I want to stiffen up my front end.....

justinschmidt1

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Ok so im sure there are many ways to go about this. I want some advice from someone who knows more about suspension than I do.

Im running eibach sportlines with tokico blues, steeda c/c plates, 03 cobra a arms, MM extreme duty rear LCA's currently.

My setup is probably already prone to understeer with the 315s out back and 245s up front but id really like to stiffen up the front end a bit, mostly because when I take hard turns the tire rubs on the inner liner.


I guess stiffening up the front end would actually cause more understeer right?

I figured some stiffer struts, maybe bilsteins or a heavy duty sway bar would help a bit?

Any thoughts?
 

MadStang

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The less weight transfer you have, the less understeer you'll have. stiffening the suspension lets say with c/o's, a nice spring rate with a race valved damper, you'll have a more neutrally balanced car under braking and acceleration. If you go too stiff of a rate in the rear it'd induce more oversteer though since the springs will do less to absorb the rearward force you're adding when you lay the hammer down.

I'd find a different spring to run or make the jump to c/o's. that's the correct way of countering the suspension problem, other wise come down in rear tire size, staggered looks good, but it never performs well in a Cornering situation. I've always done 275's all the way around for grip and a balanced tire size. Besides, a car that's a little bit loose is easier to control than a car that plows IMO.
 
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justinschmidt1

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hmm, what options do I have as far as springs?

Im not really interested in spending the money on coil overs.

I had bilstein struts and shocks before and the car seemed to have a lot less body roll and an overall far stiffer feel to it. These tokico blues seem really soft in comparison.
 

MadStang

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hmm, what options do I have as far as springs?

Im not really interested in spending the money on coil overs.

I had bilstein struts and shocks before and the car seemed to have a lot less body roll and an overall far stiffer feel to it. These tokico blues seem really soft in comparison.

biggest thing is you need to match spring rate with damping rate. if you change shocks & struts generally you'll have to change springs to match.

with bilsteins you have a couple of options.

Any H&R spring matches perfectly with bilsteins
If you run the Roush springs you can get roush valved bilsteins to perfectly match the rates

Other than that I can't really recommend another setup.

if it were me, I'd get a set of bilstein HD's from Maximum Motorsports with a set of H&R Race Springs.
 

CC'S95GT

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the last time I changed fron tires, I went with the wider 255's front with 275 in the rear. the balance got a little better.
I don't know why you'd be rubbing with 245's on the front.
Adjustable shocks and struts can help too.
 
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justinschmidt1

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Im just worried that that would make my car ride like it had no suspension at all haha. The car already doenst ride very well.

The HR race springs seem pretty stiff.

eibach sportline
425-630 (progressive)140-295 (progressive, solid axle)

hrh n r race
750-850 (progressive)260-280 (progressive, solid axle)
 
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justinschmidt1

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the last time I changed fron tires, I went with the wider 255's front with 275 in the rear. the balance got a little better.
I don't know why you'd be rubbing with 245's on the front.
Adjustable shocks and struts can help too.

Cause my car is slammed with no iso's and I take some pretty tight off ramps at 75 mph and generally drive like a maniac and take lots of turns at very high speeds.

I actually managed to rub a hole through my liner and into my wiring harness that rests above hte liner. I burned through a wire that controlled the brake switch.

I have problems.
 

castine917

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You rub because you don't have room for your tires to move with your suspension. You already know that though. Different suspension that is real stiff, smaller tires for more understeer, drive without turning or hitting unsmooth surfaces, or put your isolators back in and give up your slammed look are your options that I see if you don't want the rubbing. You could also remove the inner liner or modify it so the rubbing goes away.
 
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justinschmidt1

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You rub because you don't have room for your tires to move with your suspension. You already know that though. Different suspension that is real stiff, smaller tires for more understeer, drive without turning or hitting unsmooth surfaces, or put your isolators back in and give up your slammed look are your options that I see if you don't want the rubbing. You could also remove the inner liner or modify it so the rubbing goes away.

Yea, I was thinking a nice set of bilsteins would help a lot since I really dont want to do anything too crazy.

Ive never heard much about sway bars for our cars but im assuming a stiffer front sway bar with some stiffer bushings would help a lot?
 

MadStang

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Im just worried that that would make my car ride like it had no suspension at all haha. The car already doenst ride very well.

The HR race springs seem pretty stiff.

eibach sportline
425-630 (progressive)140-295 (progressive, solid axle)

hrh n r race
750-850 (progressive)260-280 (progressive, solid axle)

Ask anybody running eibachs, the suspension rides worse than any other spring. they are much too soft for as low as you are.

will the H&R springs be stiff? yeah they'll be a bit stiffer but with the bilsteins damping I think you'll actually have better ride quality than you do now. Hell my roush valved stuff rides better than factory. hence why I've saved the springs for my next mustang that I drive on the street. my c/o's are a different story, I wanted stiff lol
 

MadStang

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Yea, I was thinking a nice set of bilsteins would help a lot since I really dont want to do anything too crazy.

Ive never heard much about sway bars for our cars but im assuming a stiffer front sway bar with some stiffer bushings would help a lot?

a thicker sway bar up front will induce more understeer. you want a thicker one out back. hence why v6's have understeer, they have no sway bar period in the rear.

the sport lines will ride like ass with bilsteins, trust me on that, the problem is your spring being too soft, you can't just fix a soft spring with a stronger shock. you won't get the full compression of the spring if you do that which will cause uncontrollable handling at times.
 

MadStang

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oh and if you're still worried about the race springs being too stiff, look into the super sport spring from H&R. still a good combo with bilstein, it's a tad softer, so it's more of a spring to give you the look of a low car at the sacrifice of some performance but still leaps and bounds better than eibach.
 

5litrarag

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Get the bilsteins. It will ride WORLDS better. I had Eibachs and adjustable tokicos on my Cobra and it rode like shit. Terrible match.
If you wanna stay with the slammed look, get the H&R Super Sports. The race spring is not gonna give you that look.
Also dont fear the high rates on the springs man... that is actually what is going to give you back good ride quality. The stiffer the spring is, the less the ride will be controlled by what the damper wants to do. Everyone told me my vert was gonna ride like crap when i put the Race springs and bilstiens together years ago because supposedly "the bilsteins are too hard for those springs". And actually they are a perfect match and everyone who told me that has since eaten their words after a ride around the block. High rate spring with a very controlled damper = Perfect.

Here's a shot of my Vert with Race springs on it.


DSCN0113.jpg
 

vermilion

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my ride is currently stiff. 300lb coil overs in the front with chitty kyb struts. theyre leaving. in the rear i have roush valved bilsteins on steeda springs. the ride is nice if you dont bottom out the spring perch on an adjustable LCA. it bottoms out. i raised it an inch and its superb. now, im going for a drag setup as i use to have it setup for twists. im looking for 125-150 front coil over springs/bilstein struts. in the rear H&R super race springs. with a good lite set of wheels i'll be great. keep in mind i will remove from sway bar.

thats a good formula to transfer weight. your rear spring in 1/2 should be in the front.
 

Rice_slayer

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No offense to Madstang, but STAY THE F*CK AWAY FROM HR RACE SPRINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's what my car had, rode like absolute sh*t with adjustable d-specs. I have cut 1 coil stockers front, stock rear and rides muuuch better. Those H&R race springs ride like a f*cking hayrack!
 

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