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Lowering my 2000 v6
My car is stock except the windows are tinted.
I want better performance from the suspension. I want an inch and a half lower to keep the car more stable, but I dont want to scrape the y-pipe on speed bumps! Can I get away with simply putting a spring kit in? Or should I have the suspension re-worked? (Full kit with struts, shocks, and springs?) I don't like feeling the car trying to tip over while going through turns! Could this be from the absence of a roll bar? Any recommendations? |
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Could I just do the springs, or should I wait to do the whole package?
And could the body roll in corners be caused by no rear sway bar? |
Decided
I decided on an eibach pro system for my stang. $620 for the kit. I gotta wait a couple months to get it so I'll be able to put it in. Hopefully I wont get as much body roll going through turns. Would a rear sway bar addition be wise in the future? There should be some body roll right? Still doing homework on the exhaust.
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uh... I'm not 100% sure but...
I think your car should have a sway bar on there... I'm pretty sure all cars have em... you might want to look into that |
In any case, a sway bar will help to loosen up the rear end and keep body roll down in the back. Don't forget the caster camber plates.
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Not to thread jack but this is along the same topic, R3dn3ck do you know much about the suspension on the new 05+ stangs? does anyone make caster/camber plates for them yet?
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I haven't tinkered much on them. I know they've really improved the design with a true McPherson strut with coil on damper for the front and the springs are in a much better place for getting good wheel rates and ride quality on the rear. The 3 link is a huge improvement but a torque arm would have been better. Adding a panhard bar was more a solution to a problem than a true addition of go-fast goodies but it's there nonetheless and that's pretty cool.
I'm not positive but IIRC 05+ can use camber bolts or steeda's camber plate systems to toy with those settings. I'm not sure if caster is adjustable on the 05+ or if it's possible with factory equipment. |
Sway bar
I was under the impression that adding a sway bar tightened up the chassis in its respective area to minimize body roll. It actually loosens the chassis? I dont get it, wouldn't lossening the chassis create more body roll as opposed to less?? Sounds like it would be effective to have the rear sway bar installed, correct? What about strut tower braces on a 2000 v6? The front end is pretty solid as it is. Oh, and what about the caster/ camber plates? I'm only using the car for the road, are those really necessary?
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Originally Posted by GREG@SN95
(Post 217470)
uh... I'm not 100% sure but...
I think your car should have a sway bar on there... I'm pretty sure all cars have em... you might want to look into that |
Originally Posted by jthacker25
(Post 219178)
I was under the impression that adding a sway bar tightened up the chassis in its respective area to minimize body roll. It actually loosens the chassis? I dont get it, wouldn't lossening the chassis create more body roll as opposed to less?? Sounds like it would be effective to have the rear sway bar installed, correct? What about strut tower braces on a 2000 v6? The front end is pretty solid as it is. Oh, and what about the caster/ camber plates? I'm only using the car for the road, are those really necessary?
A loose car is one that is prone to oversteer (the rear end trying to switch places with the front), a tight car is one that pushes the front wheels through corners instead of making the arc smoothly. For a street car a little push is usually a good thing. It'll keep you from losing it on wet days when you're prone to making small mistakes. For a race car that turns you want it to be either very neutral or tend toward the loose side a bit. Controlling body roll is only part of their job. If body roll is a problem but you don't want to have a crappy ride or disturb the handling much, then you can drop the rear spring rate a bit and add a stiffer sway bar. In the front, you can increase the spring rate or increase the sway bar rate a bit for more corner bite. Be careful when choosing components, little changes make big differences, especially in the back end.
Originally Posted by jthacker25
(Post 219179)
I dont have a rear sway bar on my 2000 v6. I have it on the front and it is solid its just that the rear end likes to roll when I dive through corners. You have a GT so of course you have both front and rear sway bars.
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Originally Posted by r3dn3ck
(Post 219184)
Sway bars are selective wheel rate improvers. In the front if you up the sway bar rate then you add to the amount of force it takes to compress the suspension and usually you'll be able to corner harder before it starts to push. On the rear, if you stiffen up the sway bar then the back end will loosen up since the springs have a harder time compressing on one side to absorb the turning forces, the only place left to go is sideways.
A loose car is one that is prone to oversteer (the rear end trying to switch places with the front), a tight car is one that pushes the front wheels through corners instead of making the arc smoothly. For a street car a little push is usually a good thing. It'll keep you from losing it on wet days when you're prone to making small mistakes. For a race car that turns you want it to be either very neutral or tend toward the loose side a bit. Controlling body roll is only part of their job. If body roll is a problem but you don't want to have a crappy ride or disturb the handling much, then you can drop the rear spring rate a bit and add a stiffer sway bar. In the front, you can increase the spring rate or increase the sway bar rate a bit for more corner bite. Be careful when choosing components, little changes make big differences, especially in the back end. If you put a rear sway on a v6 it'll definitely loosen up a bit but it shouldn't be too major unless your rear springs are too stiff to start with. Try a foxbody sway bar. They're pretty mild in rate. That should help control body roll a little bit better. If you're using C springs or super sports, you may want to get a B or sport spring set for the back if you plan on adding a sway bar. I agree about having neutral to slightly loose set up. I am going with sport suspension "B". The "Eibach Pro-System" kit claims to reduce body roll while cornering, reduce nose dive under braking as well as excessive lift under heavy acceleration. If there remains an issue with excess body roll then I will install an anti roll kit. Eibach offers one which has 36 mm front and 24 mm rear bars for around 230-250 dollars. I have done some research regarding ride characteristics after lowering...it sounds like there isn't much sacrifice in quality but there are definate gains in response and handling which is great since that is what I'm in it for! |
anything above a B or F spring set will ride notably rougher than stock. B or F springs (sport level) ride a bit firmer than stock but not enough to bother most people.
I think you'll find that with the springs and a good set of shocks and struts your car will be just a hair on the push side but it'll probably have a tendency to do snap oversteer (really quickly getting loose) as you approach the limit. Adding a good stiff sway bar set will help make it more predictable but will also loosen up the back a tad more (not always a bad thing if you can drive it). If you pop for a good set of RLCA's and a panhard bar in the future you'll probably be really happy with the overall performance of the car on the twisties. The panhard bar really makes a difference in not having to constantly adjust your steering angle during hard corners. You can totally feel the car firm up and come under better control after a PHB install. Note: In my experience, v6 cars are easier to make into badass corner carvers than v8 cars. they're better balanced right out of the box thanks to the smaller motor. Enjoy. |
Thanks! What are RLCA's? I've never heard that term? Snap Oversteer? Does that occur in the middle of a curve and the rear end slips around suddenly with no warning? And is it more common under acceleration rather than coasting?
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rear lower control arms. You nailed it on the snap oversteer. it's usually going to show up after the apex of the turn when you're getting back in the gas. You'll feel it starting to slip and the BAM it just suddenly tosses the back end around and you're going backwards. Very disturbing to have happen.
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Originally Posted by r3dn3ck
(Post 219696)
rear lower control arms. You nailed it on the snap oversteer. it's usually going to show up after the apex of the turn when you're getting back in the gas. You'll feel it starting to slip and the BAM it just suddenly tosses the back end around and you're going backwards. Very disturbing to have happen.
So I just have to be patient until I completely exit the turn correct? Otherwise I may very well spin out right? |
you need to find the limits and experience them so you can figure out what's going to fix it. After each suspension mod you'll need to re-locate the limits of your cars handling and learn how it responds to different inputs all over again.
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I have the ford racing b springs on my notch and it look awesome and rides the same to me as stock.
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