[Chris951]

So, I thought taking the front sway bar off was cool and I wanted to make my car a drag car. But now I changed my mind. I want my car to handle turns and stuff better. I ordered new energy suspension bushings for my front sway bar tonight and they should be here in a couple days. Now, I noticed lately I'm getting some wheel hop. More than it used to. I want to get some control arms. What would you guys recommend? I've heard the Summit brand box style were nice? I want to do all this on kind of a budget. I don't need top of the line stuff. Just wanna make my car handle better than stock.

I also want to do shocks/springs. I was thinking eibach prokit for springs and I have no idea for shocks and struts. I originally wanted 50/50's and 90/10's but I don't want a drag car anymore. Would Caster/camber plates be needed with these springs? I think its a 1.25 drop or something like that. Also, I think I should do subframe connectors. How much would it cost to get these welded on average? Could I just do the bolt in ones and get them welded later on? And is there any benefit from a strut tower brace?

[sickfox]

I dont remember who posted the thread but someone on herr jsut bought some uppers and lower arms for like 119$ on ebay and were almost like the ones summit brand offers. he said that he recommends them. If i find it i will post it in here.

[fl4321]

that was me and there are the same exact ones as summit. they ship to you in like 3 days and install was a breeze,just pb blast all your bolts. i summited a best offer to them ang got them for 135 shipped

control arms

[89Domindart]

So is the car still sitting for awhile?

[Chris951]

nope got everything fixed. runin goooood

[EscortSportage]

tokico for struts, they offer different kinds for our cars, i have the 5 way adjustables (Illumina)

camber caster plates are a must, and front strut braces are cheap and effective

and subframe connectors are a must,

[Chris951]

Originally Posted by EscortSportage tokico for struts, they offer different kinds for our cars, i have the 5 way adjustables (Illumina) camber caster plates are a must, and front strut braces are cheap and effective and subframe connectors are a must,

sweet. anyone have any input on me getting bolt in subframe connectors then welding them later?

Also, I got some Moog bushings for my front swaybar. Anyone know if they are poly? If not, I'm just gonna run them until I get money for a full bushing set, Energy Suspenion or Prothane... I ordered Energy Susp sway bar bushings at Checker the other day but today they told me they actually don't carry them at all anymore so I went with Moog for now. Saved me 5 bucks but I might replace later down the road.

[ReverendDexter]

If I were on a tight budget, this would be my setup. Go as far down the list as you can afford, and yes, these are in order.

SFCs - don't waste your time with bolt-ins, unless you bolt them in and immediately drive them to a shop to be welded in.

Good front brake pads - Hawks, EBCs, or my preference, Porterfields. Good brakes allow you to carry speed longer.

Tokico blues. Not the best shock, but cheap and able to handle a stiffer spring.

Maximum Motorsports CC Plates. Yes, before you even lower the car, get CC plates. For a handling car, you NEED a performance alignment, the stock setup only allows for toe adjustment, and yes, do this BEFORE springs. For the alignment - Go for 0 toe (straight up), dial in as much positive caster as you can (try to get at least 4 degrees), and I'd start with 1 degree of negative camber and adjust based on tire wear.

H&R Springs, whatever flavor suits your fancy. Get another alignment after installation.

Panhard bar. Yes, I would do this before LCAs, though ideally you'd do both at the same time. The rear end wiggle is very confidence-sapping, and ruins the predictablility of the car at the limit.

LCAs - get the kind with at least one spherical joint if you can't afford the kind with spherical on both ends.

If you've got both good LCAs and the panhard bar, remove the driver's side UCA and the quad shocks.

The last thing I'd do is fine tune your swaybar setup. If the car is understeering, stiffen your rear bar (or soften your front setup). If it's oversteering, soften the rear (or stiffen the front). If you've lowered the car, you may want to get shorter or adjustable front swaybar links to get rid of the swaybar preloading that will occur.

This setup will run you maybe $1k if you buy everything new, and you'll be able to outhandle most Mustangs on the road at that point.

[Chris951]

Awesome dude thanks for the write up!

[EscortSportage]

why would u wanna remove the upper control arm on the drivers side/and quad shock on driver side as well,

i cant wait to install my tokico illuminia's there are 5 way adjustable and should be fun tuning them for different occasions.. heres my thing u dont want to spend all this money on stuff if in the end u will change the stock k member for an after market one, cuz then ud probably go to a full coil over conversion, and u can convert the rear to coilovers too. so like i said b4 do lots of homework

[ReverendDexter]

Originally Posted by EscortSportage why would u wanna remove the upper control arm on the drivers side/and quad shock on driver side as well,

Oh, you'd remove the quad shocks on both sides, my apologies if that was unclear.

Reason for removing the quad shocks: The quad shocks are a band-aid that Ford installed to try to control wheel hop. In effect, they're extra control arms that add bind to the system. If you replace the stamped steel LCAs with tubular or boxed units, you no longer need the bandaid. I pulled the quad shocks out of my fox after installing some MM LCA, and the improvement in ride quality alone is worth it.

Reason for removing the driver's side UCA: The UCAs are there to do two jobs: 1)lateral axle location and 2)prevent axle wrap. In stock form they do neither job very well, but are especially bad at lateral location. The job of a panhard bar is lateral axle location, so once installed, you only need the UCAs to prevent the axle wrap. You don't need both to do that, and removing one frees up some bind that is inherent in the triangulated four link setup. This combination of panhard, good LCAs, and passenger side UCA is commonly referred to as the "poor man's 3-link".

