NOT Another...Yes...another auotx build thread

[2013MustangGT]

@csamsh

I think we met June 29 @ ECR. After talking to you I have decided to up my spring rate to 550 front and 250 rear. Will be dropping the car off at Vorshlag on July 22 to get that done. In the mean time I'll be checking this thread out for more things to get done.

 

[sheizasosay]

@csamsh

I think we met June 29 @ ECR. After talking to you I have decided to up my spring rate to 550 front and 250 rear. Will be dropping the car off at Vorshlag on July 22 to get that done. In the mean time I'll be checking this thread out for more things to get done.

I could have sworn I read Vorshalg (Terry?) say they have been all over with spring rates and have found that the car puts down better time on either 175 in lb or 185 in lb springs for the rear. Now there is 2 guys in very recent threads running over 200 after having talked with Vorshlag. I know spring rates are about variable as the wind, but just an observation. Maybe the adj watts link and roll centers on the Vorshlag car are different and are using more spring to compensate for these 2 recent guys?

 

[modernbeat]

I could have sworn I read Vorshalg (Terry?) say they have been all over with spring rates and have found that the car puts down better time on either 175 in lb or 185 in lb springs for the rear. Now there is 2 guys in very recent threads running over 200. I know spring rates are about variable as the wind, but just an observation.

The big controversy about our recommended spring rates is how low we recommend the rear to be in comparison to the front. Lots of other shops recommend the same (or nearly the same) spring rate front and rear. We typically run more than twice as stiff in the front. For ASTs we recommend a 175 for street tires and a 250 for moderate width Hoosiers or slicks. If you are developing a lot of downforce or are running on huge sticky tires, we will recommend a different spring compliment and dampers to go with it.

 

[csamsh]

@csamsh

I think we met June 29 @ ECR. After talking to you I have decided to up my spring rate to 550 front and 250 rear. Will be dropping the car off at Vorshlag on July 22 to get that done. In the mean time I'll be checking this thread out for more things to get done.

Yup I remember your car/you. Thanks for not hitting me when I wasn't going the right way in turn 4!!!

 

[Conekiller]

The Strano endlinks are nice, but I think he uses the stock length. Which works with most struts, just not the S197 AST 4150. These struts have a relocated swaybar bracket that need a much shorter endlink. So unless you have the AST 4150, no worries.

Terry, I'm using the Strano endlinks/bars with the AST4150s and I have no clearance issues with the front sway bar/lower control arm. There isn't tons of room and I do have them close to as short as they'll go but so far no binding issues that I've run into.

 

[csamsh]

Terry, I'm using the Strano endlinks/bars with the AST4150s and I have no clearance issues with the front sway bar/lower control arm. There isn't tons of room and I do have them close to as short as they'll go but so far no binding issues that I've run into.

I think we've got different production runs of the 4150's- I don't know if there's a difference.

 

[Conekiller]

Didn't measure the stock length vs the Strano endlinks to find out if there was a difference. Sold the stock parts so can't check now either but I recall the Strano links looked visually slightly shorter than stock but I can't confirm.

 

[Sky Render]

Comparison of Whiteline (top) and OEM (bottom) end links:

 

[braupe]

So the whitelines are no shorter than the stock endlink?

 

[Sky Render]

So the whitelines are no shorter than the stock endlink?

Why would they be? The Whiteline bar is a direct replacement for the factory bar.

The Whiteline end links are adjustable for length, however.

 

[braupe]

Thats what I meant. I thought the endlinks would have to adjust to a shorter than stock length.

Please pardon my ignorance.

 

[Sky Render]

Thats what I meant. I thought the endlinks would have to adjust to a shorter than stock length.

Please pardon my ignorance.

You would basically loosen the jam nuts and slightly lengthen the end links to adjust preload for corner weighting.

 

[TGR96]

Good thread. Learning about end links!

 

[braupe]

Good thread. Learning about end links!

^ Exactly. Good info. Thanks guys.

 

[Dreadknought]

Subbed. Good learning for when I'm not poor.

 

[Vorshlag-Fair]

So the whitelines are no shorter than the stock endlink?

The S197 Whiteline endlinks are adjustable in length, to an extent, and at one adjustment can match the stock length. But....

Left: An earlier version of the AST S197 strut (4100) had an adjustable swaybar bracket. Right: The production AST 4150 strut for the S197 was fixed, and relocated lower than stock

We noticed on a recent batch of AST 4150s for the S197 chassis that it has a relocated swaybar bracket. We have found that a much shorter endlink works better, and aligns the swaybar ends to be level at ride height and doesn't bind anywhere in travel (we even had some interference/bind with the stock endlinks on the 4100s at one point, adjusted correctly; see above middle pic). A couple of months ago we had a customer complaining about his 4150s not fitting well with the standard S197 length front endlink, we saw what happened, rummaged around in the Whiteline catalog and found endlinks that were almost 2" shorter. This ended up working better for that particular version of that brand of S197 strut. Virtually no other S197 strut has this need.

Mark (the OP) ran into the same issue and we got him these shorter endlinks as well. Sorry for the confusion.

I'm confused now, after reading what I just wrote, ha!

 

[2013MustangGT]

I love my AST 4150s with the shorter Whiteline endlinks. They handle great!!!

 

[csamsh]

I love my AST 4150s with the shorter Whiteline endlinks. They handle great!!!

Yeah it's night and day.

To reinforce Terry's point- there are probably five(?) people in the world affected by this.

 

[csamsh]

Enough of the Endlinks, how about some tires!?!

So, christmas today, just got these from UPS. Unfortunately, a day too late to go on the wheels for the "track day" and "autocross" this weekend. You'll see why that's in quotes when I do updates from those events, lol.

Anyway- 285/35/18 Hankook Ventus RS-3's, on BOGO from Tirerack (not really, but they really are half price, 2009 production tires)



SO now I have all these tires sitting around and decided to conduct some "scientific" tests-

From left to right- 285/35/18 RS-3, 275/35/18 BFG g-Force R1 (the only one on a wheel), 275/35/19 Michelin Pilot Super Sport, and 315/35/18 Kumho V710


"Science-"

RS3- 11.00"


R1- 11.00"


PSS- 10.25"


V710- 12.75" (sorry about the potato)


Ok...so that's waaay too many sig figs given the level of measurement system error, repetitions, and replicates...but who cares!

Interesting Data on tread width- my measurement on left, tirerack's on right.

285 RS3- 11.0", 10.1"
275 R1- 11.0", 11.0" (this tire was mounted on a 10" wide wheel)
275 PSS- 10.3", 10.2"
315 V710- 12.8", NA, but they claim section width of 13"

So, they're pretty close, except for Hankook. They DO NOT know how to measure a tire. There is no way in hell anyone who isn't the World's Most Modest Pornstar would put a ruler up to that thing and think...hmm...looks like about ten inches.

 

[dontlifttoshift]

On your pending 18x11 forgestars, did you end up with two different offsets? I am not asking for specific numbers but am curious if you could nail the rear offset and then run the necessary spacer (and longer studs) up front to keep all four wheels square.