I filled a bucket list item last summer and picked up a 2012 Boss 302. Love the car, but there were three things that bugged me mildly. First, the grill with the faux intakes needed to go and I found that to be an easy fix. Had that done before the weather turned cool. My next mission was to upgrade the factory 19" wheels, in my thinking the polished rim made the wheel look smaller and diminished the overall profile of the car. I upgraded to 20" wheels, with tires sized to keep the odometer correct but now the amount of "air" in the wheelwell appears excessive. I really did not want to lower the car as I have read many stories of ALL the variables needed to be dealt with when trying to bring the car down and I am not really interested in going to some of those extremes. What is the simple solution to lowering the car to close up that gap without dropping it to the ground? Is it as simple as a set of springs, or will more be necessary regardless?

TIA

 

If you lower it about an inch, it will look better without creating a lot of issues that need to be corrected. The more you lower, the more issues you create that need to be corrected.

The main thing you need is springs -- I have Steeda Sport and like them; but there are many others out there that will give about 1" drop.

The spring rates of the lowering springs are generally higher than stock, so they need shocks/struts that have more damping than stock, to keep the springs under control. I am not sure if your Boss dampers might be OK, since they are likely a bit firmer than the regular GT dampers.

You will pick up some negative camber with lowering; generally this is a good thing for handling if you are not too worried about tire wear. To get the alignment in spec you might need camber bolts or camber plates; or use GT500 mounts and rotate the mounts 180 degrees. If you go with the GT500 mounts you need to pick struts that are matched to them.

The rear end likely will be a little off center after lowering (it is probably off center right now). If this bothers you, it can be corrected with an adjustable panhard bar. Or you can ignore it; it does not matter much; unless you are super picky about "thrust angle"

 

Congrats on the new Boss, would love to see pics with upgraded 20" wheels.

I'd look into these Boss302-specific set of springs from Ford Performance: M-5300-T
Supposedly they are designed to work with stock Boss parts.





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And this is what you want, it will actually transfer weight to the rear.

 

Another vote for the Steeda sport springs. They lower enough without slamming the car and the ride is firm without being harsh. I wouldn't swap springs without new shocks and struts. Most cars can benefit from improved shocks and struts and there is not really any additional labor since you have to remove them to change the springs. You can stop here, but most would install an adjustable panhard bar to center the rear differential and new upper strut mounts. The stock upper strut mounts are prone to failure and getting adjustable mounts is nice touch for correcting alignment issues. There are no right or wrong answers here. It really depends on what you are trying to achieve and how you use your car. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

Hey Guys,



Thanks for all the responses. Lots of good suggestions, and the Ford spring kit seems to be the hot setup. I am not planning on running the car at the track nor will I be doing any drag racing, for me this car is a cruiser (blasphemy!) but I want it to look sharp at the same time. With the current suspension set up the wheelwell gap makes it look like a 4X4 and I really want to eliminate that look. I have no desire to “slam” the car to the ground, and I really don’t want to get involved in a comprehensive suspension/front end/rear axle rebuild just to close that gap. I am trying to keep it simple, and do the least necessary to bring the car down a little and not compromise drivability. Truthfully, I would rather not involve the front end (camber/caster plates/control arms) if I don’t have to, again I am trying to keep the mods to the car at a minimum. If a set of the M-5300-T springs will be sufficient that would be outstanding. If I need to add an adjustable panhard bar just to be safe I am good with that. Again, my interest is looks (with safety as an important consideration), not race capability.



I will post some pictures once we get some weather that cooperates. This one day of sunshine followed by three days of rain is getting tiresome.

 

I would recommend the Steeda Boss springs. I have them on my ‘13 302 LS and the car sits perfectly level with no noticeable change in ride quality. T-Springs will keep a rake and drop a bit more. Depends on preference. Caster and camber adjustments are not needed with either if near OEM-springs are all you change. That said, I would still get an alignment after the install is done to be safe.

For reference I have the Steeda Boss springs, APEX SM-10 19”x11”, 305/40 PS4s x 4, MM CCs, 302R LCA, 302S LCA Bracket, 302S Panhard, and my shock settings at 2 for road use.

 

Well guys, thanks to your help I was able to successfully complete my quest to lower my Boss without going crazy. The COVID-19 crisis delayed my final execution, but I finally got the car done and was able to take a few pictures. I went with the Ford parts, M-5300-T Spring kit and the Ford M-4264-A Panhard Bar. Installation was pretty straightforward, a buddy of mine let me use a lift in his shop on a Saturday and other than him compressing the springs for the swap on the front I was able to do most of the job myself. The drop in the front was minimal and the drop in the rear satisfactorily closed the wheel well gap that was driving me crazy! Then to the alignment shop to get the thrust angle right and off we go! Hardest part of the upgrade was finding center caps to fit the 20" Rovos wheels. I ended up sourcing the parts separately, the caps from one vendor and the running pony emblems from another. I am very pleased with the look, and the ride. I really appreciate all the input and guidance in steering me in the right direction.



You will notice that I also changed the look of the front of the car. One thing I never liked about these cars when they first came out in 2012 was the faux ducts for the air and brake intakes. I was able to source a Saleen style grill and light kit which could be installed without any modifications to the front bumper cover. I had someone make me the BOSS 302 decal to fit the grill. I think it looks pretty cool.

Upgrades:

Ford M-5300-T Spring kit

Ford M-4264-A Panhard Bar

ROVOS Durban Wheels, Front 20X8.5, Rear 20X10

Michelin Pilot Sport 4s Tires

Front P255/35-20, Rear P295/30-20

Starkey Boss/CS Lower Valence Fog Light Kit

Saleen Style Grill

Here is the car:

 

looks good . . . the only issue is, the fog lights are blocking the holes where the brake cooling ducts should go!

just kidding, I guess you do not track the car so you don't need the brake cooling ducts . . . I just installed that lower fascia/splitter on my 2010 and installed brake cooling ducts, they are a bit of a pain and not worth the hassle unless you are going to track the car

 

The Boss looks good. Nice stance. Who did you use for your center caps? I would like to do something similar with my Apex wheels and have not yet found any options.

 

Nice job but I Don't see your Boss 302 emblem on the front pics?

 

I am running a set of Apex EC-7 wheels on my 2011 and they were made to be compatible with the stock center caps.