School me on Coil-Overs

OnyxCobra · May 24, 2011

I am considering coilovers for the front and I'm going crazy trying to figure it all out. I did some searching first but there was too much different info in too many different threads for me to keep it straight. A few of my questions include:

What is the minimum I would need to run coilovers up front?

Why is there a different MM coilover kit for Bilstein struts vs Tokico/Koni/Strange etc?

My A arms are already at a pretty rough angle because of my drop, would switching K members/A arms improve handling while being able to lower the car a little more?

Will I need new rear springs to go with the coilovers up front? How do i know what spring rate I'd need for the coilovers?

I guess that's good for a start, thanks

ccasion14:

MadStang · May 24, 2011

Dennis Black said:
Hello MadStang! Please help me!) I have stock suspension on my 96 Mustang GT, and I want install Coil-Over package of MMS. But I don`t understand, if I will buying CO package can I choose springs? And what springs i need? I want lowered my stang (previous your post you recommended 10 inches snrings, if i correctly understand, it is what I need. But I don`t know what spring rates I need. I daily driver, sometimes I go out on track-days and my ride style be called like "street drive". Must take into account the road in some places in russia like a crap)

[Sorry for my English]

Yes you can choose springs. I would run 300 pound or 325 pound, or 350 pound spring rate in the front. Read this to find out what spring rate is best for your setup: http://www.maximummotorsports.com/store/index.php?main_page=tech_struts_shocks_matching_spring_rates

ReplicaR said:
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Only thing I understood was PM... hahaha

mygreengt · May 24, 2011

good info brett!

RockstarMentality · May 24, 2011

Subscribed

det_riot · May 24, 2011

very interesting, i'm also pretty interested in seeing what other responses we get!

MadStang · May 24, 2011

Cleaned up my post a little bit as I was rushing out the door to dinner. Hopefully that provides a little more clarity.

Win · May 24, 2011

Just popping in here. i went with a UPR Coilover and i am going with Bilstein Struts up front. The Upr Coilovers i have have a 12" 250lb Eibach Spring. Which will be good for a Street Driven Stang. The Steeda Springs i just picked up from rz5.0 should compliment the Bilstein Rear Shocks i just picked up from Blind. All in all I plan on going with a Tubular K and also new Tubular A arms. From my research my setup should be very street friendly but have decent traction at the the 1/4. Someone correct me or give me more insight if i am wrong.

MadStang · May 24, 2011

Win said:
Just popping in here. i went with a UPR Coilover and i am going with Bilstein Struts up front. The Upr Coilovers i have have a 12" 250lb Eibach Spring. Which will be good for a Street Driven Stang. The Steeda Springs i just picked up from rz5.0 should compliment the Bilstein Rear Shocks i just picked up from Blind. All in all I plan on going with a Tubular K and also new Tubular A arms. From my research my setup should be very street friendly but have decent traction at the the 1/4. Someone correct me or give me more insight if i am wrong.

Oh that brings me to my next point. Choose the correct Spring length for your ride height. If you're going to go LOW, 10" spring is perfect. If you're going for drag and don't need to be incredibly low you'll want 12". The last thing you want is spring preload on coilovers, it will increase the spring rate and reduce the travel of the suspension which could lead to bottoming out much quicker as well as sporadic handling characteristics (oversteer, understeer, bumpsteer, etc.). Besides this, 12" springs are meant to be run on lower spring rates, the 10" springs are meant for higher rates (stiffer coils of the 10" don't need to travel as far as the softer one's of the longer 12" and you want to make sure you DO use full suspension travel)

ttocs · May 25, 2011

thanks for the info. been wondering about this myself.

ReplicaR · May 25, 2011

You know that whole steep driveway and no rear coilover for the street is an easily solved problem, right? A set of 2.25 inch helper springs, and a helper spring perch, and you are back in business. Nothing difficult or challenging about it, just more money spent. I think MM rear coil overs were targeted towards race crowd who don't have to deal with such issues, so that's why the helper spring was never implemented.

MadStang · May 25, 2011

ReplicaR said:
You know that whole steep driveway and no rear coilover for the street is an easily solved problem, right? A set of 2.25 inch helper springs, and a helper spring perch, and you are back in business. Nothing difficult or challenging about it, just more money spent. I think MM rear coil overs were targeted towards race crowd who don't have to deal with such issues, so that's why the helper spring was never implemented.

Did not know that, I'm glad you chimed in though because two heads are better than on this as we have different experiences with what work and what doesnt. Good to know about the helper spring!

ReplicaR · May 25, 2011

I was talking to Jack over MM the other day about the Eibach RII coil overs, and he was talking about how helper springs do just that, where they keep the spring sitting properly at full droop. Later in conversation I've asked him, well what about SN95 coil overs. He said that they are "developing it", which in reality means, go do it yourself. There should be nothing tricky about doing the helper spring setup. A call to either Eibach or HyperCo will get you all the parts you need. It's just more money to an already expensive kit.

MadStang · May 25, 2011

ReplicaR said:
I was talking to Jack over MM the other day about the Eibach RII coil overs, and he was talking about how helper springs do just that, where they keep the spring sitting properly at full droop. Later in conversation I've asked him, well what about SN95 coil overs. He said that they are "developing it", which in reality means, go do it yourself. There should be nothing tricky about doing the helper spring setup. A call to either Eibach or HyperCo will get you all the parts you need. It's just more money to an already expensive kit.

Yeah I don't think it's worth it in my case. My car is perfectly fine without them so no use to me, good info for someone that's more careful than I am though haha.

Steven · May 25, 2011

Helper spring meaning...? Where would it mount exactly?

ReplicaR · May 25, 2011

ok, picture the coil over setup. You've got the threaded sleeve or threaded shock body. Around it is a threaded lower spring perch. Then you have a spring the in the middle, and a top perch to keep it all together. Because SRA mustangs have so much droop travel, the suspension will extend at times further than the full length of decompressed spring, causing it to come off the top perch.

Helper spring is a tiny spring that gets mounted right in between the top perch and the top of the regular spring. It has almost no spring real spring rate of it's own, and can be compressed by hand, so it has no effect on handling. When fully compressed, it's about quarter of an inch thick, but fully extended it expands as much as 6-7 inches, which completely makes up for the extra droop travel that's not covered by regular spring. There is an intermediate perch that keeps the helper spring attached to the regular spring. All together, this help to keep tention on the rear spring and helps prevent damage to the perches if the spring slips off the top perch under droop.

Here is a picture just for reference