Can CoilOvers go low/lower than sportlines?

sk8inrj1 · May 6, 2008

I've got eibach sportline drop springs right now. Can MM coil overs with bilstein shocks be adjusted to be as low as or lower than sportlines? I have no idea what the common drop people are running with coil-overs.

Dalamar · May 6, 2008

yes coilovers can go super low.

but, once you go much past 3" your car will ride like shit because there's no travel left in the A arms,

ReplicaR · May 6, 2008

A good drop with coil-overs is about an inch and a quarter. It may not look super slammed, but the stock K-member/control arm suspension likes to sit around there. Some aftermarket K-members allow you to mount your control arms higher, so you will be able to lower the car more, and keep the front roll center from being subterrainial.

With a 3 inch drop, you are going to encounter a several problems. One being that the shock will be way too compressed, and will wear out quickly. Secondly, the ride will suck as Dalamar said, mostly because of the shock being so compressed. Thirdly, the car will handle like ass because front geometry is gonna be screwed. On stock geometry suspension, lower center of gravity does not mean better handling.

sk8inrj1 · May 7, 2008

OK, thanks for the responses. When the time comes for coil-overs, I'd like to match the current stance of my sportlines and it looks I will be alright. Thanks!

Matt94GT · May 7, 2008

Im running MM coil-overs and id say im about a 2" drop.

vermilion · May 7, 2008

i dunno but with coilovers its very adjustable and get the accomadating shocks.

justinschmidt1 · May 7, 2008

Ive got sportlines and my car handles pretty good....although I feel like its a little too low in the front and may actually be hurting the handling a bit.

g_dogg · May 7, 2008

Im in a good position to answer your question.
I used to have sportslines with KYB shocks.
I can tell you that the sportsline are perfectly tuned.
good job by eibach. the ride on the other hand is very rough.

Now im running MM coilovers. bilstein struts and 300# 10 inch long springs.
I would say my drop is 2.25 inches. the ride is very comfortable.
but cant take corners like i used to with my sportslines.
not even close. Im gonna try 350# springs this summer and maybe an eibach
swaybar to stiffen up my suspension.
MM coilovers are great but its gonna cost you trying to figure out
the perfect combination for you.

Dalamar · May 8, 2008

If you call MM, they can give you a good recommendation on spring rates for your combo.

I did something similar to you gdogg, originoally had 300# coils on the front, and switched up to 375's with matching coilovers/springs for the rear.

Justin, your car has the subteranial roll center like ReplicaR was saying. The A arms are sitting already in an upward angle, and there's not much travel left in them. Mine were the same way.
on the plus side your stance looks Bad Ass

justinschmidt1 · May 8, 2008

Dalamar said:
If you call MM, they can give you a good recommendation on spring rates for your combo.

I did something similar to you gdogg, originoally had 300# coils on the front, and switched up to 375's with matching coilovers/springs for the rear.

Justin, your car has the subteranial roll center like ReplicaR was saying. The A arms are sitting already in an upward angle, and there's not much travel left in them. Mine were the same way.
on the plus side your stance looks Bad Ass

yea...if I look under the car I can see my a arms are at an upward angle lol...

Thanks...I do love the stance

g_dogg · May 8, 2008

Dalamar you think 350# will be good for me?
how do you like you 375# springs?

ReplicaR · May 8, 2008

What rear spring rate do you have? What's your rear suspension? Also, I think you could fix all your problems if you just pick up the car about an inch. If you are on stock control arms and K member, then you definitely have a f*cked up front roll center.

justinschmidt1 · May 8, 2008

ReplicaR said:
What rear spring rate do you have? What's your rear suspension? Also, I think you could fix all your problems if you just pick up the car about an inch. If you are on stock control arms and K member, then you definitely have a f*cked up front roll center.

Are you talking about the thread started?

Well, I guess since I have the same setup as him...then I do have a fucked up front roll center too haha...

I knew that i did....but I went with sportlines for
1. looks/stance

then

2. handling

I just dont think our cars look right unless theyre lowered alot :dunno:

ReplicaR · May 8, 2008

I was talking to g_dogg, but yeah, keeping good front roll center could get tricky. I've learned a while ago that the lowest ride and the stiffest suspension does not mean the best handling most of the times, when it comes to our cars. Even on the track, if you are running street tires, you need come complience, or else you'll be all over the place. This is why I really like suspension setups on BMWs and Hondas, because they mount all the hardware high up on the chassis, and even if you drop them on the floor (check out some track prepped M3s for example), you still end up with excellent geometry. Mustangs were just not designed this way.

There is a way however to have your cake and eat it too. Aftermarket moto is, if there is a will, there is a way. Maximum Motorsports sells tubular K members, that allow to mount control arms higher on chassis, and therefore drop the car lower w/o ruining the front roll center. Griggs Racing whole front end is just built higher up, so if you ever see Griggs car, it's always slammed and still works fine. There is a budget system as well. Racecraft drop spindles allow a 2 inch drop while not changing any of the roll center geometry. All they do is move the wheel mouting point higher up on the spindle. This way, you can run a nice performance spring and sit low as well.

justinschmidt1 · May 8, 2008

ReplicaR said:
I was talking to g_dogg, but yeah, keeping good front roll center could get tricky. I've learned a while ago that the lowest ride and the stiffest suspension does not mean the best handling most of the times, when it comes to our cars. Even on the track, if you are running street tires, you need come complience, or else you'll be all over the place. This is why I really like suspension setups on BMWs and Hondas, because they mount all the hardware high up on the chassis, and even if you drop them on the floor (check out some track prepped M3s for example), you still end up with excellent geometry. Mustangs were just not designed this way.

There is a way however to have your cake and eat it too. Aftermarket moto is, if there is a will, there is a way. Maximum Motorsports sells tubular K members, that allow to mount control arms higher on chassis, and therefore drop the car lower w/o ruining the front roll center. Griggs Racing whole front end is just built higher up, so if you ever see Griggs car, it's always slammed and still works fine. There is a budget system as well. Racecraft drop spindles allow a 2 inch drop while not changing any of the roll center geometry. All they do is move the wheel mouting point higher up on the spindle. This way, you can run a nice performance spring and sit low as well.

hmmm so what would be the best thing I could do to fix my suspension geometry?

Those spindles?...theyre 500 bucks lol

ReplicaR · May 8, 2008

justinschmidt1 said:
hmmm so what would be the best thing I could do to fix my suspension geometry?

Those spindles?...theyre 500 bucks lol

Regarding suspension geometry. First and foremost get rid of Sportlines. Sportlines, Pro-Kit, H&R Super Sport, and some others I may forget, are primarely drop springs and nothing more. The spring rates on most of those springs is not that far off what stock spring is, so you are not gaining much handling, and the car gets dropped way too far. Also, the spring rate on Sportlines is WAY too progressive, which makes for exponential grip numbers. Idealy, to have the most predictable and linear handling, you have to have either have linear spring rate or something that's not very progressive.

From off the shelf springs, you can either go with Maximum Motorsports Road and Track spring, or H&R Race. There are some other ones, like Steeda makes something as well, but I never looked into them, so I'm not going to talk about them. H&R Race has a very decieving name. It's actually very comfortable, off and on the track, and the traction is awesome. What's more is that the car does not get dropped too much, so you end up with good front roll ceter.

Regarding drop spindles. Honestly speaking, good set of springs, those spindles and no isolators in the back is the cheepest way to get the low ride, that will handle pretty good as well. Think about it. Griggs front SLA is 5 grand. Maximum Motorsport K-member package is about 1500. So, 500 dollars for drop spindles, which were proven under road race conditions, sounds like a deal of a century.