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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Shifty Powers" data-source="post: 1162448" data-attributes="member: 9020">Suspension UpdatesSo you wanna get a little more serious with car? First, make a conscious choice about what you want out of you Cobra performance-wise. Many people simply want a lower ride, others want good handling or a dragstrip terror. The key here, like all other aspects of performance, is matching the proper parts with each other, and matching the package as a whole to your specific goals with the car. That being said, know what you want before blowing all your cash on the next good deal that comes along. Never spend money twice and do it right the first time.Subframe ConnectorsThis should be one of the first mods to your Cobra. As you may know, the Fox4 platform upon which all Mustangs from '79-'04 are based was designed for the 1978 Ford Fairmont. Faaantastic, eh? The point is, your Mustang's chassis is a wet noodle compared to other late-model performance vehicles. A GREAT start is to put on a set of subframe connectors. These bars mate the front and rear subframes for a much stiffer car (not stiffer ride, stiffer chassis). There are a variety of choices to choose from in both brands and options. A basic bolt-on set of subframe connectors will help, but are not worth the effort. Eventually the bolt holes will stretch and tear, defeating the purpose of the connectors. You need to get weld-in connectors. For the average street/strip car, your basic full-length weld-in connector will do just fine. Maximum Motorsports and other companies make nice ones, but any garden-variety brand of the same design will work fine, after all, they are just bars. Have an experienced welder install them, making sure to keep normal load on the unibody via having the wieght of the car on the tires. A roll-on lift is preferable for this. Options for subframe connectors include lateral ties (make them look like a "t") which are standard on most, through-the-floor bracing, driveshaft-loops, and connections to a roll-cage (in race applications), jacking rails, etc. While any extra option is good, you'll typically be just fine with standard "t" shaped full-length connectors. The benefits of this mod are increased chassis rigidity and strength, a decrease in squeeks and rattles, better handling, and better launching at the dragstrip. If you plan on going more hardcore with your car, now would be a good time to have the welder guy put in some torque-box reinforcements as well.SpringsIn case you've been living under a rock for the last decade, springs are the number one way to change handling dynamics, weight-transfer, and ride-height. When it comes to up and down movement of the car, the springs absorb the initial shock, and shocks (struts too) dampen or limit the effects of this initial shock. Moving on past my nerdy tech-babble, let's start with the most common reason for springs: lowering. If you're sick of that 4x4 stock look, a set of lowering springs will please your fancy. The typical "standard" of lowering for a daily-driver type is 1.25-1.5" or so. You can't go much lower than that without needing caster/camber plates or different shocks/struts, but more on that later. A variety of brands are available and products from Steeda, FMS, H&R, Eibach, etc are proven. FMS B-springs, Eibach Pro-Kit and H&R Sports provide a nice compromise with a1.25-1.5" drop, better handling, and decent ride-quality. FMS C-springs are made for convertables and comparable. Now that we've covered our bases on basic lowering, on to the actual performance aspects...Handling: If you want your Cobra to really take the twisties, you'll need a good set of springs. The options listed above provide good handling characteristics for a milder daily-driver type car. If you are gonna take it a step further, you may want to look into H&R Supersports and Eibach Sportlines, among others. These will not only lower your car 1.75-2.25", but also provide a stiffer ride and increased capability in the turns. The tradeoffs are that you'll feel EVERY bump in the road, plus you'll need caster/camber plates and better shocks/struts unless you want problems down the road (no pun intended).Drag-racing: If you want to launch your car harder at the strip, different springs can benefit you. While not on the very top of the list (nothing beats sticky tires or an experienced driver), certain springs help wieght-transfer and straight-line grip immensely. I must mention that the stock springs are actually very good for drag-racing, despite their 4x4 stance. The aforementioned FMS B-springs are some of the best all-round springs. Not only do they deliver all the stuff I mentioned earlier, they also deliver great dragstrip performance. I've personally seen many people cut low 1.4 60-foot times on these springs in conjunction with other parts. For a dedicated drag setup, there are also springs available such as the Eibach Drag Package. This setup sits a little too high in the front (although the rear is nice and squat) for most people, but delivers good performance. It also comes with an airbag that goes into the right-rear spring to keep the car launching evenly (the rotational force of the driveline makes the right-rear squat harder than the left side, naturally). I run this setup, but I replaced the front springs with 4-cyl Fox springs because they let the car sit lower with similar launch characteristics. 4-cyl front springs are also a cheap alternative. Moroso, Summit, and others offer drag-spring packages as well, but many of these require cutting for fitment and ride-height changes, which can intimidate the average shadetree mechanic. Steeda also makes a drag-pack similar to Eibach, but I don't have any experience with it, although I'm sure it is top-notch like most Steeda products. They make other springs for the aforementioned applications as well.Shocks and StrutsWhile springs are the primary element in your suspension's activity, shocks and struts are the meat and potatoes of it. Properly matching these with your springs is key. I must add that shocks and struts DO NOT CHANGE RIDE HEIGHT...I can't stress that enough, but I hear it all the time for some reason. Anyway, if you're lowering the car more than 1.5" or so, you'll probably need a set of aftermarket units. For a pretty cheap option, you can snag some Bullitt/Mach Tokicos or even some 03/04 Cobra Bilsteins. These offer an awesome bang-for-the-buck as well as increased handling and ride-quality. On a lowered car, the stock pieces will wear out quickly and even "bottom-out" (full compression) sometimes.Handling: Adjustable offerings from Bilstein, Koni, and other companies provide the ultimate in shocks/struts with the ability to match rebound settings with performance goals. These are great for open-trackers, autocrossers, or mountain-road crusaders. If you are serious about handling and have the funds, this is a great way to improve agility. Although they have multiple settings for many uses, these units are still valved on the handling end of the spectrum even when set loose, compared to the ones in the paragraph below.Drag: The stock shocks/struts are also pretty good for drag racing, but if you want to get serious in conjunction with your springs, QA-1, Strange, and Lakewood offer awesome options. The first two are adjustable, and the Lakewoods are not. The Lakewoods are great, but are not as street-friendly due to lack of adjustability. The Lakewood struts can be had in 70/30and 90/10 valving, with the 90/10 being the loosest extension rate as to really let the front-end lift. 70/30's are a better street strut and work well too. They also make a 50/50 valved rear shocks which work great. Koni makes a drag setup as well, but I have no experience with those (although the handling ones are AWESOME). Strange and QA-1 adjustables are a pretty sweet setup, and unlike the ones listed in the "handling" section, are more on the drag side of the spectrum. You can set them tighter for daily-driving, then loosen them up for the strip, which is not an option with Lakewoods. For reference, you typically want to set the struts at full-loose, and the shocks right in the middle at the drags.</blockquote>