I just installed the Fays2 watts link on my 12 v6 pp mustang this weekend. My other mods are koni str's, steeda sport springs, and steeda hd strut mounts. The shock/spring upgrade really improved the handling performance from stock, but the back end still felt a little loose so I figured I would install a watts link. I purchased the unit from Sam Strano - as we all know, outstanding customer service - he spent about 10 minutes with me on the phone answering all my questions.

I am not very mechanically inclined, but am devoted to learn about cars through my mustang so I decided to install the unit myself. The install was a semi-PITA, but fortunately Jim from Fays2 was around to answer 2 questions that popped up along the way. The biggest issue was the 2 holes that mount the watts link frame to the driver side of the car were not drilled wide enough, so I had to grind about 1/8"-1/4" off each hole so it would fit. Had it not been for my friend of mine that was a mechanic for about 10 years I would have given up at this point, but he said "dude it's aftermarket stuff - it's almost never fits perfectly the first time." And to Jim's defense he does mention in the instructions that the unit may require grinding, but I figured with a 5 month old car that wouldn't be the case for me. After the grinding, the rest of the install was pretty straight forward. The only other weird part was the instructions say the axle tube breather is on the passenger side of the car - on '12 mustangs it is on the drivers side. The instructions say to fit the axle tube clamp over the axle tube breather, but with my car the axle tube breather was close enough to the differential that I could put the entire axle tube clamp outside of it. Again, no big deal but when you haven't done a lot of work on cars you want the instructions to be exact to avoid confusion! The total install took about 5 hours - most of you could probably do it in 3 hours I would think. One more thing - I was able to do the install on a lift which was nice - I think it would have been much more difficult on ramps.

Now for my impressions - the rear end is definitely more planted than before. As others have said the car seems to carve around corners now (if any of you are skiers/snowboarders, it almost reminds of me of how a snowboard carves with the edges newly sharpened compared to dull edges). The rear end "floatiness" is probably 90% gone compared to the upgraded shock/spring ride. I haven't pushed the car to hard yet, but there were definitely a couple of wow moments on the way home - specifically when cornering over bumpy surfaces - car feels like it stays much more in control. My previous car was a BMW 3 series. I would say with my suspension upgrades the car feels like it handles 95% as well as the BMW. You can still feel the solid rear axle, but it is much more predictable now. From the stock suspension setup, there is no comparison. Right now I have the watts link propeller in the neutral setting - I am wondering what the ride would be like with it in the +1 or -1 setting.

 

congrats, thanks for the write up and welcome to TMS

 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I ordered mine from Sam and received it on Friday. Shooting for an install next weekend.

 

PICS?!

 

So after driving with the watts link for a week with the propeller in the center position I was noticing a fair amount of oversteer and "lightness" in the rear end under hard cornering. After doing a lot of internet research I determined that lowering the roll center will help combat oversteer. Today I dropped the propeller to -2 (i.e. - all the way at the bottom of the watts link) and the the handling was drastically improved from the center position. The rear end is so much more stable now and I feel a lot more confident under hard cornering. If you are just getting a watts link I recommend testing out other positions besides center - it might help you like it helped me.

I'll try to post some pics this weekend.

 

Great stuff, thanks for sharing...post some pics man.

 

Awesome Shark! Thanks for sharing, keep us in the loop as you push it harder, and hopefully get it out on a track day.

Steve, you must be so psyched to get all those goodies on your car finally. I'm following closely, and gathering almost the exact same stuff, so good luck with the install.

 

I was going to do it this weekend, but I've still got my winter tires on and it's cold.

So I bought an S2000 instead... that should give me my handling fix between now and when it gets a little warmer and I put all the stuff on the 5.0. But yes... I'm very excited... it's taken forever for me to get my lazy butt to order the parts!

 

As promised here are a few pics.

The first one shows the underside with the propeller in the center position. The rest are with the propeller at the bottom of the watts link (2 below center). As you can see the bottom of the propeller is definitely below the differential/sway bar, but I think it is still higher than the bottom of the exhaust pipes. In the last photo you can see the passenger side rod end is putting some pressure on the rubber o-ring. You can see I already have one spacer on that side (silver ring to the right on the rod end), but I plan on putting in another - I think that will relieve the pressure on the o-ring. In the current configuration there is no binding or anything on that side.

 

Great stuff - thanks for sharing and congrats on your purchase!

 

Does your watts link creak/squeak when you're moving slowly and the front is pointing downhill?

I also had trouble initially lining up the frame with the body bolt holes but after about an hour of jiggling it around, it fit fine. Didn't need to grind the bolt holes, which I was happy about.

 

I have not noticed any sound at all coming from my watts link.

I only jiggled the car for about 5 minutes - guess that is why I had to resort to the grinder!

 

ANy updates on your fays2 watts set up?
I am curious if you have noticed any new NVH sow that the set up has some time on it?
I am looking into this mod to add to my list of things to do.
Thanks

 

My watts link developed quite a bit of creaking, which seemed to be as a result of road grime/ dirt. Had to clean and regrease a couple times over the course of a year. Went back to panhard setup since I don't track the car enough for a watts link to matter much

 

Thanks, good to know.