I’m completely lost on suspension

[Ansharky]

For a while I wanted to go with the feal 441 balance of comfort and performance package with true rears, but after a long conversation with this guy at maximum motorsports, (absolutely amazing customer service btw), I’ve found that I need to do a lot more research. He said something about feals rear coilover being too short, for what I wanted to build, causing axle travel issues with daily driving, and can come loose, that that can happen with a lot of “true rear” coilovers.
He was also quick to point out that he thought that the default spring rates of 8kfront/5krear were way too stiff for daily driving with some light drag racing. That they were a great option for motor cross but not for my build.

He then suggested that if wanted to have the ability to lower my car, go with the stock replacement rear upper control arms, the heavy duty adjustable rear control arms, super sport springs in the rear, and whatever front coilover I wanted, provided the rate was around 4k which he said was optimal for what I wanted to build (a fun 300-350hp street car I can daily and street race my friends with). He told me he didn’t care what brand of dampeners I used, as long as they were the same throughout the car. He also suggested a panhard bar, poly a arms in the front, and most importantly, subframe connectors.

I guess I’m just looking for perspective, and more info, since he said a lot but it was hard for me to keep up with, being brand new to suspension. I’ve also never heard anyone suggest such soft springs in the front, or complain about “true rear” coilovers (not that I think he was lying, just that I haven’t seen any info on that)

Suspension is complicated as hell.

 

[RAU03MACH]

pic a sport and do the set up that is appropriate
drag
drifting
road curse
cruzing

 

[Ansharky]

It’s not really going to be dedicated to anything, but I want to be able to drive it on the street and race my friends. Definitely not a dedicated track car at this point. Just want it to be better at cornering than it is stock, and better at launches

 

[RAU03MACH]

majority of them here are set up for cruzing a few drags
mine its a mut 2 inch drop front all meat at the rear with a 1.6 drop

 

[RAU03MACH]

and a few road corse

 

[Ansharky]

and a few road corse

What rates?

 

[RAU03MACH]

white95
and

• Frank.JD.Perez​

would be the best ones to ask​

 

[duh09]

It's not too complicated, but there are a ton of options for these cars so it can be a bit overwhelming. What you described is pretty much what my car's build to a tee is going to be.

I will have to recheck my front spring rates, I think they were a little higher than what I would have preferred, but its been literal years since I picked them up. They're Bilstein struts with UPR coilovers and Eibach springs, but don't remember the rates. M/M C/C plates. Will eventually swap out bushings for poly and probably end up with X2 balljoints and a bumpsteer kit depending on how the alignment turns out.

Rear will be adjustable M/M RCAs, stock uppers, H&R SS springs, and Bilstein shocks. Panhard bar to round that out. Everythings currently sitting in the living room, waiting for me to start tearing down the suspension.

The car is sitting on the H&R SS rear springs and cut factory springs and shitty C/C plates in my signature picture. Plan to pick it up just a SMIDGE to keep it relatively driveable and not rip the underside out of the car anymore. But it does look dope.

Subframe connectors are on the list but haven't been bought. I'd like to go with a Stiffler's setup but they're pretty pricey so we will see what I go with when the time comes.

This has pretty much been the formula for a low, decent handling car for a hot minute. If you're not wanting to go that deep, you can take a look through some of the photo albums and go with springs, shocks, c/c plates, and RCAs and be halfway there and still get pretty low. Coilovers aren't exactly required to get decent handling out of these cars, but the adjustability is nice. MM's different boxes are a good way to go for what your budget allows and then add on to later. I have gotten nearly every bit of my suspension setup used, the only new part is the C/C plates so deals can be made.

 

[Ansharky]

It's not too complicated, but there are a ton of options for these cars so it can be a bit overwhelming. What you described is pretty much what my car's build to a tee is going to be.

I will have to recheck my front spring rates, I think they were a little higher than what I would have preferred, but its been literal years since I picked them up. They're Bilstein struts with UPR coilovers and Eibach springs, but don't remember the rates. M/M C/C plates. Will eventually swap out bushings for poly and probably end up with X2 balljoints and a bumpsteer kit depending on how the alignment turns out.

Rear will be adjustable M/M RCAs, stock uppers, H&R SS springs, and Bilstein shocks. Panhard bar to round that out. Everythings currently sitting in the living room, waiting for me to start tearing down the suspension.

The car is sitting on the H&R SS rear springs and cut factory springs and shitty C/C plates in my signature picture. Plan to pick it up just a SMIDGE to keep it relatively driveable and not rip the underside out of the car anymore. But it does look dope.

Subframe connectors are on the list but haven't been bought. I'd like to go with a Stiffler's setup but they're pretty pricey so we will see what I go with when the time comes.

