06blackvertstang

Is anyone running ford racing k springs with koni shocks and struts? If so how is the ride? I want the drop, the price is right, but I also want close to factory ride. Pictures too please!

Suggestions are also welcome

11SHELBYGT500

Don't "K" springs lower the car more than 1 1/4?

06blackvertstang

Yes.

11SHELBYGT500

I wouldn't go lower than 1 1/4 you start jacking up the geometry of the suspension when you do that. Nothing but trouble.

06blackvertstang

If I can't go lower than that I don't really want to. I know what you're saying though. I want the lowered look, and I don't really care about the increase in performance.
What does it take to correct geometry? Cc plates? More?

2k7gtcs

:sigh:

2k7gtcs

If you go with the K springs then in my experience yes you will need camber plates. Dampers of course. And a bump steer kit for the front. And an adjustable panhard bar in the back.

That'll take care of it.

06blackvertstang

Great!! Thanks for the help Gary. That's the first straight answer I've been able to get. Suspension seems very complicated

2k7gtcs

It was by trial and error really.

I got the K springs after having some Vogtland springs already on the car. They did not drop it enough in my opinion. The K springs others put on appeared to be the perfect drop.

I had already installed the Tokico HP's because I knew I needed the dampeners with anything shorter than a stock spring because the stockers just aren't up to that. They are not engineered for it.

So after putting on the K springs my camber on the front was just too much. Very very visible. I didn't even bother getting it aligned. I put camber plates on and that solved that problem. I think mine were J&M. This also solved the strut mount popping problem these cars were prone to have. Steeda and I think Maximum Motorsports probably have good camber plates. No real reason I chose J&M. Just did. Not unhappy about it either.

On the rear if you drop it will shift the body of the car over the axle. Very apparent on the car when you look at each side. This necessitated the adjustable panhard bar. Problem solved. Before I put it on the car was about 1/2" of from side to side by measuring fender to tire.

Lastly came the bump steer kit from Steeda. When driving the car on the highway at speed I would notice the car getting squirrely over the nose after going over a bump. The toe is off when load is removed off the front in due to the change in geometry. The bumpsteer kit bring the tie rods back to parallel or close to it with the A-arms. So when the A-arms move up and down the tie rods do so at the same angle. Very important and made the control of the car incredible.

Also one more thing i did as the k spring drop necessitated it and I forgot to mention before was the BMR relocation brackets for the rear LCAs where they mount to the axle housings. This was also brought more in parallel with the road surface and helps to car hookup. I think CHE makes a good bracket too. Mine are bolt on but I have always intended to have them welded on also.

That should be it. With a lesser drop many if not all of these items are not necessary I would think. But to make the car handle properly in my opinion all of this was necessary with the K springs. As it is now it handles better than stock with no ill effects of the drop to the car. There were no trade offs for the drop look.

I also put on billet LCAs from Steeda.

06blackvertstang

This is great. I've heard all of this information but I just haven't been able to find it in one coherent time line like yours. This really helps Gary. Thanks again. I hope others benefit from this too.

BradGT

I don't think you need a panhard bar with the K springs, mine stayed even same with my buddy's

908ssp

I think the K spring is just a poorly designed spring. It is a rising rate and too soft to start out with and still too soft when you hit the pump stop. If you only want the car low and looking cool they are fine but handling hard driving they are a fail.

BradGT

I bought mine for looks and the only track time it sees is the 1/4 which has helped alot with wheel hop and launching

SteedaBrandon

What do you do with the car? Is this your daily driver? Do you track it?

If this is your daily driver you have to be careful with what kind of drop you choose as if you go too low you will begin to affect the suspension geometry and have to buy more parts to correct the issue(s).

Let me know if I can setup a suspension package for you.

2k7gtcs

Just say F it and get coilovers. It's only money right?

06blackvertstang

Haha oh this made me laugh.

I just want the low look with a good ride like I said in the posts above. I don't track the car. I don't even drive it hard anyways bc it's my dd and has to last me. Im looking for a low look with decent ride. I had eibach pro kit on my sn95 and it looked perfect, but rode really rough. I attribute that to it not having any other supporting suspension mods.

It's a good point that you bring up the quality of the k springs though. The price is attractive but I want something thats good and going to last (investment). I was almost talked into the steeda ultralite convertible springs bc they were the drop I wanted and specific to a convertible. However, I started thinking about if I want to transport them to my next mustang I want ones that aren't convertible specific. So I thought screw it I'll just get regular springs and I saw the price of the k springs and it seemed good. That's why I got opinions though...

11SHELBYGT500

Just get the FRHP

06blackvertstang

Is that the one on the sgts?

11SHELBYGT500

I don't know what sgts is, but it's the handling pack. 1 1/4 drop springs, adjustable dampers and shocks, front and rear sway bars, and I believe those years come with a cross member support. It's about 1300.00

06blackvertstang

Shelby gts* sorry. And that might be out of my price range. I've also heard frpp dampers are very rough, but I haven't heard anything about the adjustable ones. I'm sure you can make them feel as light as you want