Dropping the GT, need experienced input.
 

I have a 2003 Mustang GT rolling on 18x9 & 18x10 Bulllit Deep Dish rims with 275/40/18 in front and 295/35/18 in back. Would the following setup work with my car and be a wise choice? I'm going to be mostly using this car for street, maybe the occasional drifting. Also keep in mind, I'm trying to do this without spending too much money.

Maximum Motorsports Caster Camber Plates
H&R Sport Springs
KYB AGX Adjustable Shocks / Struts


THanks!

if u want a drift car then go out and buy a porsche 944, mazda rx7, nissan 240sx, etc...

these cars dont have the 50:50 weight ratio that those cars do have....now...if u wanna go to the drag strip then id go w/ a Maximum Motorsports starter package that includes shocks/struts, h&r racing springs, MM caster camber plates, and urathane bushings....all for 1k...a lot cheaper than if u were to piece all that together

and trust me....i have drifted an old beat up 82 rx7 gsl and it handled better than my mustang, both bone stock

Ok.
 

So what you're saying is, the setup I chose would work great since it's pretty close to the same package as the MM starter kit? Reason being, is that I can get the parts for cheaper than $1k piecing it together. Oh and I can drift the stang, it just needs (3) 100lb bags of concrete in the trunk. j/k :kekekegay:

go w/ what u had posted if thats what you wanted...the racing springs are more for drag..

I have those same strut/shock combo except with the Eibach pro-kit. I haven't had any problems with them and the ride is fine. As far as drifting goes, I can kick the back end out and whatnot with the good amount of torque, but never actually did the full on drifting. Hope that helps some.

drifting a mustang with a 4 link suspension is gong to be a PITA. Start by bouncing the KYB crud and getting a proper drift spec (MM race spec Bilsteins or MM Koni race spec) shock/strut package.

The CC plates are the only ones I'd choose. They'll do right well.

Springs for drifting are normally pretty stout and I think you'll be less than satisfied with the Sports... super sports would probably be better.

You'll also need to really think about 4.56 gears for the drift action otherwise you'll have trouble keeping your tires spinning in 2nd gear. FWIW, I agree with the concensus that the 99-04 stang isn't the right car for D-spec action. I'd pick something substantially lighter.

EDIT: Oh yeah... and pick a wheel tire combo that isn't going to cost you 1200 bucks each time you decide to take it to the drift track... something like a 17x9 with 275's all the way around. You can still tires in that size for 100 bucks each.

hmmmm
 

Thanks for the info and opinions. Is there anything I need to watch out for as far as springs go? I was told by Les Schwab that I can't drop it more than 1.6" because of my tire / wheel size. Is it going to rub or something? With the rims and tires I currently have, is there a specific type of spring that I should be leaning towards?

you might want to go with fully adjustable shocks and struts if drifting is your intention. tokico d-spec makes awesome shocks and struts but they are 600 bucks alone.

I had my car at 2" up front with 275's with no rubbing the inner fender, only if you turn the steering wheel sharp before going, it rubs the sway bar a tad but how often do you do that. Now when i dropped the 5.4 in the saleen, it was over 2" and yes it did rub the inner skirt/fender.

Well i'm not too worried about the front, was more worried about the rear because of the width of the DD rim and 295 tire. I guess a 1.6" drop would be fine for me, i'm really just trying to get the ugly gap filled and have better performance for the street. If this was going to be a drag strip or drift only car, then I would worry about getting the exact setup that works for those applications specifically. I just don't want to have to spend that kind of money right now. But from what i've read in other forums / posts, it seems that the setup I planned on should suffice. Though I'll also look into the MM kit as well. It's just really hard to decide when I don't have enough professional expertise in suspension and everyone has different opinions. Next I have to worry about gears and if I should go with building my 4.6 or dropping in a 5.4, heh, so many mixed views on that. :help:

a 5.4 will make drifing much easier thanks to a total lack of traction in low gears and you'll get away with taller diff gears so you'll get some mileage and streetability back.

If you plan on drifting it, you have to build it to do that. It's not something you want a street car to be able to do much of. It'll ride like crap and be dangerous especially in the rain.

