Suspension Suggestions

[OnMy3rdStang]

Im posting for help on choosing a suspension system for my 89 notch. If you wouldnt mind sharing the set up you are running and your thoughts about it and/or other suspension setups. PLease include pricing as well if you can. I would like a setup that will make my car handle as though it were on rails. I know tires help with that too. Anyway, any and all opinions would be great.
Thanks in advance,
Haley

[drudis]

Tell us what you got, what you want to do with the car, and how much money you have in the budget. We need a litlle more than "I wanna go fast"...

[OnMy3rdStang]

I thought my first post was pretty self explanitory but Oh well...

My car was an automatic 4 cylinder. Now its a turbo 2.3 manual and rather than street/drag racing I am more interested in Autocrossing, corner carving, etc. I have not upgraded the suspension setup form the stock 4 cylinder one SO I wanted to base my decision on parts/companies/etc from what other people had to share.

Basically Id like an overall review of all suspension products you have installed on your car.

All I want to know is what setup or suspension parts you have on your car. How do you like it? How well does the car handle? How much better or worse did the upgrade work for you than the last? What did the setup or part cost you?

I dont have a set budget. Money for this isnt really an issue.

I want opinions from the actual consumer who has the part or setup installed on their car, not the claims the company puts on its website.

[flyin 5.8]

On my '90 LX 4cyl Hatch I'm currently running:
FMS "B" springs (GT springs I think)
Koni Red shocks & struts (set way to stiff right now)
Eibach anti sway bars (36mm front / 24mm rear)
Steeda CC plates
Ploy bushings (everywhere except axle end of UCA's)
16x8 Cobra lookalike rims
BFG Radial T/A P235-60's all around
5.0 spindles & rotors w/Lincoln 72mm calipers in front
currently stock drums in rear (Turbo Coupe rear disk swap coming soon)

For the street I'm really happy with this setup, after I adjust the shocks/struts again the ride should be a little stiffer than a stock GT, cornering is improved so much over the stock 4cyl parts I could not believe it. I can now run the curves with my friends '74 Porsche 911 (but he still kills me in acceleration). In stock 90hp 4cyl form, down to the P185-70 tires, I had a real bad understeer, after the changes its almost nuteral with a small, predictable oversteer. Adding power will make the oversteer worse but I still have room for bigger tires in the back so I may be able to get back to where I'm at now.

[drudis]

The reason I asked budget is I can go thru money pretty quickly...

As for mods, do you have a plan, or goal? Do you want something you drive 25K miles a year to work thru winter snow? Do you want something for weekend cruising? Do you wish to take it just occasionally to the track or autocross?

I have a whole bunch'a parts. Many of the guys I race at the track with, are also very competent drivers with parts from various manufacturers.

IMOHO (for YOU) I would simply start with springs/shocks. More money, add new wider wheels/tires. Now STOP! Anything more, and you start off the deep end.

You can get into full K-members, and trick 3-link rear suspensions... You can go thru $$$ pretty quick. For Example (off the top of my head):
Griggs T-arm/panhard 1500
Custom 6-point rollcage, from S&W kit 600
Griggs tubular k-member 2500
Griggs tubular control arms with Delrin bushings
Griggs coilover hardware 250
425# 8" coilovers front
350# rear springs
Koni Yellow SA struts and shocks 800
Maximum Motorsports caster/camber plates 250
Brembo front calipers 1050
Motorsport M2300K Cobra 13" brake kit 1800
Stainless steel brake lines 125
American Racing Equipment "Style-205" 17" x 9-1/2" wheels 19# weight 1300
Kumho VictorRacing 275-40-17 R1-compound tires all four corners 700
Thru-the-floor 2x2" square tube subframes 600

[procharge94]

I agree with Darius, even without a budget, suspension can quickly rack up a large bill. Start with shock/struts, wider and stickier tires, THEN decide what aspects you like and dislike about the way the car drives. From here you can make a few more mods, like lower control arms front and rear.

To add my opinions and experiences:

Bilstein shocks/struts ($440 on ebay) - I currently have these in my '94 GT and am very happen with them. You are going to see a HUGE improvement over the stock dampeners.

Tokico 5-way adjustable shocks/struts ($522.05 from MM) - My buddy has these on his '97 cobra. The adjustability is great, but over-rated. For the money, these really are not worth it. The ride quality is nice, but nothing impressive. But, compared to stock, they make a very large improvement. Having adjustable shocks/struts tends to give the driver a feeling of always wanting to adjust them, instead of adapting to the behavior of the suspension and tuning other aspects of the car.

Eibach Pro-lines ($200 on ebay) - I am currently running these with great ride quality. This is a great and economical choice if you do not want to run coilovers.

Evolution Motorsports Adjustable Lower Control Arms ($379) - The ability to adjust pre-loads on the rear springs make these LCA's quite unique. They are a bit pricey, but I have had great success working with their techs. And with many products, you get what you pay for.

MM non-adjustable LCA's ($249.95) - My buddy has these on his '86 GT. Before he installed these control arms, his rear end was all over the place coming out of turns and hopped all over the place on hard digs. After the install, his rear end is much more stable and holds more true to the front of the car coming out of hard turns. The axle hop is pretty much non-existant.

MM tubular front control arms with urethane bushings ($349) - These make the front of the car drive where you steer it. Uneven roads don't cause such a 'floating' sensation either. This is also a great weight reduction mod.

Start with these and see how you like it. You must remember that ANYTHING is better than stock, so you are going to see an immediate improvement over your current setup. If you install these yourself, you will also gain irreplaceable knowledge about what exactly is going on under your car. While under the car you may find damaged bushings or bent suspension components that may have gone unnoticed until a time when complete failure occurs.


There are plenty of people in this forum with decades of experience in OE and aftermarket mustang modifications. Asking opinions is always a good move, but the BEST way to learn about a product is through FIRST-HAND knowledge. Try it out yourself and see how you like it. Two people with the same cars and the same goals may take two completely different roads to get there.