Shocks/Struts recommendations:

[J.Kidd]

Looking into replacing my stock shock/strut set up.

I have a 2011 GT Brembo package with Steeda Sport Springs. I don't drive competitively but do enjoy driving the car in a "spirited" manner. This is also my daily driver so it needs to remain comfortable.

I am considering:
• Koni STR.T's
• Steeda Pro-Action

I understand there are better (and more expensive) options, but I prefer something non-adjustable that offers an improvement over the stock dampers and both the Koni's and Steeda's are in my price range.

So I have two questions:
1) Which shock/strut package do you recommend?
2) Is it worth spending $100 to upgrade to the GT500 strut mounts (and subsequently ordering the 05-10 specific shocks/struts) or just keep the stock GT strut mounts (and stick with 11-14 shocks/struts)?

Thanks for any input.

 

[redfirepearlgt]

Consider the Strange single adjustable setup for your application. Soften it down to a 3-5 for street, drop it to a 1 for drag or crank them up for a firmer ride for that weekend cruise through the back roads. You can get the full setup through BMR for under $500 shipped or maybe less.

 

[CammedS197]

Consider the Strange single adjustable setup for your application. Soften it down to a 3-5 for street, drop it to a 1 for drag or crank them up for a firmer ride for that weekend cruise through the back roads. You can get the full setup through BMR for under $500 shipped or maybe less.

Can you really? Not to get off topic on the post. How is the longevity/reliability? I'm on koni orange rears and will be getting the fronts soon. I like them but the ability to adjust for strip and street would be nice as long as they can last. I daily about 15-20k miles a year and strip about 3-5 times and drive spirited. I'm on BMR lowering springs with 165lbs/in front and 160lbs/in rear rates.

Looking into replacing my stock shock/strut set up.

I have a 2011 GT Brembo package with Steeda Sport Springs. I don't drive competitively but do enjoy driving the car in a "spirited" manner. This is also my daily driver so it needs to remain comfortable.

I am considering:
• Koni STR.T's
• Steeda Pro-Action

I understand there are better (and more expensive) options, but I prefer something non-adjustable that offers an improvement over the stock dampers and both the Koni's and Steeda's are in my price range.

So I have two questions:
1) Which shock/strut package do you recommend?
2) Is it worth spending $100 to upgrade to the GT500 strut mounts (and subsequently ordering the 05-10 specific shocks/struts) or just keep the stock GT strut mounts (and stick with 11-14 shocks/struts)?

Thanks for any input.

What redfire mentioned may not be a bad move at all. I'm looking into those some more now lol. I have koni orange rears and really like them a lot. I was going to go steedas but I talked to a few people and they said they would have rather gone koni's. I honestly cannot really remember why. But I really like the rear shocks a lot. Might end up getting these strange if the quality/reliability/longevity is there and keep the rears as is till need replacing.

 

[07 Boss]

Probably not interested in the Bilstein HD's because of their cost but these have been by far the best shocks I've put on my Mustang. They are self adjusting so they work well with a variety of spring rates and driving styles. Since my Lakewood drag struts went out I've been running these at the strip also, and though not ideal, they do the trick pretty well. Never had the STR.T's or the Steeda so I can't be of much help there.

 

[Speedboosted]

Nothing near their price point comes anywhere close to build quality and longevity that the Bilsteins have. They are Koni Yellow money and people fall for the gimmick of Koni's adjustability, which IMO goes from good down to crap.

Strange makes decent stuff, their entry level models aren't the nicest but for a budget street/strip setup it's an option. They won't touch Bilsteins or even Koni Yellows in the corners though. I had Steeda ProActions awhile back and didn't notice much of a difference from the stock ones.

 

[46addict]

If the Brembo package is the same as the Track Pak, I'd say the typical $500 shock/strut setup would be a downgrade from stock. Ford packaged the the shocks/springs/swaybars to work together, and disrupting that may be a bad idea.

And you didn't state your intentions with the car so my answer is based on the assumption that it's not a dedicated drag car.

