[jivepepper]

I'm considering setting my car up to handle the twisties better. I'm not a suspension guru and want a user friendly setup, but I also want a car that handles a good bit better than stock, thats still reasonably streetable and doesn't bounce off the road on every bump.

What I have now is:

Front:
UPR tubular K-member/A-arms
UPR coilovers and 175lb springs
Upr 4 bolt caster camber plates
No front sway bar.
KYB OEM replacement struts with good bit of miles

Rear:
CHE lower control arms with ploy/delrin bushings on both ends
CHE upper control arms with spherical bushing at the TQ box and poly carrier bushings on the diff side
No quad shocks
Stock rear springs
No isolators
KYB OEM replacement shocks

Chassis:
Welded full length subframe connectors
Welded TQ boxes
Welded axle tubes
8 point roll bar tied into the subframes.

My first plan of action is to increase my front spring rate and reinstall the front sway bar.

My questions are:
What spring rate should I go with in the front?
What rear springs should I go with?
Also whats the best non adjustable shock I could use and would work easily with my front coilovers?
Is there any other quick inexpensive things I should consider or could do now?

Thanx for any feedback.

[Jazzer The Cat]

You are gonna suffer on the 1/4, if you bring your car up to speed in the corners, but think you already know that.

Front:
UPR tubular K-member/A-arms ~ not great for very hard cornering, but fine for DD and street use
UPR coilovers and 175lb springs ~ too light, as 300# is similar to OEM located lowering springs
Upr 4 bolt caster camber plates ~ fine, but you are gonna want to add caster and possibly remove some camber
No front sway bar. ~ at least an OEM one is good, but also dependent on other things
KYB OEM replacement struts with good bit of miles ~ how many miles and their condition?

Rear:
CHE lower control arms with ploy/delrin bushings on both ends ~ Need to have a spherical bearing at least one end, for best results
CHE upper control arms with spherical bushing at the TQ box and poly carrier bushings on the diff side ~ fine
No quad shocks ~ fine
Stock rear springs ~ should go heavier, but matched to front CO's, in whatever you decide there
No isolators ~ fine
KYB OEM replacement shocks ~ how many miles and their condition?

Chassis:
Welded full length subframe connectors ~ excellent
Welded TQ boxes ~ overkill for street twisties, but just fine
Welded axle tubes ~ fine
8 point roll bar tied into the subframes. ~ even better than FLSFC's alone

My first plan of action is to increase my front spring rate and reinstall the front sway bar.

My questions are:
What spring rate should I go with in the front?
What rear springs should I go with?
Also whats the best non adjustable shock I could use and would work easily with my front coilovers?
Is there any other quick inexpensive things I should consider or could do now?

Thanx for any feedback.

I used to run 300# front CO's and was great for the street, but not really heavy enough AX. I was not running an OEM located spring at the time and will leave others to make recommendations for what to use out back. Shocks.... Bilstein and Koni are both nice, but regardless of brand, they need to be mated to spring rate.

Jazzer welcomes another to the world of twisty

[jivepepper]

Thanks Jazzer,

I have always been better at curves anyway. All my friends were going to the strip and at first was cheaper to compete in. I'm competive by nature so I was taking my car in a direction I really wouldn't have consider on my own. I was at a crossroads where if I wanted to go much quicker I would have to pretty well make it a car the was only good at the strip. Im real excited about my car again because of the direction I'm going.

I want a little stiffer than stock so should I go to 350lb in the front? If so what would the back have to be to work well with them? Do you want the rear or front stiffer than the other?

How much caster camber? I want improved handling with a minimal amount of increased tire wear. But I also know you have to pay to play. Just best possible compromise.

The shocks have at least 60-70k
I need a bump steer kit I think
I thought about reinforing the UPR K-memeber

The main thing I want to do as my first step is change the springs, shocks and do a bump steer kit. Of course reinstall the sway bar.

Despite having drag springs and no sway bar my car still handles better than stock. I think it will feel good bit better just changing the front springs and reinstalling the S bar.

I also need to find an 8 rib undrive PS pulley because of my overdrive crank pulley. Makes my steering feel to lite.

I plan on more in the future who knows maybe a IRS. I bought the car new and plan on driving the wheels off.

I'm also getting a T56 very soon if everything works out the way I planned.

[Macunicorn]

Jazzer is king lol.

[95mustangGT/SVT]

In addition to that you could add strut tower brace. They are pretty cheap

[Jazzer The Cat]

^ with a tube "K".... STB is a waste

[Novanutcase]

You'll probably also need a front sway bar relocation kit as, at least on the MM K, the sway bar has to move to make room.

IRS over Straight axle handling will be so nominal the only person that will be able to take advantage of the IRS setup with any appreciable difference will be someone like Tony Stewart. Stick with your straight axle. It can be made to handle just as good as an IRS. In some cases an IRS rear end can be worse as it requires more adjustment to get it right than a straight axle does.

1* to 1.5* camber is about where you want to be to be able to take advantage of the increased contact patch you will have without replacing your front tires every 6 months because the inner tread is worn out.

350 lb front spring is going to be pretty stiff. You really need to look at suspension as one whole system with their respective parts working together as a whole. Balance is what you are looking for so spring rates need to be balanced in a way that complements how stiff a sway bar you will have and how many. They also need to be balanced with the bump and droop values of your shock. If you go to adjustable shocks then you can dial in the amount you like for your driving style.

If it was my car I would just run the stock front sway and run an adjustable rear sway and PHB. This way you have a baseline(the front sway) to work off of when adjusting the rear to your driving style. I always liked a hint of oversteer so I would dial up the rear bar to achieve that. If you have the rear tuned all the way down and your still getting too much oversteer then you can run a lighter sway up front but in my experience the stock front sway was more than adequate.

John