Need help setting up my 1994 GT for autocross

GeeTeeFiveOh

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Hi Guys,

A while ago I ordered some eibach coilovers but decided to bail on those after receiving some poor service from Andy's autosport. Now I'm taking the time to really plan out a complete system for the front that will be compatible with any future upgrades such as tubular k-member a-arms etc. What I've come up with is a front coil over set up from QA1 with the 12 way adjustable threaded dampers and 200lb springs. I looked at the Maximum Motorsport kit for billstein shocks and after reading some reviews I decided I like the QA1 for a front coil over system. I'd like to hear any feedback people have on either of these coilover systems.

Onto the rear suspension: I plan on doing an IRS swap after a year or two so I don't want to invest much back there until I have the IRS complete. I'm looking at getting new shocks but for springs nobody seems to sell only a rear spring set. I'd like to know what my options are for the rear without spending too much. Thanks a lot for any input guys any input will help me make a final decision.

GeeTee

PS: I made this post originally in the wrong section then copied it over here after a good recomendation.
 

Shifty Powers

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Dont stray away from MM man.. Going with a QA1 12 way adjustable is just ridiculous and silly. And they will not beat a good set of billsteins or Konis... Spend the extra buck and get the better set.. you will not regret it..

Hell call MM.. They will set you up good. Also they are currently having a sale on dampers. Plus talking with them will allow you to buy stuff now, and just add on to it later. You could buy springs/dampers now. then just add the coilover kit to it later on. Then their tubular K.

Personally MM is a much better brand and company to deal with.. Ide have to say almost everyone else here agrees as well.


As far as rear springs.. Keep your eyes open on the FS section here, SVTP, Corral.. They pop up.. Hell if not, just buy the full set and new dampers all the way around.. Get yourself used to a more aggressive suspension before you go all out with coil-overs. If auto-x is your ultimate goal.
 
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GeeTeeFiveOh

GeeTeeFiveOh

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Get yourself used to a more aggressive suspension before you go all out with coil-overs. If auto-x is your ultimate goal.

Yes auto-x is the ultimate goal and with that in mind I would most likely be changing my suspension setup every year unless I was to go with coilovers which are superior in every way I can think of than my first thought which was lowering springs and dampers. I actually pulled the trigger and ordered the QA1 HD603S-14250 coilover system. It was highly spoken of in Mustang 5.0 magazine and my buddy who races late model at the local speedway runs QA1 coilovers in everything. I think I will be happy with them, after all with that adjust-ability I should be able to make it handle exactly how I want.

I will for sure be looking into getting a k-member, control arms etc next winter but for this year these coilovers in combination with the steeda bumpsteer kit, swaybar, ball joints, strut brace, MM CC plate and a finely tuned engine etc should make me happy for this summer :)
 

Shifty Powers

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Also... You might want to do some research into auto-x.. Have you thought about what class you want to race in? Each class has limitations on what mods you can do; and if you want to be competitive in those classes, you might want to look into that and find a class you want to shoot for. But of course you do have some motor mods, which I believe puts you into a higher class anyways...

So if your already decided on a coilover set? What help do you want?

Also going with springs and dampers will not mean you have to change the whole system every year. You add to it and learn the limitations further and further. Plus if you do it right. You can buy the right dampers and springs and go right to coilovers later without changing much of anything.
 
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GeeTeeFiveOh

GeeTeeFiveOh

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Yes I'm new to auto-x and haven't given much thought into what class I'd be racing in. You made a good point, I would want me car to be the best possible within whatever restrictions there for that class. I'm hoping the coil overs don't bump my class up so high that I would need a lot of other mods to be competitive.

When I made the original post I had not yet decided on a set. Thanks for the help
 
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GeeTeeFiveOh

GeeTeeFiveOh

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Update:

I installed the coilovers with a steeda bumpsteer kit, x2 ball joint and MM CC plates. Had it aligned and it drove great, nice and stiff which is what I wanted. It makes more noise than before but I guess thats coilovers for ya.

While driving the driver side ball joint fell out !!!! Luckily I was going slow and didn't lose control. To say the least I'm not happy. I figure I need new control arms since the ball joint hole is too large and I fear the same for the passenger side. Money is tight now and how I would like to get the MM lower arms I cant really justify it when I see QA1 tubular arms for 169.99 on american muscle. Less than half the price of the MM set.

