Booty Jiggles

Magic

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So I took my car out for a bit yesterday, didnt really get on it too much because of the rain...anyways, going over speed bumps or bumps in general on the road etc, the ass end jiggles. Personally I hate it.

I know the cure is with either a panhard bar or watts link setup to control/eliminate the side to side movement of the rearend.

This is what I have done to the rear at the moment..
Lakewood Lower control arms
Ford Racing upper control arms (the stock looking ones with the better bushing)
Eibach Rear sway bar
Eibach Sportline springs
Eibach Shocks


My question is, which kit and from who do YOU consider to be a good bang for the buck and ease of installation??

Im looking at the following:

Panhard bars:
Maximum Motorsports
Griggs
Kenny Brown (?)

Multimatic

I know that BBK and Saleen used to make panhard bars along with other suspension companies back in the day, but no longer make them...
OR???

Watts Link:
Griggs (I dont like that fact that the spare tire well needs to be cut..
FAYS2


Any other suggestion that wont break the bank?
 

CC'S95GT

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it almost sounds like one of your springs or shocks is weaker than the other side.
 

GDTrumbo

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Adding the Lakewood LCA's alone will make the rear looser than with the OEM LCA's. Especially with the spherical joint(s), if equipped. The panhard rod kit will put a stop to that.

I have the MM panhard rod kit and the difference is like night & day. Took 11.5 hrs. to install the panhard by myself.

GT
 
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Magic

Magic

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DESERTCOX05 said:
it almost sounds like one of your springs or shocks is weaker than the other side.

Springs are brand new! Shocks have no more than 5000 miles on them.
 
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Magic

Magic

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GDTrumbo said:
Adding the Lakewood LCA's alone will make the rear looser than with the OEM LCA's. Especially with the spherical joint(s), if equipped. The panhard rod kit will put a stop to that.

I have the MM panhard rod kit and the difference is like night & day. Took 11.5 hrs. to install the panhard by myself.

GT

I have the regular Lakewood LCAs, as shown in the pic... part number 20150..no fancy control arms with speherical or solid bushings.

20150s.jpg


Were those 11.5 hours smooth/taken time OR a pain in the ass?
 

CC'S95GT

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Magic said:
DESERTCOX05 said:
it almost sounds like one of your springs or shocks is weaker than the other side.

Springs are brand new! Shocks have no more than 5000 miles on them.

1 may have been bad out of the box. or the control arm bushings might be bad also
 

GDTrumbo

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Magic said:
GDTrumbo said:
Adding the Lakewood LCA's alone will make the rear looser than with the OEM LCA's. Especially with the spherical joint(s), if equipped. The panhard rod kit will put a stop to that.

I have the MM panhard rod kit and the difference is like night & day. Took 11.5 hrs. to install the panhard by myself.

GT

I have the regular Lakewood LCAs, as shown in the pic... part number 20150..no fancy control arms with speherical or solid bushings.

20150s.jpg


Were those 11.5 hours smooth/taken time OR a pain in the ass?

Those were smooth/taking time hours. I really don't recommend rushing this job. You do it right, you will be rewarded with a great upgrade.

I didn't mean to make the Lakewood parts sound like a "problem child" as there are not.

I talked to techies at both MM and StangSuspensions and both recommended installing the panhard kit first, as migrating to ANY of the aftermarket LCA's results in a noticably looser rear end in the curves. It's great in a straight line but transversal movement of the axle was not improved. MM has measured as much as 1" transversal movement in each direction on test cars!

Go to miracerros.com. There is some very interesting info on the Mustang suspension condition there. Also go to maximummotorsports.com. Some more good info there as well.

Good research results in great results.

GT
 
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Magic

Magic

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DESERTCOX05 said:
Magic said:
DESERTCOX05 said:
it almost sounds like one of your springs or shocks is weaker than the other side.

Springs are brand new! Shocks have no more than 5000 miles on them.

1 may have been bad out of the box. or the control arm bushings might be bad also

Control arms are new as well.
 
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Magic

Magic

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GDTrumbo said:
Those were smooth/taking time hours. I really don't recommend rushing this job. You do it right, you will be rewarded with a great upgrade.

I didn't mean to make the Lakewood parts sound like a "problem child" as there are not.

I talked to techies at both MM and StangSuspensions and both recommended installing the panhard kit first, as migrating to ANY of the aftermarket LCA's results in a noticably looser rear end in the curves. It's great in a straight line but transversal movement of the axle was not improved. MM has measured as much as 1" transversal movement in each direction on test cars!

Go to miracerros.com. There is some very interesting info on the Mustang suspension condition there. Also go to maximummotorsports.com. Some more good info there as well.

Good research results in great results.

GT

I have the miracerros.com website in my favorites LOL! I was reading about the rear suspension (on more than one occassion).

Ive been looking at the Griggs Panhard bar, they say theirs is better than the "curved" bar kits (Im assuming they sorta reference to the MM panhard bar, as the one fixed bar is cruved), but is about $80 more than the MM unit.


I know either panhard bar or watts link will fix the jiggles, just want peoples experiences on the kits they have used.
Thanks GDTrumbo on your experience.
 