Originally Posted by EscortSportage i cant wait to install my tokico illuminia's there are 5 way adjustable and should be fun tuning them for different occasions..

Personally I'm not a fan of adjustable shocks. Shocks should be matched to your spring rate, not compensating for it. Race cars use adjustable shocks because they DO change out springs depending on the track and conditions.

My feeling is that if you're messing with shock settings, you're not learning to drive the car; you're trying to adapt the car to your current level of driving technique. To me, this is "blaming the car" for being slow and doesn't help you to become a better driver. Rather than going "I understeered, so I need to soften the fronts 2 clicks", look at what input you gave the car and change that first (maybe you came in too hot, or you didn't have the weight balanced, or you had overcooked the tires on the previous few corners, etc).

Originally Posted by EscortSportage heres my thing u dont want to spend all this money on stuff if in the end u will change the stock k member for an after market one, cuz then ud probably go to a full coil over conversion, and u can convert the rear to coilovers too. so like i said b4 do lots of homework

Quote for truth. If you know you're going to replace the LCAs, poly bushings for the stockers are waste of money. If you're gonna go coil-over, a set of stock style springs and shocks are just gonna get replaced. If you're gonna go SLA, CC plates are gonna get tossed. Et cetera, et cetera.

[Chris951]

Well, I put the front sway bar back on today with some new bushings and HOLY SHIT! Night and day difference. My bushings were worn out before so I just took it off and didn't notice a difference. But now after putting it back on with some new bushings, it feels like a different car. I love it.

So, should I only worry about Lower control arms? I don't need to change out both? If I just got some good boxed lowers I could take out the quad shocks finally and have no wheel hop even with the stock uppers? I ask because I want to do control arms next. Then shocks/CC plates and sf connecters

[ReverendDexter]

Originally Posted by Chris951 So, should I only worry about Lower control arms? I don't need to change out both? If I just got some good boxed lowers I could take out the quad shocks finally and have no wheel hop even with the stock uppers? I ask because I want to do control arms next. Then shocks/CC plates and sf connecters

Well, I've already told you my suggestion on order, and there IS a logic behind it. Why do you want to do LCAs first? SFCs are cheaper (even with the install cost) and have more of an effect on the handling of the car. Only reason to do LCAs first is if yours are bad and need to be replaced anyway.

Regarding UCAs, if you wanted, you COULD do good LCAs, skip the panhard bar, and then get UCAs with spherical joints on both sides. This would give you the best version of the stock 4-link setup, and assuming you got adjustable uppers, seems to be a popular setup with the drag racing crowd. Personally, I think this is a waste, though, as you still have most of the issues of the stock 4-link, just with less bind.

In the end, this is your car, and your money, so do what works for you.

[Chris951]

Originally Posted by ReverendDexter Well, I've already told you my suggestion on order, and there IS a logic behind it. Why do you want to do LCAs first? SFCs are cheaper (even with the install cost) and have more of an effect on the handling of the car. Only reason to do LCAs first is if yours are bad and need to be replaced anyway. Regarding UCAs, if you wanted, you COULD do good LCAs, skip the panhard bar, and then get UCAs with spherical joints on both sides. This would give you the best version of the stock 4-link setup, and assuming you got adjustable uppers, seems to be a popular setup with the drag racing crowd. Personally, I think this is a waste, though, as you still have most of the issues of the stock 4-link, just with less bind. In the end, this is your car, and your money, so do what works for you.

Reason for wanting to do LCAs first is because I want to get rid of wheel hop. It's really annoying and I don't want to mess anything up when its hopping. And the tires don't just hop when they're spinning... They hop when I gun it in 1st. I just don't wanna tear my car up you know? I understand your post and appreciate it alot. Could I just get some good LCAs and remove the quads to rid my wheel hop?

[Chris951]

What LCAs are good? I was looking at Summit brand and Maximum Motorsports brand. Recommend me some good ones for a good price? Also, boxed or tubular? This is a street car

[ReverendDexter]

I like Maximum Motorsports stuff. Decent price, good quality. I don't honestly believe boxed or tubular really matters, just so long as it's not stamped, hahahah. More important is the bushing material - make sure at least one side is a spherical joint (the MM units are spherical on the axle side and poly on the chassis side - this is a good setup for a street car as it frees up the bind, but limits the amount of noise transmitted into the chassis).

[Chris951]

Alright cool. I'll go with the MM LCAs. But If I get just LCAs, can I remove the quads and have no wheel hop? I found the Tokico blues on latemodelresto. And is there any difference in handling with H&R springs and Eibach springs? Should I get just get lowering springs or some road race ones? Or does it matter? Which H&R springs should I get if I choose those? They have no description soooo....

[ReverendDexter]

Originally Posted by Chris951 Which H&R springs should I get if I choose those? They have no description soooo....

Depends on how racy you want to be, and how much you want to lower the car. If you go to H&R's site, they have a HUGE table with all the information, but long story short, sports are a slight drop, super sports are a big drop, race are slight drop and stiff, super race and slight drop and REALLY stiff.

I'd probably go with either the Super Sports or the Race springs, depending on how serious you are about your handling. Having never ridden in a car with either, I can't speak to empirical knowledge of their ride quality, but I feel safe saying that the Race springs will have a harsher ride.

[Chris951]

Ahh ok thanks for the info. I want just a little drop like 1.5 inches. I'm either gonna go with the Eibach Prokit or the H&R super sports... I want a comfy ride lol. Thanks. Reps

[89Domindart]

Some good info in this thread, thnx dexter.