In this thread you will build my car...

[BigTang]

I just picked up a set of the Eibach Blue Prokit springs, supposedly they are the roadrace/autox set up. "With progressive spring rates of 702/850 front and 199/257".
I've never seen or heard much about these so I figured why not. I've had the Steeda sports and a pro kit in the past.

What I want to do is set the car up for very abusive street driving and probably a driver's ed day or 2.

I do not care about teeth rattling rides as long as I can still hear the radio, I only drive 5 miles to work.

I'm looking into either the bullitt suspension kit minus the springs so some shocks in the $500 range could substitute this.
Should these be run w/ or w/o the isolators to get the most out of the springs? If with iso's in, should I use the Poly ones or get stock replacements? I really don't want to dumb down the spring rates.

I will be running on 275's up front and 315's on the rear, brand to be determined at a later date but probably something similar to a KD or KDW.
What supporting mods do I need? (suspension related, drivetrain stays stock)

Rack bushings? Offset?
C/C plates or fox length struts?

Removal of quads will probably be required to fit the 10" rims so what LCA's? Spherical w/ rubber on the axle? Stay w/ stock uppers and upgrade the housing bushings, but to what, so much hype about poly being binding that I'd rather go to spherical and live w/ the noise than end up w/ wheel hop.
I have subframes on order along w/ 03/04 cobra front control arms.

thanks

 

[ReplicaR]

I just picked up a set of the Eibach Blue Prokit springs, supposedly they are the roadrace/autox set up. "With progressive spring rates of 702/850 front and 199/257".
I've never seen or heard much about these so I figured why not. I've had the Steeda sports and a pro kit in the past.

I've never seen those springs, but if that's their idea of road race/auto x springs, then it has to be some kind of a joke. Spring rate is kinda low for either. They are barely touching H&R Race spring, which is too soft IMHO. Secondly, they are progressive springs, which most road racers and autocrossers hate, because progressive rates give inconsistent handling characteristics. My current setup is MM Coilover front (275 coilover rate, 1000 in stock location), and H&R Super Race rear (260-300). I'm gonna go up in spring rate again, as soon as the equipment allows.

What I want to do is set the car up for very abusive street driving and probably a driver's ed day or 2.

I do not care about teeth rattling rides as long as I can still hear the radio, I only drive 5 miles to work.

The combo I have right now, which is equivalent of H&R Super Race is much stiffer than that, and still rides very decent. The whole thing is to combine the stiff springs with good shocks such as Bilstein or Koni (I'm running Koni)

I'm looking into either the bullitt suspension kit minus the springs so some shocks in the $500 range could substitute this.
Should these be run w/ or w/o the isolators to get the most out of the springs? If with iso's in, should I use the Poly ones or get stock replacements? I really don't want to dumb down the spring rates.

For shocks, see above. For isolators, they will not hurt anything really. Most of the people remove them to get slightly more drop from the springs than given. Sure, there is some deflection, but it's not that significant. I had urethane isolators on my car on my first setup. As soon as I had a chance, I removed them, because they are a pain in the ass to work with, and if stock isolators are in good shape, they will work just as good.

I will be running on 275's up front and 315's on the rear, brand to be determined at a later date but probably something similar to a KD or KDW.
What supporting mods do I need? (suspension related, drivetrain stays stock)

I've got a personal bias against staggered setup. My belief is that unless the car needs extra tire to help plant extra weight, you do not need to run it. Mustang is really front heavy, and has understeer as is. Running wider tire in the rear will only increase understeer.

Rack bushings? Offset?
C/C plates or fox length struts?

Get camber caster plates. You will need to dial in some pretty aggressive camber and caster settings if you want the tire to be worn properly, and the car to grip in the corner. Rack bushings are there to help you correct bumpsteer effect when the car gets lowered a lot. With something around a 1 inch drop, you should not need them that bad.

 

[Dalamar]

Replica knows his suspension!

any suggestions for centering the rear axle?

 

[ReplicaR]

Panhard Bar. Cheap, light, and effective.

 

[Dalamar]

if you can budget for that, I'd recommend too!

I've got one, and they work very well.

 

[BigTang]

Thanks ReplicaR.

I've been sitting on the fence about a few things but wanted to ask open ended questions so I wouldn't bias an answer.
I know that the staggered wheel combo will affect the handling but thats why i brought it up, unless i can find a decent 17x9/18x9 wheel set up i'll be going w/ the 17x10s in the rear, its just personal preference. Can't this be partially dialed out w/ an adjustable shock though?

What about sway bars? Should I go down a little in the rear to help turn in?

I like the idea of a panhard bar but would perfer a watts link given the choice.

 

[Goindeafonmtx]

As for tire sizes, I second ReplicaR. I'm not a big fan of two different tire sizes for one specific reason- you can't evenly rotate. Adding to that problem is directional tires. I work at a shop, so I can do it for free, but dismounting and mounting tires simply to rotate tires on a single axle can add up and drain your wallet.

 

[Goindeafonmtx]

Thanks ReplicaR.

I've been sitting on the fence about a few things but wanted to ask open ended questions so I wouldn't bias an answer.
I know that the staggered wheel combo will affect the handling but thats why i brought it up, unless i can find a decent 17x9/18x9 wheel set up i'll be going w/ the 17x10s in the rear, its just personal preference. Can't this be partially dialed out w/ an adjustable shock though?

What about sway bars? Should I go down a little in the rear to help turn in?

I like the idea of a panhard bar but would perfer a watts link given the choice.

Sway bars are tuning devices. Install whatever springs you decide on, then drive the car. Then you can decide what your car needs. And as you will find out after driving your car, Mustangs inherently push.

 

[vermilion]

they touched on the springs and shocks. ill touch on the Rear LCAS. spherical bushing work well but get contaminated easily. any abrasive debris causes changes condition over time unless you constantly clean them and lube them. if you dont have time. polys will do the trick otherwise. i wont go into which "brand" but other than sheet-metal is better. our stock LCAS lack fortification... if youd like a sway bar get some thats suited for sway bars. stangsuspension.com has a wealth of knowledge and best close priced unless you find deals on the forums. ebay is hit or miss. craigslist.org, corral.net and our own forums are good resources.

 

[96sohc]

- If you've never done an HPDE event or autocross before, save your money and invest in seat time first.
- Watts Links are exponentially more expensive than a panhard, and for a car that sees little track time are overkill.
- Stagger increases understeer; if you really want to run the 10's out back consider a second pair of 9's with matching tires for the track.

I'll agree with everything else thus far.

 

[BigTang]

I used to do HPDE every month for about 2 years w/ a decently modded camaro. I intend to get back into it at that rate once work slows down especially with the new track in houston. I like Autox but its not nearly as fun since its a lot of work for 15 mins of driving total.
I have my heart set on running 10s but am slightly considering running 17's and 18's both in 9" width.
I'm not just running out and buying a watts but I would rather spend the money on that than on a panhard as things progress. even though a panhard centers the rear at ride height you still have things traveling in an arc during travel.

I ordered the summit uppers and lowers since they have them for $99 right now.

I'll be honest and admit that the long term goal for the car is to build it into an AIX once I get done building my truck.

 

[ReplicaR]

It's true that panhard bar work on an arch when going through it's range of motion, a long rod like MM barely has any of that effect. Someone on Corner-Carvers calculated that it's only a 1/32nd of an inch motion side to side, and basically, if you are worried about that much clearance, you have bigger issues than that.

 

[Dalamar]

Great feedback, TY Rep!