocation brackets. Both the CHE and Steeda ones look great. If you could mourf the two it would be the perfect bracket. I like the semi boxed in design and the extra flanges on the CHE brackets. I think I am going to go with the CHE brackets and weld them in. I might even just order a set and use them as a template to build a set the has the adjustment of the Steeda brackets. Welding them in is still my prefered method.

6. A panhard bar is a panhard bar as long as it is from a reputable company. CHE, BMR and Steeda all have pretty good panhard bars. I have the BMR adjustable one. I haven't desided to install panhard brace yet because I don't know if I want to go to a watts link yet or not. If I decide to stay with my panhard bar, a brace will be my next purchase.

7. You don't need a panhard bar relocation bracket unless you are installing an axle girdle rear cover.

8. As I mentioned above, get some upper strut mounts. I have Steeda ones. There are a few other ones out there that are very good quality. Forget about the camber bolts and camber adjusters. Plus you get rid of those cheep plastic factory upper strut mounts. You don't really need castor/camber plates on our cars like I need on my '94.

sam strano

Might I say that you might well be going way futher than you need (or want) to based on what I've read from you other places.

chuckieduck

As far as?

LEO_06GT

I'd recommend against going with the Steeda adj. panhard bar. Reason being the adjustment nut is on the end which makes tightening down after adjusting dam near impossible. That's the main reason I switched to a BMR PH bar. TacoBill and the the rest of the Socal POTR bunch can atest to that as they were there during the install.

The Reverend

deleted

sam strano

Reverend, I'm sorry to see the damage, we don't want that happening either.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the only way to really get you a setup that I know you'd be happy with is for us to talk. Assuming you think I'm worth talking to. I see a list of parts that just indicates to me you picked every thing that had a claim of settling down or hooking up the rear axle and compiled them. In fact some things like what you guys refer to as anti-squat brackets, and I refer to as LCA relocation brackets can well work against a car that is meant to turn and do it well.

Further, you don't need to worry so much about the stock class rules, because since the SGT wasn't available in a convertible you can't convert to SGT specs and still run F-stock legally. And even if the car was a coupe, if it's an '06 it's still not technically legal for SCCA Stock category as you can only convert to a car that was available originally. '06's and no convertibles were had in SGT guise. Now, maybe those you run with don't care and that would be a bit different so you YMMV based on your local competition, I'm just trying to enlighten you to the national rules. What's more is many parts on that list just wouldn't be legal at all in F-stock. In fact only the shocks would be a legal change in the rear. You can't run a non-stock PHB, LCA's, UCA, brackets.. nothing in F-stock. In ESP you can change the UCA, and you can run GT500 LCA's, and you can change the PHB (or to a Watts link), and springs and swaybars, but you can run non OEM LCA's or the brackets.

I'm now going to BEG you to do the smart thing and pick up the phone. I'm here, I understand the rules, I can explain what you can and can't do. I can help you pick parts that will be most effective for curing what you want to cure while looking at how they will effect other things (both performance and classing).

The Reverend

Ok, credit card in the wallet, calling Sam after New Years.

sam strano

I think you'll find the time worthwhile...