Hey everyone, I've been looking into lowering my '14 GT TP for a while now and recently picked up a set of used Steeda Sports off of another member here. So, here's my question what all do I need to put these on my car.

Things I know for sure
1. new shocks/struts-I'm thinking Koni yellow or orange. Any suggestions?
2. Panhard bar-BMR?

Things I'm questioning
1. Bumpstops- Do I need new ones and if so what kind?
2. Dust boot- Do I need new ones and if so what kind?
3. UCA- Right now or in the close future?
4. Camber Bolts- Probably needed correct?

My car is a track pack so it already has some slightly beefed up LCAs, so this should not be an issue, correct?

I'm pretty sure I could get access to a lift so that will ease my instillation a lot, but is there any tips/tricks out there to help me out?

Anything info that's out there would be greatly appreciated! Thanks everyone.

 

I have the BMR adjustable panhard bar myself. It's nice. I like the middle adjuster instead of the endcaps. That'd be your call, of course.

Depending on the amount of lowering the bumpstops may not be needed, but the Steeda Sports might drop ya pretty well, so... maybe?

Struts should come with the dust boots, but if not, you can reuse them, or just get new ones from wherever. They're just dust boots. Unless this is some fancy other kind of dust boot I'm not being aware of... this happens from time to time, darnitall.

The UCA is a PITA. Unless it's comletely hosed and needs replacing, you just don't get that. And definitely DON'T get anything adjustable back there unless you just have to have it. If your pinion angle is that messed up after the lowering, then you'll need to get some LCA relocation brackets instead of any adjustable arms. And do it quickly, because the problem will be large very fast if left unattended, that pinion angle. You really don't want to rebuild an axle over this, right? Right.

Camber bolts. I have some, I've not used them. My alignment was in spec, although the wheels are *just* a tad tilted from perfectly verticle. You may be able to turn the strut mounts 180 and fix the camber that way, but they're cheap and easily put in, so maybe have some on hand just in case... but if you're really worried about it, get the caster camber plates and be able to have anyone adjust the car. Some alignment techs won't work with camber bolts, because they're sticks in the mud, so keep that in mind too.

If the LCAs have rubber bushings (I don't know, myself, on that for your TP car) then I'd say it's cheap enough to get new LCAs, non adjustables with poly-poly ends on 'em. Made a *huge* difference in how Awesome puts the power down. Wheel hop is gone, baby, gone.

I'm sure others will chime in, and also recommend other brands and what not, but that's my few cents of info. Hope it's of help!

 

Beer

 

Just to be clear, you are or aren't saying that relo brackets will correct pinion angle, because if so that is not what they are meant to/will do.
OP I would buy shocks based on what you will do with the car, kind of a cop out but if you plan to race it then Yellows, DD and some backroads runs maybe Oranges are better suited since you won't have the need to adjust them. Your budget also will determine what can and should be bought. I am a firm believer in doing it right the first time, though that can cost much more money. If you are planing to race/solo/HPDE then I wouldn't get camber bolts for fear of them shearing and causing a mess. Again I think if you specified what your goal is it would be much easier to tell you what will work for your situation rather then throwing any and all info at you and seeing what will stick.

 

Thanks for the help everyone. I'll do my best to clear a few things up. The Steeda Sports have an advertised drop of 1.00" in the front and 1.25" in the rear. Which isn't too crazy from what I've read, so I don't know how much change I will need to make. (help here?) I do want to do some autocross, road racing, and even some drag racing at sometime in the future, I'm just not sure how soon it will be. With that said I do want to do everything the right way from the beginning even if it does end up costing more. I am in no rush to put these springs on and if need be I can wait until next spring, thus saving some money up over the winter while the car is in storage. Just incase I do need to put a chunk of change into getting the right parts for the car. How long would the Koni Orange run until they need to be replaced if I do go that route? Hopefully that clears some things up, if not let me know. Once again, thanks!

 

Brandon is correct. I... don't know what the heck I was thinking on the pinion/LCA brackets thing. The UCA has to be changed out if your pinion angle is wrong. The LCA relocs are for geometry issues of the LCAs caused by the axle travel arc.

Sorry for my confusion, and any that is gathered from it.

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That being said... seems like the '14 GT with a Track Pack has some pretty decent hardware in it. So the only things you'll be swapping is the struts/shocks and springs, I'd say.

You *might* need a panhard bar to recenter with a 1.25" drop, but it's been told that it generally doesn't. I replaced mine because it was cheap enough to have, and I was totally replacing all my suspension anyway, because I had worn out '06 rubber bushings in the back, and a popping right ball joint in the front. So the panhard was not a big adder when I did the LCAs, FCAs, and springs (1" all 'way 'round. I like the lil' rake in it. )

But if it was just the springs... I probably wouldn't have got the bar. I needed the control arms/bushings. Wheel hop sucked bad. So much better now.

Bumpstops are... well, I didn't. You might be ok. Easy enough to swap out.

Camber for me on a 1" was in spec, so I didn't use my camber bolts. You may be ok without them as well. Or you need to use the bolts, or get the caster/camber plates. Really won't know until you get the alignment checked.

So yeah, I'd put the shocks/struts and springs in, check the axle side-to-side (with the 1/2 tank of gas, mind) If it's off, then get the adj. panhard. In either case, at least get the toe right, and then fully align it once the axle's back in place.

Yeah. That'd be my plan.

 

Koni's have a lifetime warranty so I wouldn't even worry, though I do believe the Yellows and Steeda Sports are a tried and true combo, you can also adjust the shocks for each application as you said. If you plan in the future to do some autox, road course, and drag I would get some CC plates so you can adjust again for each application, if you want some really good pieces you should look into Vorshlag, they are supposed to be very robust and work for the street as well as allow a lot of adjustment that you could do yourself since it has very nice notches on them.

In the end I would do a good adjustable UCA and bracket, adjustable LCA's and relo brackets to change the LCA angle and also adjust the thrust angle, an adjustable PHB for the side to side adjustment of the axle, get Yellow's to match the springs and some good CC plates, that would probably run you about 2k but it would be greatly worth doing.

 

See my reply within your text.