For EXPERT advice on suspension, just call up Maximum Motorsports, they'll tell you what you'll need and what the results will be both at the track and on the street.

Don't drop the car more than 1.5 inches unless you're ready for much more serious modifications. It screws up the suspension geometry and makes the car handle like a sled. Some folks will disagree with that statement and that's usually because they run their cars like that and can't take a pride whoopin knowing that their suspension is set up wrong. Do it right or don't at all... only 2 options. I've done pretty much all of the things you can do to mustang suspension and I've driven them all to the limit. Done right the car can be a nice capable performer with shockingly good handling. Done wrong, they're just dangerous and fast.

ive got full drag suspensionfor sale :)

OK, so I was looking at the Starter Kit again at MM, but then I thought to myself. I might end up doing the 5.4L 2V swap in the near future depending on funding. I also read that having the MM K-member would make life easier for me if I did do a swap, for header clearance, lightening the car up, etc. Would it be wise to get the K-member kit w/ coilover conversion and then get the Bilstein struts / shocks and some comparable springs in the rear, or is that too much at this point? And is the coilover conversion required for a aftermarket K-member or just recommended? I just want to do things right, as many of you suggested and not have to spend money later when I could have had it all done at once the right way.

The k member would be a wise investment, to me. I opted for the spring perches so i can use my springs and not coil overs. The coil over, with a 5.4, if you can get some stout springs maybe. I know with my H&R springs, the 5.4 was to much and dropped over the 2in mark, so now i have stock 98 cobra springs up front and it sits just right.

MM k-member requires tubular control arms and coiil over conversion in front (including MM CC plates). If you're going to do the K-member and all that then you need to decide if you're going to be a bilstein user for life or a koni/tokico/stock strut/shock user. The coil over kits are specific to those two types. You can also do a coil over conversion with the stock K-member and MM A-arms but not the other way around.

coil over conversions allow user adjustable ride height and have a MUCH higher wheel rate so the springs can be much lighter weight and still support the 5.4 equally well. If you're doing a 5.4 on conventional springs you need to be around 750-850lb/in up front which is very stout (2000 Cobra R had those up front and rode like a truck). If you use a coil over you can get away with 300+lb/in (maybe a tad less) and just adjust the ride height with the collars to where you need it.

And yet I remain confused as to where to go with this.... I decided to stay away from drifting, it will be too much work and i'm not ready to make this into a D-spec ride, i'm sure doing donuts in an empty parking lot will suffice in the meantime. I'm going to stick with street / track, as I need to keep this as my Daily Driver unless i find a free beater somewhere, heh. In any case, I do eventually want to do the 5.4L swap, and would like to plan around that. So what K-member is recommended if I want to steer clear of the coil over conversion? And I know everyone loves Bilsteins, but they aren't adjustable, would they be good for both street / strip, or should I look for something fully adjustable? And if doing the 5.4L swap, what springs should I go with? Should I do the H&R sport springs or super sport all around and then worry about changing the fronts to something stiffer when I do the swap? And I think we've all agreed on the MM CC plates as being a good choice? I think we're getting closer here. I can almost see my receipts for these parts in the near distance. Thanks for the input guys!

I'm a firm believer in MM so I'd only recommend their K-member. Unfortunately that means coil over is required. For a general daily driver/ strip car I'd still go with a coil over conversion but I'd use softer rear springs than I'd normally spec to aid in weight transfer. Adjustability only really adds another point of tuning for the new hand at it and I don't think they're a good idea for that reason. Nonetheless, tokico Illumina's are my choice for adjustables. You'll want to change springs when it's time for the 5.4L as those you'd use with a 4.6 aren't great for the extra weight and those that are good for extra weight aren't real comfy riding without it.

I'd probably start with a coiil over conversion using 250# springs in front with Tokico Illuminas, then when you're ready do the K-member and A-Arms, then do the 5.4L swap and stuff in a little stiffer (not much with coil over maybe 300-325# or so) spring and call it a day. Done that way you won't have a crappy ride and all the parts you buy will work at each level of modification that you step to. It'll also leave you with a killer handling car at each step of the way. Drop some FRPP B springs in the rear and you'll still have decent balance for drag racing and nice if modest corner carving performance.