Does anybody have any experience with these QA1 tubular arms? Would they be suitable for the tight and twisties? On the QA1 website they are in a street / drag category which worries me. I would be happy to get them knowing they will be a good improvement over stock
 

RichV

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IMO, QA1 stuff is drag racing stuff.

MM and Griggs own roadcourse and auto-X. Glad no one got hurt, but something like that happening on a road course at 100+mph is not good. Why did the ball joint fall out? Was it the right part?

I think you're on the right track. You can keep your control arms for now. This is what I would do: (speaking from road course experience)

FRONT:
GT or Cobra swaybar with poly bushings
X2 balljoints
delrin steering rack bushings
bumpsteer kit, QA1 or MM (most have the ame design)
MM CC plates
Bilstein or Koni SA/DA, whatever you can afford
MM 4 point g-load brace

REAR:
aftermarket lower CAs, I run J&M, most manufacturers will suffice with poly or a 3 piece poly bushing (read below)
STOCK upper CAs
match rear shocks to fronts
MM panhard bar if in the budget, soften the passenger side upper CA for a PM3L
Cobra rear swaybar

Springs are a big item, I have had great luck with H&R Race, they make a Super Race, but the softer progressive Race spring has worked really well for me. The rear CA bushings need to be stiff, but not solid. I run 1 piece wihout issue, people that I know using 3 piece get torn up with r-compounds. I don't know if this is normal, but has happened to more than 1. I just stick to the 1 piece.

Brakes are fine factory. Make sure all works and you flush with a good synthetic brake fluid, I use valvoline. Upgrade the fronts to 99-04 calipers if you can. I absolutely love Carbotech pads. Use the XP8 or XP10, although I'm not sure how their street manners are.

The MOST important thing is tires. Spending high dollar on suspension and brakes won't do shit without sticky tires. RA1, R888, NT01 are all great DOT r-compond tires that will make sure your suspension dollars are well spent. Get 'em as wide as you can for your wheels.

Spent enough dough yet? :D
 
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GeeTeeFiveOh

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Thanks for the information

The press fit of the ball joint into the control arm was out of tolerance, no other reason when everything is all in one piece and the steeda ball joint stud is still tight. It a good thing I did a good job of torquing the ball joint nut. Unless the brand new ball joints were out of spec the control arm is to blame probably being serviced a bunch of times in the 180,000km it was used before me and worn out

I understand QA1 leans towards drag racing which is why I'll be avoiding them for my k-member and control arms etc. I'm all for the MM and Griggs stuff but to answer your question yes I feel I've spent enough dough lol. I'm pretty happy with the QA1 coilovers I have the car rides on rails and the with the Nitto NT05 tires it pulls some good g's

Ill put down what I have on as of right now

Front
265/35/18 NT05 tire
QA1 18 way double adjustable coilover assembly
Maximum Motorsport caster camber plates (2 big spacers underneath, 1 small on top)
Steeda sway bar with new poly end links
Steeda Bumpsteer Kit
Steeda bj
Stock control arm
Stock bushings
New stock brakes

Rear
295/35/18 NT05
FRPP C lowering springs with poly iso
Koni sport adjustable shocks
Stock upper/lower arms and bushings
Stock sway bar
(Deliberately saved money out back since I will be looking for an IRS next winter or the one after)
New stock brakes

Results
Other than the obvious current issue of bj / control arm the rear suspension is too soft in comparison to the front but the springs cost 50$ un-used off kijiji. A stiffer rear sway bar would also be nice

Please school me on: Delrin steering rack bushings, the 4 point g brace and whether you would buy a stock replacement control arm over the 169.99 QA1 tubular arm. Thanks
 

Slykin

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I'd personally go for the MM solid steering rack bushings. They are bit more of a pain to install, but they don't bind, and don't flex. For $40 or whatever it was for them, i'd say the improvement in feel is worth it. Plus, they shouldn't really wear out.

I personally wouldn't go for a QA1 arm. I'd stick with a cheapo stocker for the time being and save for MM arms. That or i'd be stupid and weld a new BJ into the arm for now if I knew I was going to replace the whole arm lol. You didn't hear that from me though...

The 4 point G brace will help stiffen up the whole car and make your suspension work better... though if I were you i'd probably put on subframe connectors also. The subframes make a huge difference on our flimsy cars.
 
