Sky Render's Build Thread

BMR Tech 2

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Yes, and unless it's night, it's nearly impossible to see. It isn't the brightness; it's the shininess of the screen. You see nothing but glare.

What tint % is your windows?

I run mine in the same location and I've got zero issues seeing mine with 30% tint.
 

Sky Render

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I don't have tint, because Maryland. Also, my windows are pretty much always down, so tint wouldn't really help.
 

SoundGuyDave

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Whaaaaat? I'm going to have to try that. Any particular "type" of hairspray to use, or just go raid whatever's in SWMBO's vanity?

Not important, to the best of my knowledge... We used to use "Avec" back in the day, when we wanted seriously HIGH hair, but... Oh, wait, 80's flashback... Okay, better now...

The main point is to diffract the light rather than reflect it. The lighting guys do this any time we get something on a set that has a bothersome reflection, but still needs to appear "shiny."

enhanced-22857-1402598620-6.jpg


In all seriousness, though, give it a shot. If you have a little piece of glass floating around at home, give it a light dusting or two, then put it on top of a newspaper and see how easy it is to read... Pretty surprising, honestly!
 

Sky Render

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Nice shot! I bet that was a fun drive, I am jealous.

Man, it was BEAUTIFUL here today. Sunny and 75, like the song. I blew off an AutoX and just went for a drive. Seemed stupid to spend a whole day slaving away at an event for 6 minutes of driving when I could be tearing up tarmac out in the mountains. I put like 100 miles on the clock. Just me, the Mustang, and the road. That's what I do to re-enter myself. Felt like a new man afterwards.
 

travelers

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I blew off an AutoX and just went for a drive. Seemed stupid to spend a whole day slaving away at an event for 6 minutes of driving when I could be tearing up tarmac out in the mountains.

I stopped at the local Auto X club a couple weeks ago and talked to some members on track time and basically you about the same time. The day runs from 8-3 usually. So I can see your point of having a great day of DRIVING your car.
 

Sky Render

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Got bored working the Test & Tune last Saturday (we had a lot of organizers and a bunch of no-show competitors) so another organizer and I decided to tighten the rear sway bar on my Mustang a notch on each side and see what would happen. I thought the car felt pretty neutral before, but I wanted to see if I could get it to rotate a bit more without making it too "loose."

Dang, I should have played around with those adjustments sooner. I have both ends of the rear bar at 2/4, and the car feels perfect. I can put that thing exactly where I want it, and it seems just as neutral as before, but with a slight tendency to predictably oversteer as opposed to understeering.

Based on looking at pictures that some people posted to the club's forum, I seem to still be getting an appreciable amount of body roll, however, especially upfront. But I'm hesitant to tighten the front bar any more (currently at 1/5), because I really like the handling. I'm currently running only ~1.6* of camber upfront, though, so I'm thinking that increasing the camber will give me a bit more cornering grip without changing the overall dynamics of the car.

I also have to redo the bushings upfront this winter, because I have an early build 2011 with the early-design hydro bushings. These things were revised 3 times over the course of the '11-14 model years because they keep degrading and squeaking. The final solution is not only a new bushing design, but also a heat shield over said bushings to keep them from baking from the heat of the nearby catalytic converters. So I'll be swapping to the new control arm design and upgrading to taller ball joints and a bumpsteer kit while I'm at it. Since it'll need an alignment at that point, I'll increase the camber to -2.2* or so. Thoughts?
 

SoundGuyDave

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Raising the front roll center will help if the nose is falling over in the turns. Adding wheel rate will do the same, as well.

If you're in a testing mood, try going full-stiff on the bar up front. It might just surprise you!
 

Sky Render

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The Great Suspension Rebuild

As you may have seen in this thread, my front right suspension developed a severe clunk over bumps. I traced this to a bad strut or strut mount. But in both of those cases, I'll be replacing the whole assembly, because my shocks/struts and strut mounts have >50k very hard miles on them. They were probably due for a refresh, anyway, though I was hoping to put this off another year or so.

Not to worry, I'll just use the money I was saving up to build a new gaming computer for Forza 7. :whymewhyme:

I've been stockpiling a few parts, as I was planning on doing a mild refresh this winter, but now we're going to start a bit early. Here's the current plan, broken into phases like a good little engineer:

  • Phase 1A: Upper Front Suspension
    • Vorshlag Caster/Camber Plates
    • Bilstein Struts (shortened length)
    • FRPP "K" Springs
    • New BMR End Links
    • New hardware (strut-to-knuckle nuts/bolts)
  • Phase 1B: Rear Suspension
    • FRPP "K" Springs
    • Bilstein dampers
  • Phase 2: Lower Front Suspension
    • New lower control arms with hydro bushing shield (Reference TSB 13-09-03, attached)
    • Steeda Extended-length Ball Joints
    • Steeda Bumpsteer Kit (Outer Tie Rods)
    • Motorcraft Inner Tie Rods
    • New hardware (control-arm-to-k-member nuts/bolts)
I'm really hoping to get the first phase done in time to go to an autocross and cruise on 21/22 October, but it's going to depend on how quickly I can get parts and how much time I can spend wrenching on the car.
 

Attachments

  • TSB 13-09-03 Front LCA Squeak (with Shield).pdf
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travelers

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That looks like a well thought out plan. That almost eliminates everything up front except the rack.
 

Pentalab

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Will the 1.5" front + rear drop from the K springs be an issue for DD use ?

The various BMR spring offerings might be another possible option,
since they have several versions to pick from, including their GT-500 springs, with various spring rates for front /rear.

The superb Vorshlag strut mount /P/K springs / Bilstein struts /shocks kit comes pre-assembled, so it's a straight drop in. No spring compressor required. When you get phase 1/2 done, it will be interesting to see what your findings are vs your current setup with the adjustable koni yellows + steeda ultra lite springs.
 
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oldVOR

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I know you'll be very happy with the Vorshlag CC plates, Bilstein struts/shocks and FRPP K springs. It's the same setup I have and there are no DD issues I've found to be concerned about.
 

Sky Render

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Will the 1.5" front + rear drop from the K springs be an issue for DD use ?

The various BMR spring offerings might be another possible option,
since they have several versions to pick from, including their GT-500 springs, with various spring rates for front /rear.

The superb Vorshlag strut mount /P/K springs / Bilstein struts /shocks kit comes pre-assembled, so it's a straight drop in. No spring compressor required. When you get phase 1/2 done, it will be interesting to see what your findings are vs your current setup with the adjustable koni yellows + steeda ultra lite springs.

I already have a 1.5" drop from the Steeda Ultralites, so, no.

I would go with the K springs because Vorshlag will assemble everything at their shop. 6 bolts and the old ones are out and the new ones in.

Currently, though, I'm considering contacting Maximum Motorsports and seeing if the bearing going bad would be covered under warranty. The question is how long that would take to turn around. I really don't want to not drive my Mustang until the spring.
 

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