GDTrumbo

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It's sad to think Ford never installed an OEM panhard rod on any Mustang from '79 when the 4 link/coil rear suspension was introduced thru the '04 model year. Finally they added this in '05 with the new 3 link set-up. Even my fathers '73 Olds 98 had a panhard rod. The rear steer syndrome sucks.

My wife had a cousin in Michigan killed in a Mustang Vert. V6 carving corners and lost control. I have no doubt the lack of rear axle control contributed to it.

GT
 
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Magic

Magic

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GDTrumbo said:
It's sad to think Ford never installed an OEM panhard rod on any Mustang from '79 when the 4 link/coil rear suspension was introduced thru the '04 model year. Finally they added this in '05 with the new 3 link set-up. Even my fathers '73 Olds 98 had a panhard rod. The rear steer syndrome sucks.

My wife had a cousin in Michigan killed in a Mustang Vert. V6 carving corners and lost control. I have no doubt the lack of rear axle control contributed to it.

GT

Sucks about your wife's cousin! Sorry to hear that!

I have driven and ridden in other friends Mustangs that also have the jiggles (I guess they all do! LOL), and I hated it!! But these guys are more into the drag racing as Im more into the street/handling aspects. Now I drive my own car, I just hate that "looseness".

I remeber driving this one guys 2002 Camaro SS 35th ragtop a few years ago. This car had a heads/cam/exhaust package, and some suspension work which included an upgraded panhard rod and torque arm. That car drove really nice!!

I am hoping there are more SN95ers that have a panhard bar setup to get some more feed back on the brands they are using.

I think either Panhard bar or Watts-Link will give me my fix. Im sure I'll add a torque arm down the road. However, I cant justify the almost double the price for a watts-link compared to the panhard bar.
 

ReplicaR

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GT,

I highly doubt that new lower control arms will add to looseness of the rear end suspension. With upper control arms responsible for side to side motion, and stiffer or no deflection bushings installed in the lower control arms, I just don't see how that could be possible. Maybe you missunderstood something.

Magic,

I had a MM parhard kit installed on my car. The rear does feel a lot more solid after I've done that. The main thing I noticed is that when you pitch the car sideways, it stays very composed and feels as one piece. The pendulum effect aka tank slapping is greatly reduced. Another thing I noticed is that the car exhibited less understeer at the track. Before the panhard kit install, the more I'd push it in slow corners, the more it would understeer. Now it seems like it actually bites harder as I press on it more.

Now, onto the choices. With watts link you can forget about running tips on the SN95. I've seen a few Griggs cars, and most of them don't have them. Also Watts link is very expensive by comparison to Panhard Bar setup. Sure it works better, but not enough to offset a cost difference for someone who will not compete. Panhard bar kits, you can not go wrong with either Griggs or Maximum Motorsports. All depends on how much money you want to spend really.
 
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Magic

Magic

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ReplicaR said:
GT,

I highly doubt that new lower control arms will add to looseness of the rear end suspension. With upper control arms responsible for side to side motion, and stiffer or no deflection bushings installed in the lower control arms, I just don't see how that could be possible. Maybe you missunderstood something.

Magic,

I had a MM parhard kit installed on my car. The rear does feel a lot more solid after I've done that. The main thing I noticed is that when you pitch the car sideways, it stays very composed and feels as one piece. The pendulum effect aka tank slapping is greatly reduced. Another thing I noticed is that the car exhibited less understeer at the track. Before the panhard kit install, the more I'd push it in slow corners, the more it would understeer. Now it seems like it actually bites harder as I press on it more.

Now, onto the choices. With watts link you can forget about running tips on the SN95. I've seen a few Griggs cars, and most of them don't have them. Also Watts link is very expensive by comparison to Panhard Bar setup. Sure it works better, but not enough to offset a cost difference for someone who will not compete. Panhard bar kits, you can not go wrong with either Griggs or Maximum Motorsports. All depends on how much money you want to spend really.


Thanks for the insight ReplicaR!

As far as no tails with a watts link, I know the Griggs won't let one run tails. However, the watts link I have my eye on (if I can afford it), is the one from FAYS2, which from the install pics looks like it will allow room for tailpipes.
 

GDTrumbo

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ReplicaR - You could be right. I don't think I misunderstood them though. I pretty much got the same response from both of them.
I didn't really notice how sloppy the car was until I added the bar. I added the MM LCA's about 6 mos. later.

GT
 

Steven

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Both my MM and my J&M control arms stopped the rear end wiggle. The J&M actually performs better then the MM 3 piece bushing. I love the poly ball setup.
 

GDTrumbo

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After all my research, the J&M LCA's with the 3 pc. poly bushings were my 2nd choice. I scratched my head for days over it.

GT
 

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A panhard bar is a poor mans Watts Link. For the prices involved, you might as well get a panhard as I doubt you care about adjustability. I didn't realize how crap the stock setup is until I installed my panhard bar. While out of traction I didn't experience as many spinouts and was able to get more sideways angle, hold a better line around a clipping point, and put less input into the steering.

I have a MM panhard. I doubt there is too much advantage to going to the Griggs and the fact you have to cut your wheel well is just a pain. Generally Griggs is a bit more expensive than MM, although you really can't go wrong with any MM product.
 

Steven

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Poly ball is basically a rubber version of a spherical bushings. And sphericals flex as well as move much better then your basic 3 piece bushing. The poly ball is the number one option as it combines the best of both.
 

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