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GeeTeeFiveOh

GeeTeeFiveOh

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Yeah I thought about welding it but

#1 I don't own a welder
#2 the ball joint boot is shredded and if the bj itself if not damaged from the impact may not last a summer of abuse

Don't think paying someone to weld it is worth it.

Yeah Ill definitely be putting the G brace on the list along with the subframe connectors. Our cars are flimsy, painfully so after working on my friends supra. You jack one corner up and the whole front end lifts almost level.

As far as performance on the road course which is superior? the cost of the new stock arm and ball joint probably close to equal for the QA1 arm
 

RichV

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Toss up on the control arms. If I was going to go through the trouble, I'd do a MM K member and control arms, all in one shot.

The delrin bushings reall help steering control. Delrin is the hardest synthetic material, in rack bushings it gets rid of the slop in the steering.

The g load brace is a lower brace that ties in the k member to the frame rails. It really does a lot, I have lap times to prove the effectiveness. The upper strut brace is not very effective in my opinion, not for performance anyway.

The other thing is sub frame connectors, if you have not done those, do them 1st. I forget sometimes that my cage does this job. SFCs are crucial to frame rigidity. The unibody is about as stif as wet spaghetti On a good day.
 
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GeeTeeFiveOh

GeeTeeFiveOh

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The trouble of changing the control arms and or ball joints is nothing for me. I can easily do that in a couple hours, coilovers make servicing everything easier.

I'll look into the Delrin steering rack bushings before today I thought poly was the best
 

RichV

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Why are those 'better'? Delrin's harness is just below aluminum, I'm just not sold on zero deflection.

I did have an issue with my delrin bushings, they were in my 89 fox, worked great. When I went to the SN the bushings were loose in the bushing cups. But the MM and other sites list them for fox and SN applications. I didn't put them in my SN, but will get a set. The MM solids would do just fine as well, do they fit the SN tight?
 
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GeeTeeFiveOh

GeeTeeFiveOh

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The link you send from MM sounds good, I'm sure they will have a set for their own k-member. When I do the k-member ill change all the bushings.

It's too bad about the QA1 arms I could of put those on order right away
 

Slykin

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I loved my solids in my old vert. I'm suppose there's not that much difference to be honest, I was just real impressed with the improvement with the solids. If you can manage to find some delrins then i'm sure it'd be near as good. I've never seen delrin steering rack bushings though...

And yes, my solids fit perfectly fine on my SN. It was a bit of a pain getting the metal sleeve that you reuse(cut to size) to the right length, but that's it.
 

Shifty Powers

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only thing thats off is the swaybar stuff.. you have the steeda swaybar, which I believe is still larger than the cobra front(I run the eibach).. Also, stick with a different rear swaybar, generally they are slightly smaller while still being stronger, to help with a little bit of squat and whathaveyou in the back.. stock swaybars tend to snap. At least the originals that came on the car, I ran mine for the longest time without knowing I didnt even have one. I think ford did redo them however so they dont snap as easily. But A LOT of cobra owners snap them and snap the OEM replacements even still.. Under normal driving prob not.. but you do far from that so
 

RichV

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only thing thats off is the swaybar stuff.. you have the steeda swaybar, which I believe is still larger than the cobra front(I run the eibach).. Also, stick with a different rear swaybar, generally they are slightly smaller while still being stronger, to help with a little bit of squat and whathaveyou in the back.. stock swaybars tend to snap. At least the originals that came on the car, I ran mine for the longest time without knowing I didnt even have one. I think ford did redo them however so they dont snap as easily. But A LOT of cobra owners snap them and snap the OEM replacements even still.. Under normal driving prob not.. but you do far from that so

Snap?? really? That is the 1st time I have ever heard that. My race class is limited to stock swaybars, never ever have I heard of swaybars breaking. Under what use have they broken?

Swaybars are unique to the vehicle and setup. You typicaly can tune oversteer and understeer by changing bar diameters. A lot of guys go to the track with multiple swaybars to tune for a specific track. Some guys run ultra stiff springs and don't use swaybars at all. Personal preferance and setup really.
 
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GeeTeeFiveOh

GeeTeeFiveOh

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Yeah a rear sway bar for the rear is in the future. I like the sounds of the steeda adjustable read sway bar. However I don't feel like spending money on the rear if it's gonna be wasted when I change to IRS.

Ive heard of aftermarket rear sway bars snapping.
 

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