That's my best suggestion but it does violate your no-coil-over request. It's just going to require a near race spring for the 5.4L swap if you stay conventional spring in front and those ride like crap with 4.6's so you end up buying 2 sets of springs at 150-250 a set, where coil over springs are 75 a set for front and you only need to buy the fronts. Hell you could even run a 250# coiil over spring with the 5.4 but you'll want to spin the collars up a bit to get the ride height back and you'll lose a little bump travel.

I dunno what it is about coilovers, but I had them before on my ricer and they sucked, then again, they were a crappy brand, so that could have been it too. I just didn't enjoy the ride as much as standard springs. In any case, if I end up doing that kit from MM w/ the k-member for $1,800+, I still need struts / shocks, and rear springs, so thats putting me near $3k....... I was hoping to stay under or close to $1k for now. I'm wondering if I can just do the Bilsteins all around, get FRPP springs and CC plates, call it a day. Then when it comes time to drop in the 5.4, do the K-member, control arms, and front coilover conversion at that time, then hold onto the front springs in case I end up not liking the coilovers, or if I do like them, sell the front springs by themselves. Oh wow, it's really hard to think about all this without thinking about losing / wasting money. It's funny how one mod leads to another requirement. I guess its better to discuss it first then jumping into it and going the wrong route.

on a mustang they're the epitome of grace and comfy ride when set up properly. The MM stuff is pimpin. FWIW, I have one of the most aggressive setups you can put on the street and it's firm but not too harsh.

The plan you put up there would be a good way to go if a little more expensive in the long run. I did basically that same thing and I wished after the coil over conversion that I'd never wasted money on regular springs. In your case, you'll probably like B springs better than C springs. C's ride pretty rough for my taste.

Ok here is my current list of parts that I'm about to order. I was also considering the F springs over the B springs because of the lower drop, will this spring rate be sufficient still? I plan on keeping the rears and then swapping out the fronts when I do the coilover conversion / k-member install, prior to the 5.4L swap.

MM Caster / Camber Plates
Complete Bilstein Front Struts / Rear Shocks Package
Polyurethane Spring Isolators
Ford Racing B or F Performance Springs

Differences between springs:
Amount Lowered | Spring Rates (lb /in)
B .875" Front .5" Rear | 425/530 Front 200/300 Rear
F 1.2" Front 1.0" Rear | 460/570 Front 170/310 Rear


I know this is going to cost me more to change over to Coilovers, but I'm not 100% of when I will be able to do that and I need to get my suspension done ASAP for this first stage. I was also considering going all Coilover, but i'm not sure if I'm wanting to get that involved just yet as it will require more parts / modification for a proper setup. And I know "r3dn3ck" , you love you some coilover, and you've provided quite a bit of information regarding that setup in other posts, but do you think the above setup will put a smile on my face or will I be kicking myself later, wishing I would have gone all coilover?

the F springs will give you a better drop and a more comfy ride. It'll probably drop it an actual 1.5 front and 1.25 rear so that's all good.

Once you go coil over, you'll kick the hell out of yourself for having ever spent money on regular springs but if that's what's in the budget for you then that's not a terrible thing. Coil over, I think, is MUCH simpler than regular springs and you can install them in your driveway with hand tools but you have to pay to play.

You'll at least have the chance to re-learn to drive your car with hotter suspension on it and there's a lot to be said for going slow and learning the way things work and what aspects different things change.

So, get the F springs and enjoy them. When you're ready for CO, MM will be there to sell you the kit. FWIW, I don't think the poly isolators are worth a damn... you could easily nix those and save the 50 bucks. Besides... if the car sits too tall you can pull out isolators to drop it a little at a time to get just the right ride height and if you spend for poly then need to pull one you'll probably be pissed at having spent the 50 bones for them. You're gunna love the bilsteins and the CC plates will really help keep you from burning through tires.

You're off to a good start... keep going with top shelf stuff and you'll only like the car more and more.