 

[J.Kidd]

I am guessing the Brembo package is very similar to the Track Pak of the following year(s). My intentions are just to enjoy driving it. Like I said, I don't compete and prefer a better handling car as opposed to a 1/4 mile launcher...and it is my daily driver. I'm very happy with the Steeda Sport Springs and I've had those in for a while with the stock dampers. I need new tires so I was debating on upgrading the dampers at this time...I'm not even entirely sure I need to. Just trying to get some options and consider expenses. Based on what others are saying, I'm looking at spending a bit more and considering the Bilsteins. I can get a set of those for about $680. I might just go that route and get the 2011-specific set so I don't need to change the upper strut mounts (and subsequently save $100+).

Thanks for the input everyone.

 

[46addict]

The bearings in the upper strut mounts are wear items so if you are removing the dampers it may be good to get stock replacement mounts anyway. Those mounts have to come off to disassemble the strut/spring assembly. If you get new mounts you can install everything in one swoop and pay for one wheel alignment.

 

[Pentalab]

The bearings in the upper strut mounts are wear items so if you are removing the dampers it may be good to get stock replacement mounts anyway. Those mounts have to come off to disassemble the strut/spring assembly. If you get new mounts you can install everything in one swoop and pay for one wheel alignment.

That's one option. Another option is to use Steeda HD strut mounts. Then you have some camber adjustment. Then you can at least dial up any amount of camber you want..and also make both fronts the exact same amount of camber. My problem with the fixed, oem strut mounts is... driver's side had way more camber than the pass side. The car will handle a lot better with some neg camber dialed in. Like -1.5 to -1.7 degrees.

 

[J.Kidd]

LOL!

You guys are killing me. I'm originally looking at $400 for a set of dampers with the thought of another $100 for upgraded strut mounts. You convince me to look at dampers for $680 and then say "yah, change the strut mounts too (for another $100) and better yet, get the Steeda mounts for $330".

My $400-$500 original consideration doubled!

Seriously, though - thank you all for the input.

 

[RED09GT]

The Bilsteins look like the all around ticket if you don't want something adjustable. Save up the extra money, buy them once and call it a day.

I had Bilstein HD's on my fox body and they were a huge improvement over my non-adjustable tokicos.

I have the Tokico d-specs on my car just because they are still big improvement in handling compared to the stockers and the adjust-ability has let me hit the 1.5's for 60 ft times at the strip. The road race guys don't like the d-specs but us street strip guys love them.

 

[Racer47]

@J.Kidd I have a set on Koni adjustable yellows with Steeda springs and M&M camber plates, if you are interested. The whole setup is like new with only 3500 miles, no winters, no rain, weekend cruiser only. Full setup ready to bolt on and go.

They worked very well. Lowered but not slammed, controlled ride but not overly stiff. The only reason I took them off is that I found a deal on used AST4150 race coilovers.

Let me know if you are interested. If not thats fine. I need to take the time to take pics and make an ad anyway.

Edit, I just posted an ad for my setup. Its slightly more than your target price but you would end up with an extra set of springs to sell (either your current ones or mine) to recoup some cash

 

[46addict]

That's one option. Another option is to use Steeda HD strut mounts. Then you have some camber adjustment. Then you can at least dial up any amount of camber you want..and also make both fronts the exact same amount of camber. My problem with the fixed, oem strut mounts is... driver's side had way more camber than the pass side. The car will handle a lot better with some neg camber dialed in. Like -1.5 to -1.7 degrees.

Yes, but OP is looking for something on a budget.

LOL!

You guys are killing me. I'm originally looking at $400 for a set of dampers with the thought of another $100 for upgraded strut mounts. You convince me to look at dampers for $680 and then say "yah, change the strut mounts too (for another $100) and better yet, get the Steeda mounts for $330".

My $400-$500 original consideration doubled!

Seriously, though - thank you all for the input.

The cost for you would be even higher if you had to redo this job replace the strut mounts. If those mounts have bearings that are anything like the 05-09 bearings, sooner or later I guarantee you'll end up with front end clunks soon after you put the originals back on. Then you'll be paying for two alignments and twice for labor if you're having someone do the work.

 

[Pentalab]

The GT-500 strut mounts are no better than the 05-10 oem strut mounts...and both are one time use only....and both are non adjustable. Plenty of folks have had the GT-500 mounts end up clunking. What do you do then, replace with yet another pair of GT-500 mounts ?
IMO, save up and do it right....once. The steeda HD strut mounts are well worth the money. The car will handle a lot better with some camber dialed into it.

Re: the tockico D specs. The FRPP adjustable struts /shocks are an improved version of the D specs. And both have simultaneous compression + rebound adjustment.

