ttbit

Received my Ultralites and D-Specs from Tillman Tuesday and installed them this week. I drove around with just the rears for a few days for the heck of it. The rear was just slightly lower than the front. Finished installing the fronts on Saturday. My first impression is that there seems to be almost no harshness in ride quality like I expected. It is close to stock. The D-specs actually smoothed out the little bumps better than the stock setup. If you hit a good bump, you notice a little difference but being a guy who is very "picky" about this stuff I can say it is not a problem. I am running the suggested start point of 5 turns from stiff on the D-Specs. Haven't found a reason to dial them in stiffer yet. No bouncy problems or anything.

I held off this long because I was worried about the ride and the front end noise that people have been talking about. No new noises, but from reading, I learned to make sure I torqued the sway bar nuts and use blue loctite.

Thanks to Taco Bill for a good write-up, but I am a little upset that he didn't install the D-Specs as I had to figure out the extra steps on my own.

Maybe the D-Specs were overkill for these springs...

tom281

Cool man, congrats!

sound wave

man, ttbit you are making me jealous. i ordered from tillman also during that group buy, but i dont even know if mine was mailed out yet.

i was thinking of getting the d-specs but as long as the ride is not much worse than stock, i will be fine with the steeda non-adjustables.

congrats.

kevinb120

Heh I just put in my ultralites yesterday, used the stock shocks though. No worries, no noises, no bouncing... I didn't bother using the stock front spring's isolator straps though.

Boltzman

I want Dspecs Very nice

kevinb120

My palms still hurt from torquing the heck out of the upper sway bushings, those suckers are notorious for coming loose.

ttbit

Thanks guys! I originally called CR at Tillman before the group purchase began. I was expecting them to be here before Memorial weekend, but they were shipped out a couple of days later than originally expected. I also was emailed two different prices. I imagine CR is really busy trying to keep up right now. Everything arrived in good shape though!

Kevin, let me know how the ride is in a couple of weeks. You could lie and tell me it is really bouncy so it makes me feel better on the over $500 expense. I almost bought the Steeda struts and now I am sure that would have been fine. Heck, I would have been fine with the sport springs, I'll bet. They were quite a bit more bouncy on my '95 with the Bilsteins, so I wasn't sure what to do.

No more mods!! For awhile... Well, unless it needs more balancing...like a rear sway bar. If that doesn't do it, a Whipple will I suppose.

kevinb120

Well you can't go wrong with better shocks any way you look at it, the stock ones are el-cheapo. After throwing the steeda catalog at two other 'stangs, I decided to just do springs this time around. If I went with FRPP springs I definitely would of added shocks. I may go back later and swap em for better shocks. Considering you went with the best out there, chalk up the expesnse to being something you never need to go back to modify again. Springs are a bit of a ball-breaker to do without a lift.

ttbit

My 8 mm socket (Craftsman) broke while tightening that thing. OUCH! I broke out the impact wrench on that baby finally. That was the worst part of the job, IMO.

I was surprised at how long those stock springs were upon loosening the spring compessor too though.

ttbit

OK...I feel better now.

kevinb120

I did it like a true driveway mechanic, put a box wrench on it and whacked it with a 3lb hammer(the outter nut while my bro held the inner) I was super worried about torque specs but no two bolts I found were tightened the same from the factory.

ttbit

These things really do settle in, don't they? I actually had to loosen the adjustment on the Dspecs. A passenger complained it was bumpy, and I thought so too. Thought it was just me. On half-turn on the Tokicos makes a difference though, and I think it is fine again. The front is slightly lower now. Went from 3 fingers to just over 2 fingers or so. (Sophisticated measurements.) I see why people wait a while before getting an alignment done. The last car I lowered, I waited a month. Not planned though.

No noises yet. I have been testing on some backroads. Swaybars are next.

Hope everyone else got their springs and all is settling in well.

Lokius

I'm installing Tokico D-Specs and Eibach Pro Kit springs tomorrow, I got a great deal on both, under $560 for both brand new. Got to love craigslist! I will let you know how it compliments my previous suspension modifications.

Fitz

kevinb120

Yea they settle, I have tons of speed bumps on my daily drive and after a couple hundred miles it will be ready for a alignment next week. Just got a set of camber bolts(you can not adjust camber at all on the new cars without them). Going for 1.1/1.2 negative to keep a touch of bite but not wear out the tires on the inside. Its gotta be pushing 2 degrees now. You'll definitely get a better ride with the upgraded shocks. Its pretty **** decent with the stockers, but after riding bikes for years if something is off by 1/8" you notice it. You just need to find the right setting for them. The springs are pretty soft for most bumps but do stiffen up on bigger dips and bumps so they are a nice setup for the street. I have been pushing a couple regular intersection dips hard(ones I slow down for with stock springs) and they've been unflappable, I was worried they would bottom out, but no issues at all. With stock shocks and these springs I will just not push it on sharp crests. So no more driving with the music down, I'm totally confident in them now. You probably don't need to be too aggressive with the setting on the shocks. Let em work a bit, don't just crank it to hard.

I don't know whats good or bad for setting these days, my last car was super aggressive with steeda comp springs, tokiko illuminas, all the hard bushing-hard core control arms, ect so it rode like a brick. It was hard to make an SN95 turn well with a heavy nose and a tiny wheelbase. I don't know if the D specs have a 1-5 dial or count turns or what. I would probably just set them dead in the middle or a hair soft for a while. The ultralites are not a hard core spring. Setting them hard is only going to sharpen the bumps with no handling benefit. Its going to follow uneven pavement closely and bump more no matter what, but they are compliant enough they won't knock a filling loose on a pothole. The only downside I've really noticed is less traction under power on wet pavement and sharp pavement joints as it doesn't squat as much in the rear under acceleration. I'm happy with it for now, I will probably swap out the dampers and maybe do some work on the LCA's and sway bars later if I finish other planned mods. For $200, a few hours knuckle-busting, and a $50 alignment, I have no regrets. I've spent a ton on other cars that weren't much(if any) better after a LOT of work.

retfr8flyr

The best way to adjust the D-specs is to turn the adjuster all the way tight, this is the firmest setting, then count the number of full turns as you adjust them softer. I have the Ultralites and run my settings 4 out on the front and 5 out on the rear for normal driving. When I want to do some sport driving I set them at 2 1/2 front and 3 rear, 3 on the left rear and 3 1/2 on the right rear also works well for launching.



Earl

kevinb120

**** Earl, TT with a built block, that thing must be nuckin futs.

Boltzman

This is the best explanation I've heard.Simple and easy to understand

bpmurr

I have about 25k on my Steeda Ultralites and stock shocks. Do you all think it's safe to switch over to dspecs and keep the same ultralite springs or should I go with a new set as well?

retfr8flyr

Yes it should be if I can ever get it finished. I am at a dead stop currently as we can't get the fuel pumps to fire. Got everything hooked up and turned the key on to check the fuel system for leaks and the pumps will not turn on. Have been going through everything for a week now and it all checks out, the wiring is correct, the diagnostic checks all show good but the PCM will not turn on the pumps. We even tried the stock setup and it’s the same. If you disconnect the pumps at the tank every check is good, once you connect the pumps you get a fuel control module out of limits code. Needless to say I am very frustrated. Anyone have any ideas?



Earl

cds06stang

Springs should way out last shock/struts, just grap a good set and that will be fine, I plan on purchasing a new set of shock/struts within the year. Im running my ultralites with stock hardware, but new shocks/struts should do wonders.