Reading material you suspension experts would suggest.
 

Hello, I'm going to be lowering my car sometime in august. The car will be doing track duty and some at thelight drag racing. I want good turning, and really quick responsive springs. So far, this has basically meant to me, get the strongest rates you can get, but I want to have a nice mix, which says to me, get progressive, I'm thinking I'll budge for stiff springs instead of progressives.

I'm not asking for "what springs to buy". What I'd rather ask for is some suggestions on reading material. Sifting through information on the internet is a lot of sorting out fact from opinion, and quite frankly, I know nothing, which means I don't know enough to sort the cruft from the good. If anybody can point me towards a good few articles that can help me decide what springs are best for me (I'll be buying CC plates, and am strongly considering maximum motorsports ones, because I like a "If you can break it, we'll replace it" warranty). So, reading material?

At this point, I'm thinking:
http://www.americanmuscle.com/h-r-sp...ngs-96-04.html
http://www.americanmuscle.com/maximu...tes-94-04.html

I'll probably do the install myself, just because I'm really starting to enjoy the DIY bit.

RE: Reading material you suspension experts would suggest.
 

First off, I would suggest our "How To Lower Your Mustang" article on our site...

http://www.stangsuspension.com/store/springarticle.asp- here is a direct link.

I would also suggest our product review videos...

http://www.stangsuspension.com/store...?idproduct=842 - this is our shocks & struts overview, basically talking about the importance of changing your shocks & struts when lowering your car.

http://www.stangsuspension.com/store...?idproduct=478- here is our alignment products overview. We discuss the different alignment correction devices, and different Caster/Camber plate types.

I would also recommend this very forum you're on! If you search through the various StangSuspension forums, you will see many good responses we've made to customers regarding their suspension systems. You will see similar questions to yours come up time and time again...

There are no really solid Mustang SPECIFIC books out there, but there are many good resources on our site, this forum as well as Maximum Motorsports website.

RE: Reading material you suspension experts would suggest.
 

Well, the plan has changed from buying springs and CC plates to pretty much a suspension overhaul. I'm going to work a LOT of overtime, and all throughout august I'll be buying suspension parts. Hopefully I'll have a total of 2000$ to work with, but it's probably going to end up a bit closer to 1500$.

Let's hope that's enough to do it right. [:o]

And thanks for the reading material. I plan on doing this right and there's a local shop that apparently beats the **** out of big brands in the drag scene, unfortunately they aren't pro at auto-x and road racing... so I am probably going to have to wing it. But Eibach is REALLY standing out, with maximum motorsports as well.

RE: Reading material you suspension experts would suggest.
 

Yes, very big yes. Will definitely be going Eibach. Nothing drastic, still streetable, but enough to improve performance. Agressive street, mild auto cross, but I want to be able to perform on the track. I will sacrafice streetability, because I can and will adapt for better performance.[/align][/ol][align=left][/align][align=left]Based on the reading material, I want H&R race springs. My concern is, will this drastically reduce my streetability? This car commutes 5 minutes a day, which equates to about a mile one way, to work. I go up hill, and over really ugly roads. As long as I don't have to be concerned about the increased spring rate doing any damage to the car, I'm quite happy with excessive performance.[/align][align=left][/align][align=left]Also, I'm strongly considering wheel spacers for the rear. What do you reccomend? Will they lower performance at all? After watching the video, I thinkI also want to go to coilovers. And the video gave me a good idea of things to look into. [/align][align=left][/align][align=left]What will upgrading my K-Member do, in terms of real world performance? Right now, I know I want to move to a coil over since supposedly it's just better. I noticed it was one of the requirements, and a lot of the mods will prep me for this part. Should I consider upgrading to this in the near future if road racing is an important part of this car's future?[/align][align=left][/align][align=left]Right now, I"m gonna research the viability of moving to a coil over system within my financial limit, which realistically will be 1500$ by the end of august, but I'll try for more. I figure at least I can get struts, shocks, plates, and springs as well as a few parts that keep the drop and suspension from tearing my car apart. [/align][align=left][/align][align=left]I've been told a bump steer kit and pan hard bars are required. Any truth to this?[/align][align=left][/align][align=left]If I was to lower my car, what all should be on my shopping list besides what I've listed and inquired about to make sure it was safe, wouldn't degredate performance in any way, and allow for the mods to complement the upgrades to come further down the road (aforementioned k member upgrade, for example).[/align][align=left][/align][align=left]Also, another question that came into my mind, now that I know I want coil over, what application should I be shopping for as far as struts go? Is there a specific section on your site that gives me a good showing of the struts and shocks I can use for coil over on a 99-04 GT?[/align]

RE: Reading material you suspension experts would suggest.
 

Sorry for the delayed response... we were at MustangWeek in South Carolina...

H&R Race springs will not be too stiff, as long as you have good new shocks/struts on at the same time (such as Bilstein, Tokico, Eibach etc.) Mustangs need new shocks & struts to function properly with lowering springs.

Wheel spacers will not really lower performance. I would wait until you lower the car though, to see exactly how much you want to space them out! Its better to lower the car first to see exactly where the wheel will be sitting.

K-members and coil-over kits are all geometry correcting items. They basically replace the stock geometry with an upgraded/better geometry. It will improve ride quality and performance over the standard spring location setups. Remember, sky is the limit with your Mustang, it really depends how far you want to go with it.

Bumpsteer kit is required to fix bumpsteer, not a requirement though. A panhard bar is not a requirement.

Recommended items when lowering a Mustang - Struts, Shocks, Springs, Caster/Camber plates... at minimum.