This has pretty much been the formula for a low, decent handling car for a hot minute. If you're not wanting to go that deep, you can take a look through some of the photo albums and go with springs, shocks, c/c plates, and RCAs and be halfway there and still get pretty low. Coilovers aren't exactly required to get decent handling out of these cars, but the adjustability is nice. MM's different boxes are a good way to go for what your budget allows and then add on to later. I have gotten nearly every bit of my suspension setup used, the only new part is the C/C plates so deals can be made.

Sounds like he pointed me in the right track, I do want coilovers for the adjustability, but I was just thrown off by how low he said the spring rate should be. What he said made sense, you want the nose to lift rather than dive, so you know what the rear tires are going to do, but I’ve just never seen anyone running such soft springs in the front. And I’ve never heard anyone complain about the “true rear” coilover conversion, everyone on the forums say to do it.

 

[Mustang5L5]

I have the full Max Motorsports catalog on my Foxbody. Should be similar though. MM is unique in that when other companies go right to a rear coil-over setup, MM tries to keep the rear conventionally sprung.

I run coil-overs up front, but conventional setup out back. For the front, i'm only running 250# springs and this is pretty darn good in terms of balancing handling with street manners with Bilstien shocks and struts. If i could go back i would maybe go a little firmer at 275#. But according to MM, I wouldn't want to go to rear-coil-overs until i exceed 325# front springs, which i don't plan on doing.

To match the adjustability of the coil-overs, i run the adjustable control arms out back, which allows me to lower the car down to match the front. MM helped me pick a coil-spring for the rear to match the fronts in terms of spring rate and ride height.

I also have their K-member, strut tower brace, subframe connectors, Panhard bar, control arms, etc. Also their recommended steering upgrades like bushings and steering shaft. Car feels like driving a go-kart, but still rides pretty well.

 

[ttocs]

everybody loves MM . It is not the cheapest but I have never heard a complaint about quality.

 

[Ansharky]

Alright well it’s sounding like this guy gave me the best advice possible, what do you mean like a go cart tho? 250 in the front with the stock uca in the rear should be pretty comfortable

I have the full Max Motorsports catalog on my Foxbody. Should be similar though. MM is unique in that when other companies go right to a rear coil-over setup, MM tries to keep the rear conventionally sprung.

I run coil-overs up front, but conventional setup out back. For the front, i'm only running 250# springs and this is pretty darn good in terms of balancing handling with street manners with Bilstien shocks and struts. If i could go back i would maybe go a little firmer at 275#. But according to MM, I wouldn't want to go to rear-coil-overs until i exceed 325# front springs, which i don't plan on doing.

To match the adjustability of the coil-overs, i run the adjustable control arms out back, which allows me to lower the car down to match the front. MM helped me pick a coil-spring for the rear to match the fronts in terms of spring rate and ride height.

I also have their K-member, strut tower brace, subframe connectors, Panhard bar, control arms, etc. Also their recommended steering upgrades like bushings and steering shaft. Car feels like driving a go-kart, but still rides pretty well.

well it’s sounding like that guy gave me some pretty good advice. What do you mean like a go cart tho? 250 in the front on stock UCA’s in the rear should be pretty comfortable

 

[Ansharky]

After speaking with feal, I’m gonna have to start a new thread

 

[Mustang5L5]

What do you mean like a go cart tho? 250 in the front on stock UCA’s in the rear should be pretty comfortable

I mean the car is tight and responsive. If you flick the wheel, the car responds. Doesn't pitch to the left and then turn. It's just very precise.

It still rides well. It's not a Lincoln, but for a Mustang wither aftermarket suspension on it, it rides nice. I have Eibach Pro-kit and Bilstiens on my SN95, and i might say the coil-over setup rides nicer. No noise, no clunks, but a different feel when you hit bumps.

Only reason I didn't duplicate this setup on my SN95 was cost.

 

[Mustang5L5]

but I’ve just never seen anyone running such soft springs in the front.

I mean it depends heavily on where you are sourcing your info from. The drift/road course crowd will likely be well up in the 400 lb/in range. Drag Racers tend to be more down in the 125-175 lb/in range. Rear spring rates are all over the place because where you put the spring matters. The further inboard, the higher the rate you want. Moving to a true coil-over you will want less rate due to the mechanical advantage the spring has being place further out on the axis of rotation. As you reduce friction and bind, change from rubber bushings to spherical bushings, you want to increase spring rates. If you change from the 4-link to a 3-link panhard bar setup, bind reduces dramatically and you want to increase rear spring rate.

Really the entire suspension needs to be thought of together as a full system. The rear axle control arms themselves act as a spring and what control arms you run come into play with regards to rear spring rates. Theres a good sticky at the top of the forum regarding the MM roll bind study.

Needless to say, i had hours and hours of research into my setup before I bought a single part.