Wanted to start a thread regarding some suspension/chassis modifications for our 99-04 Mustangs. I think we would all agree our handling falls right smack dab in the middle of the Foxes and S197s. I’ve added a few modifications to my Mach that have really made the car handle SO much better, and with little investment.

Let’s begin with what I have added and others chime in as well . . .

Vogtland Springs (Lower but not sitting in the weeds.)
Welded in Subframe connectors
Welded Steeda Rear Shock Tower Brace
Adjustable Maximum Motorsport Lower Control Arms
4-Bolt Maximum Motorsport CC Plates
4-Bolt K-member brace

Night and day difference in handling with these “band-aid” types of modifications. I use the term “band-aid” from the standpoint that I still have the stock K-member, don’t have coil over, and have not yet installed a Pan hard bar, or strut tower brace.

I do plan to get a strut tower brace, pan hard bar, and possibly a roll bar in the future.

So what so you? What suspension modifications do you have or would like to have

 

Good thread Jason, i'll post up both mustang's i've owned and what I did, in the order of thier install.

first up: 2000 Mustang GT Automatic

• FRPP "C" springs
• Pro3i standard length subframes (welded)
• pro3i street/race lower control arms (spherical bearing on axle side)

I installed the springs first because the car was just so high. It gave it a great stance and alot stiffer ride over the stock springs. The stock struts I felt were a bit soft for these springs and upgrades would have been great.

I installed the LCA's and Subframes at the same time and this was the main night and day difference in the car. It stiffened up everything about how the car reacted in straight line launching and just the overall feel of the car. Also in a turn, the LCA's kept the rear end in place more than the stock stamped steel pieces, therefore giving it a much more stable stance during a curve. Those were my 2 favorite mods to date for suspension.

Car was sold as-is with all the mods when I bought the following:

1996 Mystic Cobra

• Stock Strut Tower Brace
• FRPP "C" springs - installed on car when I bought it
• Mach 1 struts/shocks (really Tokico premiums branded for ford)
• Maximum motorsports polyurethane spring isolators.
• Kenny Brown Super Subs (subframe connectors with seat brace attachments)
• Kenny Brown CC plates (I think they were called caster plus plates)
• FRPP Aluminum Off-Set Rack Bushings
• Energy Suspension front sway bar bushings and endlink bushings
• Granatelli Upper and Lower control arms (poly urethane bushings at all ends, retained stock rubber bushing on axle side of UCA)

When I purchased the car, it had the "C" springs and STB inplace. The stock struts were about shot from the higher spring rate, so I swapped out for the Mach 1 which were designed for a slight lower car and a slightly higher spring rate. Not truely optimal for my setup, but much better than before. They did very well, especially for the price (sub $200 for all 4). I also put in the MM poly spring isolators when putting the struts in. I didnt have to since the softer rubber bushings were in place, but the poly units brought the already low car up about 1/8" along with removing the weak, soft rubber pieces from the suspension. Not sure if i could tell a difference from them, but worth the $25 I paid for them.

I knew the car needed to be stiffer so I installed the KB super subs. They have a great repuation and I got them in a group buy. Best thing I did on the car. That old body needed the help and they provided it greatly! No mustang should be without subframes from mile 1. Ford acctually started putting them on verts in '01 and some coupes, but they were still thin metal mild steel subframes and helped a bit, but nothing like the better constructed aftermarket pieces out there.

I was fighting a problem keeping an alignment due to the car being wrecked before i purchased it. Paul at SVPU.com installed a set of KB CC plates on the car and that helped quite a bit. It also set the front wheels a bit further back in the wheel well, which increased the turning grip quite a bit, which is how KB designed it to do. Nicely done.

FRPP Alum. Offset rack bushings were installed because since the car was lowered, the steering rack was lower than it should be, which could have possible been causing a bind with the tie rods. These raised it back up slightly, and also removed the soft rubber OE bushings with a solid, non-giving piece. This made a difference in teh way the car reacted and tracked on uneven roads. I could tell the tires wanted to go with the road, but it didnt budge if I didnt turn the wheel. There was a bit more harshness in the wheel if you hit a bump, but it was no where near unbearable.

Front sway bar bushings... I had already replaced quite a few other pieces with stiffer parts, why not this. They were defintely better than the stock pieces, but I couldnt really tell if they helped a significant amount. They arent real expensive so I would probably do it again.

Upper and Lower control arms. These were cheapies I bought off ebay as a kit. Looked great, had nice poly urethane bushings on the ends. This was the first time ive put upper control arms on along with lowers. There was a definite stronger feel in the rear end as far as straight line launching as well as how stable the car felt in a turn. It was 10x stronger than before. These did not have the spherical bearing, so I am sure there was more play than the previous ones I had, but the upper and lower combination helped eliminate anything excessive.

The only problem I had with these was, at the time I was also frequenting the local dragstrip and had a nice pair of slicks I would launch on. I am not sure if this was the downfall of the uppers or not, but after about 6 launchs (at 5,000rpm), I destroyed the poly urethane bushing on the passenger upper control arm. We looked under the car and it was half hanging out of the arm housing. If I tried to launch hard at all, the back end was all over the place. Once I removed the uppers, I noticed the round bushing holder was egg-shaped, probably from hitting the bolt instead of having a bushing there to keep it in place. The lowers were still fine and never gave me a bit of problems. I returned to stock upper contorl arms and I could tell a bit of handling difference, but it wasnt a night and day difference like it would have been with stock lower arms.

