Lowering springs?

Thinking about Eibach pro springs.

gray2014gt said:

Yeah I heard people saying to use gt500 mounts but what year/s? Do you think I need new shock and struts with less than 49k? I've never lowered a car before I do basically all my auto repairs myself I know I can install the springs and related parts I replaced shocks and struts on an 94 gt I sold about 4 years ago.

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It's a good idea on a couple of levels.

First off, your 49k old shocks and struts have lost some or much of their original damping capacity.

Secondly, nearly all lowering springs feature somewhat higher spring rates, which means that your existing dampers would put your car in a state of being slightly/somewhat underdamped. What this generally means is that the ride quality tends to be somewhat "floaty".

Especially given the presence of speed bumps, holding the amount of lowering down to something closer to 1" would be a good plan.


Norm

What is your overall goal for the car?

jewc75 said:

What is your overall goal for the car?

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This. It really makes a difference in how to set up your suspension. For instance, just lowering the car without proper spring rates will actually increase body roll. Stiffer spring rates along with shocks are required to mitigate this. Also stiffer sway bars will aid in the reduction of body roll. If you want to run at the drag strip you have a different set of priorities. Lowering a car reduces weight transfer both under acceleration and braking, not necessarily what you want when trying to launch a car.

Mainly for looks and better handling like in curves I'm not into drag racing I like watching stuff like old rolex series type racing trans am etc. More road racing instead of just straight line racing.

I might have a setup then you may be interested in. Roush springs; Bilstein struts/shocks (B-6); GT500 strut mounts. Better handling with a decent ride/not harsh. Lowers the front about 1/2 -3/4 and the rear about 1.5 in. You'll notice an immediate difference in handling/ride. Recommend cutting your bump stops down 1/2 inch in the rear. Otherwise, best handling combination I've seen for what you're describing above. Have it on my car. Good for everyday driving and handles road courses/mountain driving well.

It's my daily driver right now so I don't want anything crazy just better looking and handling car but not full race spec.

Had to replace a set of front Eibachs that snapped. Replaced all springs,shocks and sway bars with roush track lowering kit. Car handeled great and road better than stock. Consider caster/camber plates instead of new strut mounts. If you r changing them anyway. Easier to get car in to alinement.
No need for different pan hard bar for small drops. Put the cash toward a watts link instead if you need to align rear. They really help keep the rear planted especially in bumpy corners.


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Looking on American Muscle they say in questions/answers section that the gt500 mounts only work with Ford springs/struts for 05-10 models. Is that true?

You'd have to ask others on the forum. I have an 06. To be sure you'd have to compare specs on the struts/shocks and mounts. Obviously, go with what works.

Fitment of the GT500 strut mounts only needs the struts to be of the 2005-2010 design, which was apparently carried over into the 2011-2014 GT500 cars as well.

From the AM source
Ford Performance Mustang GT500 Style Strut Mount Upgrade M-18183-C (05-14 All) (americanmuscle.com)

• Improves Handling and Performance
• Upgrade Replacement
• Original Equipment on 2011-2014 Shelby GT500 Coupes
• Increased Durometer (Hardness)
• Sold as a Set of Two
• Direct fit on 2005-2010 GT, V6 and 2007-2014 Shelby GT500
• Optional fit on 2011-2014 GT and V6 when installed with 2005-2010 Ford Racing Lowering Struts/Springs

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Norm

To run GT500 mounts you must use 05-10 struts. The springs are really all the same. Ive had multiple traditional setups on my car and by far the ones i like the most have been the Steeda sports springs with koni yellow shocks/struts. Now i have Viking Crusader coilovers front and shocks in the rear with Steeda sport rear springs. I like the twisties as well as drag racing.

Also, if you use the GT500 strut mounts, turn them so the arrows are clocked 180 degrees from normal. I used FRPP K springs (1.5” drop) and didn’t need any camber adjustment. That was 100k miles ago and no abnormal wear.


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You can also leave them in the "more negative camber" orientation if hard cornering is more your "thing" . . .


Norm

I'd rather make the car more stable in corners and in general when hitting rutts etc in the road not into drag racing I'd go into road racing if I was ever to have the money.

I bought a 14 TrkPak with 2100 miles back in 15, the first thing I did was to install the Eibach Sportline springs. It took me a couple of hours although I had a lift and spring compressor. I also installed a Whiteline adjustable sway bar because after measuring the offset on the rearend it was about 1/2" out. I preferred the the Whiteline because the adjustment is at the ends of the bar, not the middle like some of the others and being an engineer having the adjustment in the middle is just not good engineering. Because I only had a couple of thousand miles I didn't feel any need to change shocks/struts, and because at the time I felt the TrkPak package had better shocks and struts than the standard GT...I was wrong and that's another story. I took it to the lineup shop and when they checked caster and camber it was within Ford spec, so I didn't change anything.
One thing, someone mentioned "caster bolts", and these are pure garbage and should never be used as the engineering behind them is less than stellar...IMHO
I also installed GT500 rear rotors and pads along with Whiteline LCA's and replaced the UCA bushing with a Whiteline which eliminated the wheel hop I had. I also installed some OE 2014 GT500 wheels and tires, the rear wing which I still love today and the GT500 split exhaust and rear valance. The engine had an AED tune and Airaid CAI and split the clutch hydraulic cylinder from the master cylinder because in some canyon carving I would loose clutch pedal because the brake fluid would get pretty warm and sharing the hydraulic clutch with the brake master cylinder was never a great idea anyway...IMHO
It's not just about looks, the TrkPak could hold it's own against Corvettes, and even ran down a Porsche during a 15 mile stretch of I5 in Northern California, the TrkPak with the above mentioned mods was a great car, although as far as a DD, not!

I tell you what if you don't lower your car and get better shocks and struts you will have traction problems. Fortunately I did all that before the Paxton Supercharger because it makes the car stick.

Daniel Roberson said:

I tell you what if you don't lower your car and get better shocks and struts you will have traction problems. Fortunately I did all that before the Paxton Supercharger because it makes the car stick.

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There is at least one other way to get improved launch bite.

Better shocks and strut is almost a given on a S197 these days.


Norm

Adjustable LCAs and relocation brackets…


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This mentioning of turning the gt500 strut mounts 180 have me wondering. I do notice a tad bit of camber, and some more more on the inner edge of the tire, however alignment is within spec.

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