Going with coilovers and need some advice.

94RedGt

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Well i want to go coilovers because i love the adjustability i will get with them . Another reason is that i want a nice flush stance for the front and lowering springs wont do that unless i cut them and i dont plan on doing that. Also my car has always had a bit of a sag were it sits lower on the driver side and i have tryed everything to find the problem and still nothing, the car was in an accident before but it was just radiator support damage.

Im going with the UPR kit because its not that expensive and they seem fine for what ill be doing wich is mostly DD and maybe a trip to the drag strip. My main question is wich spring rate and lenght is better, i want to keep a some handling but i also want it to be not to stiff as it is now. Now my main concern with coilovers is that the weight of the front will now sit on the soft strut towers rather than the kmember and frame, should i be worried about damage to the towers ? I already got a set of UPR 4 bolt caster camber plates for the coilovers. The kit im looking at has 14 inch springs and 175lb springs, is this correct for what i want ?
 

Musturd

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175 are a little light for a mainly street duty daily you will lose some handling that's what I have on my car the strange 10 ways can take up some slack. For a mainly street cruiser I'd go with one of there stiffer spring rates 250 atleast 350 even. Otherwise it will just be to soft like drag suspension. Shock towers will be fine
 
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94RedGt

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Yeah but soft is what i maily want, im not into the whole corner and turning thing. I want the car to ride nicely over bad roads without breaking my spine . Right now it rides weird, like a pogo stick type thing lol, after installing my CC plates it helped but still too stiff.
 

OnyxCobra

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well switching CC plates isn't really going to change the ride of the car. Pogo stick sounds like you need struts. I'm pretty new to coilovers and have only had one spring so I don't really know how soft 175 is going to feel, mine are 12"x250lb.
 
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94RedGt

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How does you feel ? And is the 12" spring has any advantage over the 14 " or is it just for more drop.
 
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94RedGt

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Oh and yeah i prolly need struts , but the ones i have are brand new they are just the cheap stock replacements Autozone sells, its made by some Mexican company called Gabriel. They are not that bad i have had them on other cars and for a car with stock suspension they are good. And the CC plates do help get rid of some of the pogo feel since when i had my stock plates the strut was completely bottomed out and the only thing absorving the bumps were the rubber bushings on the mounts, now with the aftermarket ones i have the spacers that lift it up so i has about 4 inches of travel.
 

OnyxCobra

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Yeah if you have the top of the strut higher in the new cc plates that would help but that's the only way I can see it making a difference. My car seems to ride pretty good, it's a little rough if the road has a lot of dips and stuff but I'm thinking that's more due to how low the car is now. the length of the coilover spring does not effect ride height because there's more than enough threaded sleeve to adjust it to wherever you want no matter what length the spring is. I went with the 12" because MM said the 14s would flex more and could cause noise when hitting the sleeve, but to get a 14" length you need to go with a softer spring rate. I believe the same spring rate at a shorter length will be a stiffer ride because the spring won't compress as much, but I'm not 100% on that.
 

Tony

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i have QA! adjustable shocks with cut coils (i know you dont wanna cut yours) but as far as ride quality, these shocks are seriously awesome. having a SRA you will have a rough ride i have heard. lowering springs with QA1's out back and coilover at 12" and 250lb springs would do the trick. 350 too much. and 175 seems way too soft
 

Tony

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yea its at the bottom. there is 2 adjustable settings. one is for rebound and one is for compression.
 

Tony

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camp_1007_28_o2001_chevy_camaro_z28qa1_double_adjustable_shocks-1.jpg
 

NXcoupe

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I have been a UPR dealer for years, you can't go wrong with them. Go with a 14" spring if you are going with a 200 or less pound spring. If you go over that, go with a 12" spring as it will allow more adjustability. When I set up a drag SN car, I use 14"-150 springs up front, if I set it up for street, I use 14"-175's, as it gives a great ride and you can compress the spring for great front end lift at the track still. Stiff springs don't make a car handle necessarily, sway bars and alignment do most of that. Lowering springs have to be stiff or the car would bottom out every time you took a turn or hit a bump. I think 14"-200 is the most I would go. Anything more and you'll be back to your truck ride. jmho. Good discussion in this thread tho.
 

Tony

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That would be a pain in the butt imo. I've always liked how mine adjust at the top ^_^
i dont see how it's a pain in the but??? i just reach around with a flathead. pretty easy, lol. how do you adjust yours that's easier?
 

OnyxCobra

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It's a pain in the ass cause you have to get on the ground and reach around your tire to adjust them, unless somehow you can reach through it which would still be a dirty procedure. Mine i just pop the hood and you adjust them right where they come up through the camber plate, very easy to see and get to. could do the front in about 30 seconds and you don't have to get down on the ground at all.
 

Tony

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mine are right there through the spokes in my rim. i dont really need to crawl around on the ground, nor do i constantly need to keep adjusting them. i tuned them for a softer setting and havent needed to fuuk with theme sense. not really any kinda PITA to me. you got bad knees ol man, lol! i just go around the rotor and turn the 2 knobs with a flathead. about as hard as putting air in a tire. just gotta squat, lol.
 

OnyxCobra

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Yeah but in all fairness look at the size of your damn wheels. Cobras use a bigger rotor for one and I have 18" wheels so there isn't nearly as much room to reach around the rotor to adjust them. If you had normal size wheels you may have a better understanding of what the rest of the Mustang community would go through lol.
 

Tony

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i think the op is wondering about coilovers so tbh there is'nt much sense in me and you and your mustang community to get into another wheel debate or adjustable shock convenience gay ass argument. nothing you say about my car or your community's wheels are ever going to mean shit to me or the op so why ya bothering bro :)
 

OnyxCobra

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Yeah I don't disagree, and I wasn't putting your car down at all; and the mustang community thing was just a joke. I just said it's a lot easier for you to reach through your wheel than for most of us. When I clean the inside of my wheels I have trouble getting the sponge between the caliper and the wheel, something tells me you don't have the same issue is all i'm saying.

I'm truly sorry for the derail.
 
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94RedGt

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Okay so im going with 14" springs and 175 rate, i understand thats prolly soft but after what NXcoupe said i can trust him. I currently have lowering springs and the ride quality is not that bad but its not as good as i would like it to be. If 175 # is soft then thats what i want, i drive this car daily and i dont do any road racing or anything of that style, the only racing i do is in a straight line sometimes.
 

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