The non adjustable Bilsteins are monotube types. Non adjustable Roush shocks + struts are also monotube. Beware, the front Roush struts are 1/2" shorter than oem, (measured between bottom of strut and the spring perch). Roush front springs are 1/2" shorter (and stiffer) than oem. Roush gets it's 1" total front drop from the 1/2" shorter front springs + 1/2" shorter struts. Dunno who makes the Roush monotube shocks + struts. The front Roush struts are too stiff for my liking, fine on the hwy, but a real rough ride on local shit roads. Any imperfection in the road surface, and you feel it asap..including manhole covers etc. I had to crawl over speed bumps at 1 mph. Eventually after a few years my pass side struts sheared in half. Replaced both front struts with oem... but kept the roush front springs.

The story I got was the Koni orange (STR) were the same as Koni yellows....set on full soft, but I have not verified that. Most folks that I know that have Koni Yellows..typ have them set to full soft, or close to full soft for street use, with typ lousy side streets, pot holes etc. Then tweak em up stiffer for hwy use, or auto cross/ road course / strip use.

Koni yellows only have adjustable rebound. The compression is stiffer than oem. The complaints I hear about the D specs is when you tweak the setting for optimum compression, the rebound is outa whack....and vice versa. Then you hear complaints of both koni yellow + D specs, where the drivers side is not the same as the pass side..when both are tweaked to the same setting.

Vorshlag racing offers a combo bilstein + FRPP P / K spring lowering combo for both front + back. But the Bilsteins they use have more piston travel vs the normal Bilsteins. Unfortunately their Bilsteins are still on back order. The issue with typ lowering springs is when used with oem style shocks+ struts, you lose piston travel, and more prone to hitting the stops.

 

[46addict]

You're right on that. My GT500 mounts ended up clunking and I thought I was just the unlucky guy that got a bad batch. Later I swapped them out to the Steeda mounts and bought coilovers for my new car.

 

[702GT]

I ran Koni STRT's and FRPP "K" Springs on mine. Turned the strut mounts 180*. Car alignment came out perfect when I took it to Firestone for alignment. I can't speak on track performance for that setup, I used the "K" springs and stock shocks/struts for a long time prior and decided I was going to keep the car on the street and not track it anymore. Koni offered a sale on the STRT and Yellows, I picked the STRT's because the price was choice and didn't feel I needed much better than OEM performance, just needed a shock/strut that was meant to be lowered. I did feel a much better ride in regards to rebound. The OEM shocks/struts always bounced if I launched from a dig, or hit big enough bumps. The bounce stopped after the Koni's went in. They were surprisingly smooth. I also had J&M Lowers and CHE Double Adjustable upper, Whiteline Adjustable panhard, and J&M panhard support brace. Stock swaybars front/rear. The car was a joy to drive. Cornered well, excellent dig, and very predictable under traction loss, stayed very straight.

 

[07 Boss]

I've only changed my strut mounts once in almost 100K. I've changed springs and struts dozens of times. I used to change them out every time I went to the track. BUT I have always left them on the car when swapping out struts and springs. Much easier and I actually think safer than using a compressor to assemble struts.

 

[golkhl]

Koni is on sale right now, and they are offering a $30 rebate. Some deals to be had on the interwebs.

 

[Norm Peterson]

Nothing near their price point comes anywhere close to build quality and longevity that the Bilsteins have. They are Koni Yellow money and people fall for the gimmick of Koni's adjustability, which IMO goes from good down to crap.

Koni yellow adjustability is not a gimmick. There is significant change in ride comfort, and there is enough difference in cornering grip and composure to notice if you know what to look for. This is at cornering levels beyond where most people's daily driving lives, when you're at least beginning to make the suspension work a bit.

Dial it down for a better ride, up for autocross/road course/canyon running. It's a five-minute job to reset all four including the time it takes to open the hood and trunk (or back seats) and run around the car.


If there's any 'negative' about the yellows, it's that they probably don't tolerate big amounts of lowering very well. Then again, if it's a slammed appearance you're going for, serious corner-carving probably isn't your thing.


Norm

 

[Racer47]

I completely agree with Norm on this. Plus adjusting the Koni's are the only thing that you can easily do at the track or autocross to adjust or fine tune the car's balance.