95 Gt Suspension Mods

[89BlackGT]

Hello all, I know these kind of topics have been covered to death on this site, however I'd like some honest opinions on what everything things of the setup I am planning on. To start, the car WILL NOT see a road course with me as the owner, it will be setup for DD and I drive my cars hard, sometimes hitting corners with a bit of speed but nothing too crazy.

Front
03/04 Cobra A Arms w/ poly bushings
Steeda X2 Balljoints
Offset Rack Bushings
Strange 10 Way Struts
Steeda Sport Springs w/ spring isolators
03/04 Cobra Wheels 275/40/17

Rear
Steeda Sport Springs w/ spring isolators
Strange 10 Way Shocks
New Quad Shocks turned around
Steeda UCAs w/ poly bushings
Steeda Weight Jacker LCAs w/ poly bushings
03/04 Cobra Wheels 315/35/17

I ran the same spring/shock/strut combo on my old 97 cobra with great results, however I can't really justify spending that kind of $$ on Steeda's LCAs when there is probably a cheaper/just as good option out there, so that is where you all come in. I've read all sorts of opinions on the subject and it seems that MM's LCA/UCA combo are a pretty big hit too.

Thank You In Advance!

Nick

 

[revhead347]

I think you have a pretty good plan there, except for the Strange shocks and struts. Those are more for drag racing and are not exactly the best choice to run with a sport spring. The 10 settings are alluring, but having it go all the way to 90/10 isn't going to do anything when you have a Steeda sport spring up there. That and they have to be rebuilt CONSTANTLY!!!! Everyone I know racing with Strange struts rebuilds them about once a season due to leaks, and that's on cars that drives only to go down the 1/4 mile. Most people on this website recommend Tokicos, which is what I have in my car. I recently installed a set of KYB adjustables on a car, and I was very impressed. They had a larger adjustment range than the Tokicos, were more comfortable on the road, and were signifigantly cheaper.

Good control arms cost money, that's just a fact of life. Steeda offers quality stuff made in America, and that's why there stuff costs more. Most opinions lean towards the Maximum Motorsports stuff though.

Don't forget to do subframe connectors. This is critical for how your car drives.

Kurt

 

[Adam95GT]

Kurt I pretty much agree with everything you say in almost every one of your posts. This is another one of those cases.

 

[94gt5.o]

Do not go cheap on lower control arms. I did and learend my lesson they where a bad fit and 1 month later my rear end was moving around while driving kurt knows what he is talkin about.

 

[ProKiller]

i've had the steeda control arms now for a good 6 years with no complaints. the only other thing i would throw out there is bilsteins for the shocks/struts. the adjustables are fancy but really your going to play with them for a week then leave them alone once you find your number and that's it since you're not going to the track.

 

[revhead347]

The adjustable uppers are really for adjusting your pinion angle at the track for drag racing. On a street car that doesn't see much drag time, I don't think it's worth it. I've had my Steeda uppers and lowers for 13 years now, and they are still going strong. I actually pulled them out of my old Mustang and put them in this one. The bushings are still good and everything.

Kurt

 

[89BlackGT]

Thanks for the replies everyone! It's funny you guys say that, my old 97 Cobra Had Steeda non adjustable uppers w/ rubber axle bushings, which are just a stronger version of the stock ones and weight jacker adjustable lowers and that thing just laid the rear end down and went straight, I was very impressed with it.

If you're a fan of the KYB adjustables I'm definitely willing to give them a try, I always thought the 10 ways were a bit overkill for my application especially where my car MIGHT see a track a few times a year if that.

Kurt do you think I should just opt another $70 for the KYB quad shocks as well? Figure my factory ones are beyond destroyed so it will only help.

So I will just change it to this and call it a day then:

Front
03/04 Cobra A Arms w/ poly bushings
Steeda X2 Balljoints
Offset Rack Bushings
KYB AGX Struts
Steeda Sport Springs w/ spring isolators
03/04 Cobra Wheels 275/40/17

Rear
Steeda Sport Springs w/ spring isolators
KYB AGX Shocks
KYB Quad Shocks
Steeda UCAs w/ poly bushings & rubber axle bushings
Steeda Weight Jacker LCAs w/ poly bushings
03/04 Cobra Wheels 315/35/17

Full length SFCs will be added eventually too.

 

[ProKiller]

looking at your list again, i would get solid rack bushings. MM recommends them over poly but personally don't have any experience with them. people say they have helped a lot on the feel of the steering. and i would add the subframes early in the list rather than later.

 

[Adam95GT]

Honestly if your getting uppers and lowers you can probably do without quads. But I only go in a strait line. The aluminium mm bushings are nice. I have Polys on my car not a huge difference

 

[revhead347]

I wouldn't waste any money on special quad shocks. Most people just delete them after they do upper and lower control arms. I still have the stock ones on my car. All I have is the Steeda heavy duty adjustable uppers, and they've worked just fine. I've been doing 1.6x short times with them.

Kurt

 

[89BlackGT]

I was actually doing some reading on MM's aluminum center drilled rack bushings and heard good things about them however poly I would imagine would just fine for my application as I'm not going to road race the car, just hit some turns a bit harder than usual.

Ok I will just use stock replacements if I even decide to keep them. Once I do this list I'll just run it with the quad shocks in, then without, I do understand that it helps/stops the side to side movement of the rear end however with the control arms I am chosing I don't think that will be a problem.

SFCs will be ordered with the entire setup, in a month or so, so I can take the time and just install everything at once in front of my house then drive it to the shop down the street and have them weld those in for me.

Thanks again everyone, once again this site has been beyond helpful...Way more so than a rival site...*cough cough* dare I say the name

 

[94 Black GT]

If you are going to the the rear control arms you may as well put in torque box reinforcements for peace of mind and longevity.. it is a good idea if you are going all poly bushings..

 

[cjones]

don't forget a bump-steer kit.

as kurt said, don't get the quad shocks. they're designed to control wheel hop but a good set of LCA's will take care of that.