 

I've got two questions:

Jason, how much lower does the Mach sit than the GT with its stock springs, and are the stock stocks prog. rate? How much different does it feel with the aftermarket springs?

Scott, did you install front and rear control arms, or just rear?

 

Mach's and Bullitt's sit ~1/2 inch lower than GTs.

 

I just installed upper and lower rear control arms.

 

So much to improve upon!


My mods to my '04 GT

All Items Kenny Brown unless otherwise specified.
Super Subframe connectors
Extreme matrix bracing
Jacking Rails
Panhard bar (Trackit)
UCA's
LCA's
4 point brace
Front springs
Front Strut brace
Rear shock brace
Castor plus plates

Tokico Illumina 5 way adjustable shocks and struts

I think that about covers it!

To think all this started because I wanted to eliminate the way the car floated over rough highway expansion joints. I didn't like how the rear felt like it was floating all over the place. So thanks to Paul at SVP, I now have a GT that loves corners. There is no lateral movement in the rear, the car just plants and goes. I think I have a write up somewhere on the board here.

I have to say I couldn't be happier with the performance, I've had the car out on Barbers and she stuck very well. My instructor (Blake Walker) commented about how well it handled.

Matt

 

Wow, what a dumb question I just asked

 

Not really a dumb question. After I sold the car, the girl that bought it replaced the front control arms for stock units from a 2003 cobra. Reason being was because the ball joints needed replacing, but the 2003 cobra units have stiffer bushings, and a 10% shorter turning radius and the whole thing was around $160. I drove the car and it definitely made a difference.

 

I meant it was dumb because when I re-read your post, you specifically mentioned the rear of the car feeling more stable, which would indicate rear LCAs.

On that subject: Obviously rear and front control arms will make more of a difference at their respective end of the car, but how much do the rear CAs improve handling and steering? Comparitively, what kind of difference do front and rear CAs make?

 

Well typically, you dont replace the front control arm on an sn95, nor any other mustang model really that I know of. The reason for the swap on mine was because of worn parts and the great price on a good OE production part. These made a difference since the 2003/2004 cobra units were better in various catagories. Same design idea, just done better.

By design, the 4-link setup that all sn95 cars have, typically allow the rear end to have alot of lateral or side to side movement when in a turn. The rear end can move up to or over an inch I believe. This is the main cause to the snap oversteer the mustangs are prone to. What I mean by that is mustangs tend to understeer, but at a certain point with the rear end movement, will instantly change to oversteer causing the rear end to loose control and come back around on you. (I think I got that right, I always confuse oversteer and understeer )

Upper and lower rear control arms help keep the rear end in place, preventing this. On a mild driven street car, LCA's will dramatically increase the handling you feel, or at least make it more solid. If you are going to push teh limits of your car farther, you will want to invest in UCA"s and to take it to the next step for more road race and autocross setups, a Panhard bar drastically reduces rear end movement and the addition of a torque arm basically removes all hint of lateral movement.

 

Why dont they come like that stock? I hate the way my back end jumps from side to side when going over bumps like bridge joints.
So what would be best for that scenario? Panhard?

 

Because in 1978 when the suspension was designed it was leaps and bounds over the previous leaf spring set up. So at the time it was top of the line for a car like the mustang. Ford just never decided to invest the money in installing the pieces to make the suspension better. (for handling) Now I will say there is one drawback to inhancing your cars handling such as the steps I took. The ride on rough roads is atrocious to put it mildly, you feel everthing and everything feels worse. Now, would I change that at the sacrafice of handling.................nope.............just fly around a corner at 40-60, give it some gas and feel it plant...........thats all I needed, to know that I had made the right decision.

 

Front:
Tokico 5 way struts
FR "C" Springs
18" Cobra R's w 265/35's
KB Caster Plus Plates
offset rack bushings
Bullit 13" Brakes
Steed tower brace
KB full length SFC's

Rear:
Tokico 5 way shocks
FR "C" Springs
18" Cobra R's w265/35's
Steeda LCA's
FR Aluminum DS
Panhard Bar coming

 

That's a hell of a car youve got there. Congrats.

 

Mine was lowered (about an inch I think) by the previous owner and, unfortunately, I hav'nt found out what he used. I'll have to ask the dealer if they can give me his contract info because I've been wanting to ask him. Anyways, the car's stance is so much meaner looking than one with stock height... I love it!

 

Eibach Pro System Plus....whenever the back-order comes in...sigh

 

What comes with that?

 

Springs, dampers, rollbars and bumpstops... Since my 02 is my daily driver, I didn't want anything too radical, just a nice well matched set of components that would add back a bit to the handling of the car (I've noticed my shocks/struts appear to have given up the ghost at about 70k).

 

Ok, I was able to obtain the info on my suspension:

Eibach Sportline Spring Kit (between 1.5" to 2" drop)