Springs only = ticking time bomb?
 

About 5 months ago I lowered my car with the Ford K Springs, Whiteline PHB. I waited on the shocks/struts because I also wanted to upgrade to the MGW. Having only budgeted around $1500 for the work, there wasn't much left over for the rest of the suspension. My question is will my car be ok until next Spring or are there unseen things happening due to the lowering on the stock GT suspension? The car is running fine by the way...no sign of any issues. Thanks!

You might need to look into the pinion angle of the axle, for if the drop is too much, it could wind up messing up your pinion seal on the axle housing. If you don't have it budgeted to get the shocks, then you definitely don't have it budgeted for an axle seal replacement.

To fix that, you'll want to look into lower control arm relocation brackets, or adjustable lower control arms, for the rear axle. Get it checked, it's better to fix it now than pay for it worse later.

Excepting that, and the adjustment of the axle centering (which I'm guessin' is what the PHB is about) you will experience a not-optimal ride on the car due to the OEM shocks not liking the lowering, and you need to worry about whether your front end alignment is good or not regarding camber and toe.

You can otherwise wait for your new shocks and it shouldn't be a problem unless you're hitting the bumpstops, in which case... get shorter bumpstops. :D

Thanks for the heads up. Would I be able to see this with the naked eye? (If there is a seal leak) I haven't noticed anything leaking. The lowering is only 1.5" all around. Nothing extreme. This is also a DD, never race or track it. Rarely WOT unless there is an open highway ramp or something.

Not really. You need to take it somewhere, or get the gauges and do it yourself. It's not a tracking thing, it's driveline vibration and possible seal wearing that you are trying to avoid, no matter what the driving you're doing. And 1.5" is on the edge or just past it of having to worry about it.

I can't find a good video for ya on the pinion angle. The one I found is shaky potatocam. :p Maybe later when I get home from work. :)

So, I'll definitely take it in to have it checked out. I was looking at Koni yellows, upper/lower control arms, the relocation brackets, strut mounts... May even switch to the 1" P springs. Am I missing anything?

I've been driving around with the K springs for maybe 2 years now. No issues. I am changing them for the P springs though on an unrelated reason.

Makes me feel a little better, rmurer... Though I'm actually freaking out over this right now. I really can't do the upgrade for another 5 months or so...just hoping that I am not destroying my car. I talked a lot about springs on here and with my local custom shop (Krazy House in NJ) prior to doing this and this is what they recommended... The k springs with the adjustable PHB and different rubber bumpers. Had I known it was going to cause expensive issues down the road by not doing the full job, I would have waited.

I didn't say it's GOING to cause issues... I said it might, and you need to have it looked at to be sure.

If you can trust your shop, and they'll back up what they say about it not being a problem, then... there ya go. One would hope that they've done this a few times and have the evidence to back up their statements. And you have rmurer's post too, and a bit of googlin' about might just make it so that I'm the paranoid one. Heh.

So don't panic. :)

/Well, ok, panic a little, maybe, depending.

Thanks for the reassurance. Going to check it out this weekend. The k springs are a little more settled/low than what I'm comfortable with and looking into my options. Decided to not wait much longer before finishing up the suspension.

I know on my car with a mild drop 1.25 in the rear and 1 inch up front. The pinion angle was still within specs.

What is your suspension setup? I am leaning towards Koni yellows...but will I also need sway bars, LCAs, UCAs, relocation brackets, bumpsteer kit, camber/caster plates? Everything comes out to around $1900 not including labor.

I have K-Springs and Koni Yellows waiting to be installed, along with my MM CC plates. I a lost just picked up LCAs, a used UCA and adjustable PHB from Curtis on here. The only other thing I think I might need for now would be relo brackets.

If you just want to drop it a bit you do not need all that. sway bars, LCAs, UCAs, relocation brackets, bumpsteer kit, camber/caster plates are not needed for a mild drop. Heck yea all that stuff is nice and all but the stock pieces will hold up for a long long time. Check my sig for my setup. Just recently changed my UCA. You will be surprised what springs along with struts and shocks will do for your car. You can add all that other stuff in bits later on

1.5" is definitely on the edge of extreme. Plus spring rates jump much higher in the front and still a decent amount in the back. I don't think your shocks or struts will last long.

You can save a little money on the shocks/struts by going with the KONI Str-t (orange). Do you really need adjustable shocks/struts. I just had my set up installed in April and I went with STEEDA springs, LCAs, UCA, adj PHB along with BMR relocation brackets, KONI Str-ts and GT 500 strut mounts - great ride! Definitely do it right the first time so no issues later on.

Thanks for all of the good info everyone. 1.5" settled even more in the 5 months since I had them installed. Looks more like 1.75". There are no symptoms of shock/strut issues yet, but I am concerned nonetheless. I really wish that I went with only the 1" drop. I don't think that I need the yellows if this is really just daily drive use though so I will look into oranges. Going to the shop tomorrow.

Here are the videos that you should watch. Kelly from BMR knows his Mustang suspension and will help you if you call and ask for him. I did and he had a lot of good info for me for when I add springs.

http://www.bmrsuspension.com/index.c...s&videocatid=3

Thanks Bullet. When I spoke to JDM, they told me that the 2 piece driveshaft is pretty forgiving and that pinion angle shouldn't be an issue at my spring height. The shocks/struts will definitely wear prematurely though. So, I am still going to finish up the suspension with JDM and may get a tune in the process.