Car feels loose

CCobraW

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I'm trying to figure out where to begin at tightening up my steering/suspension. I got a 96 Cobra with a 150k, so I know it's got some wear. The car just feels bouncy when changing lanes above 35-40mph and rides kind of like an old cadillac. I've got new struts and shocks coming this week, I've also got some poly bushings for the front swaybar because they're obviously blown. From what I can tell the tie rod ends look alright, the boots aren't cracked at least, no leaks from the PS pump or rack. I'm going to get it aligned after I swap the struts/shocks.

Any suggestions on what else to try?? This is my first mustang after having a bunch of ricers, miatas, rx7, etc. and I realize it's not going to be real tight, but it's got to be able to ride better than it does now.
 

CC'S95GT

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ck the front wheel bearings.
just because the boots are not torn on the tie rods doesn't mean they are not worn and loose.
 

Slykin

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Inner tie rods could also be worn out. Solid steering rack bushings are a good improvement to make too.

Edit: These cars aren't going to ever feel real tight with the 4 link rear suspension either... I'm running basically all new front end parts and high end coil-overs and the back end still kinda ruins it. If you're serious about making it feel better you'll probably need to eventually get a PHB or Watts Link to better locate the rear end.
 

Musturd

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New rack bushings as well will help a lot
 
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CCobraW

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How difficult is it to swap the rack bushings? Do I have to take the rack off the K member or can I pop the bushings out the front?
 

Slykin

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If you replace them with solid bushings(which I definitely would), you leave the rack on. You have to pull the old bushings/sleeves out and cut the sleeves to a certain length to hold the bolt in place. Then just bolt the new solids in with the sleeves. It's really pretty easy. You'll just need at the minimum a hack saw and a gooood file, preferably a table grinder.
 

94RedGt

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Another thing to check is your front and back control arm bushings, these are some of the most overlooked bushings and they can cause the direction of the car to change when going over bumps cuz they allow movement of the front and back suspension when you dont want it. Also if you plan on lowering get a good bumpsteer kit and caster camber plates .
 

RichV

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Elaborate a little on 'loose'? Like rear end, front end? Or just sloppy?

Alignment alone can have a lot do with it. The bushings in the rear control arms are probably pretty loose, my 1st track session with my 94 scared the crap out me the 1st time I felt the rear end wiggle under heavy braking. Just splurge for a set of new rear lower control arms with some stiff bushings. The upper rears should remain stock, just make sure the rubber is not torn to shreds.

Springs and shocks, UPGRADE them. Eibach, H&R, Koni, Tokico, Bilstein, all good brands. Poly spring isolators, along with CC plates. Make sure your balljoints are good along with tie rod ends. I run the Delrin rack bushings and they definitely tighten up the feel of steering.

Align it with stock settings and make sure your wheels/tires are balanced.

Should make a world of difference IMO. If you really want to take the next step, subframe that *****. MM full lengths, welded. :)
 
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CCobraW

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Elaborate a little on 'loose'? Like rear end, front end? Or just sloppy?

It just doesn't feel real response when you turn the wheel kind of quick. Over bumps it just has that kind of bouncy boat feel, which I think the shocks/struts will fix. And there feels like a decent bit of body roll in the turns, it may not actually be that bad, but it feels like a bit much to me.
 

RichV

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Start with springs and shocks. What shock/strut combo did you get?
 

Shifty Powers

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sounds like a stock mustang with worn parts lol

But yea what shocks/struts did you get. Hopefully a good set and you upgraded.. this is an area where money is well spent
 
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CCobraW

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I just went with the kyb as I had a little bit of a budget, the front struts were a definite improvement. Looking at rear control arms now, I saw latemodelresto has got the SVE uppers and lowers on sale for $125. Are they worth a darn? The frontend still feels a little loose and has a slight shake at highway speeds. I had the frontend aligned, so its right. I was thinking either get a reman front rack with some poly rack bushings and maybe some 03/04 cobra front arms, was thinking that might tighten it up a bit?? Also was considering new ball joints and poly control arm bushings, but the newer 03/04s aren't that much more. Its 16 years old now so I'm pretty sure all the bushings are just shot.
 

Slykin

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If you get steering rack bushings just get solids.. there's no downsides. I can't say much on A-Arm bushings as I still need to replace mine. If your front end has a shake to it, something is still not right though. Are you sure your tie rods are good? Sounds like one or more are bad. Tires/wheels could also be a problem.
 
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CCobraW

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I replaced the outer tie rod ends with the Moog ones because that was easy. Heard the inside are a pain so I didn't mess with those at the time. From what I've read swapping out the rack seems pretty straight forward. I'm hoping that will fix some of it. Haven't had the balance on the wheels checked. Getting new rims and tires pretty soon so that might help too.
 

MustangChris

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Steering:

-Rebuild steering rack (or upgrade to a 99-04 cobra unit)
-weld steering shaft (or buy an aftermarket solid unit)
-aluminum rack bushings

suspension:
-sub-frame connectors
-struts/shocks/springs
-cobra sway bars.


Let us know how far you want to drop the car, or what your final goals for the car are.
Different modifications should be done if you drop the car more than 1.5"
if you plan on going full road-race the modifications will be different than if you want to do full drag.
 

Slipperman

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This thread is in-line with my current decisions:
My '04 GT has 108K Miles so it's due for suspension work (upgrades).
I had a rear caliper dragging, so I've blown the rear end apart for new parts.
While I'm there, I'm thinking I should replace the shocks but then there's LCA's, Bushings, coil-over's to consider.
Then when I go to work up front, I'm thinking about what I want to do for a very mild drop, if any.
Control is the goal and it's strictly for the street, so are coil-over's over-kill?
 

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