I'd hope nobody thinks Tokico Illuminas outperform ASTs, or especially Penske's. Orders of magnitude difference in costs.

 

I love all of you guys out there pioneering what works and what doesn't! Let's us mere mortals sit on the sidelines in a wait and see mode and then jump-in when the best combos are found. Keep going!!

 

Me too. I figure after a year of this futzing around by pioneers, we'll pretty much know what to do for mods.

 

I will be running 275/40/18 BFG G-Force TA K/Ds on a set of Roush RR03 wheels. Picked them up at the garage sale for track duty, couldn't pass them up.

Once I'm comfortable with the car and my abilities, I plan on moving up to a set of Hoosiers for track days.

 

I ordered the SVE black rims from latemodelrestoration 18x9 and 18x10 with Nitto 555 255/45/18 and 285/40/18. However since I found the Nitto 05's I am using the same rims with 265/35/18 and 295/35/18 not as close as the 555's were to factory sizing. I may go ahead and get a set of front NT 05's 275/40 after this weekend out on the 05's. Need to see how it works out.

BTW the rims and 555's were like $1200 shipped. Good luck but DO NOT take my word as the final chapter, I am doing this for cost saving and just some driving fun, just about everyone on the forum knows more then me at this point. I can only pass on what I have done as a beginner.

Lots of good info my a$$ my head is literally gonna explode! Ah what the hell keep it coming even if I am too old to take it all in

 

My apologies, > = progression. Presently on Penske 7500DA's and working on a revision for more bump travel. Penske struts come later as the AST's will get me through the season.

Dave

 

How would those AST's compare to the KW ClubSports, if you have experience with those?
I can't do external reservoirs and stay in TTB, not sure if the ClubSports are or aren't (apparently some models are, not sure bout the Stang).

Penske's are pricey:



http://www.hrpworld.com/index.cfm?tp...action=product

http://www.resuspension.com/Penske-o...p-1-c-286.html

 

IMO, I would say the entry level 4000 series AST's are comparable to the KW Clubsports. I don't have first hand experience with KW's just competitors who have run them, but I do with Moton DA Clubsports (now owned by AST). I ran Moton's on my STU prepared Evo for 3 years and would recommend them. In fact, Moton would have been my alternate choice for the Boss. Very good support and quick turn-around for rebuilds and custom damping. Anyone looking for a good shock package between Koni and upper-end shocks should keep watch for Bilsteins that will be popping up soon. I believe with their new dual bleed shaft (DA).

Dave

 

I hear ya, I'm ready to sit and watch for a while now The suspension "works" for me right now, and I figured the same thing, change one part and all the tuning goes out the window. I'm waiting for a "sorted" out solution before I go there. I wonder if just going the 302S route (for complete suspension setup) is a viable option down the road?

In any event, carry on Lewis & Clark!

 

Ford Racing recommended using the Multimatic dampers that come on the 302S.

 

Not sure if those are a straight swap to street vehicles, though (not that I'd ever consider that amount of money for shocks, really).



FR500C dampers, $5900 for the set.



FR500S dampers, $5450 for the set

 

The mustangs I have tracked locally have Falken tires on GT-500 wheels. no stagger. Bulletproof combo IMO. They slip predictably, and let you know audibly when they're on the edge. I ran one car on 8 30 minute sessions of hot lapping and could have continued for many more days on the tires.

 

Yeah they didn't say there were affordable just the best setup they've found for the cars. Of course Multimatic is the factory race team. They are not used on Grand Am cars due to class specs.

 

Upon further thought, I'm just going to buy the Strano adjustable rear bar before the track event, and if it's oversteering uncomfortably w/ the square setup, I'll just change it out right then and there.

 

One warning, and Sam confirmed this, the adjustable bar doesn't work with LCA relocation brackets, apparently not any of them (mine were CHE, and needed to remove them as too many points in TTB, so no big deal.)

That may be the reason Steeda's bar has the mounting tab piece, to avoid that interference. Course, that would surprise me greatly as Steeda stuff never seems to work with any of their other pieces. I got their billet front AR brackets (UMI ones on Sam's site much better, w/ Zerks), and the brace pieces to bolt the AR bracket to the front subframe, and they won't fit together -- had to grind the tabs down on the braces to fit inside the brackets, not a good solution.
Then, got their lightweight radiator support, come to find out none of them fit at all with this piece! The AR brackets bolts aren't the stock separation, so the billet bracket won't fit, and it's a bit further forward, so the braces don't fit. Whatta rip off! One of the Steeda reps on a different forum had noted this, said they'd replace my bar or bracket or whatever with the new 'updated' ones, but I figured it wasn't worth the hassle.

Gonna put the billet pieces and the braces up for sale now.

 

Good info there about the fitment thx

 

You just took off 5 pounds changing to a Strano rear bar!

Dave

 

I like this as well. Got more than enough to deal with right now, so maybe I just leave the suspension as is for now. We'll know exactly what works soon enough, and then hey, if I can eventually save a buck or two on tires after all, so much the better!

 

Have the Enkei PF01 wheels been discontinued?
Tire Rack has none available.

 

When I talked to Rehagen Racing (Shuan I think) this week he said they often run 275's. They also run 305's in some of the other racing series. For the 275's they have used 18/19/20 mm rear bars - with 20 mm being used most often. Some drivers race with the rear bar disconnected - once again the nut behind the wheel is often the biggest difference in performance. Even though the street Boss has been "tuned" for a staggered tire setup, the handling of the car will change some with a square setup, but not dramatically. Having an adjustable rear bar should allow you regain the "tuned" feel.