Ride Height

  • Sponsors (?)


DO NOT CUT YOUR SPRINGS!!!!!

Have you seen a ricer budget slammed Civic go over a bump? They bounce for a block or two afterwards. They have cut springs. When you cut the springs you are changing the spring rate. For example, Ford Racing F5300-B springs have a 425 lb/in rate in the front. If one was to cut 1/4 of the spring out, you would effectively reduce the spring rate to 318 lb/in resulting in a "boingy" ride. I know you wouldn't cut that much out of it and you see guys like Chip Foose do this on shows like Overhaulin, however it is hardly a best practice.

If you don't like the ride height, I suggest selling those springs and buying a more aggressive lowing spring. Coil overs are nice, but expensive! Please for love of all Mustangs everywhere, don't cut your springs!
 
This is new evidence, dude if what your saying is so that is not the result I'm looking for if it doesn't settle to the height I want I guess I'll have to invest about $1000.00 into a coilover system, thank you.
 
What brand of lowering spring did you use? H & R SS springs with the isolators removed will get it really low, low enough to scrape all over the place. Ask me how I know. Previous comment in regards to cutting coils is correct, you should try avoiding that at all costs. However, you CAN get away with cutting out half of one coil without drastically changing the spring rates to get the exact ride height you want. Those Ricers you see bouncing down the road are typically on old worn out springs with a few coils removed. If you're worried about damaging the vehicle going too low will do exactly that. You're going to scrape the front end entering and exiting driveways, get caught on parking blocks, scrape the bottom of the vehicle on big speed bumps, and bang up your exhaust as well.
 
I kinda went bonkers with my suspension set up. I have A lot of experience with 99-04 style mustang suspensions! you will never get the ride height you want just by buying springs. There are other parts you need to make them all work in harmony. The springs you got are probably set for a ride height that will not mess up your alignment and handling too much. When you get aggressive with ride height you have to start to work on things like bump steer, caster/camber settings and how your car will behave when really low.

The first mod I got was this.... http://www.maximummotorsports.com/1994-98-Mustang-1999-04-GT-Starter-Box-P185.aspx This kit will give you a nice drop but nothing to aggressive. you will probably still have about 2" wheel gap in your wheel well. This kit will use the H&R springs. I use the isolators too. If you are to order this kit, explain you want to upgrade the fronts to coil overs and they will adjust the price accordingly and add about 200 bucks to the order. They are really cool with answering questions and see if the spring you currently have will be ok for the rears. if so ask to have them removed from the quote too. then you will save a hundred bucks or so. The other thing you need is the lower rear adjustable control arms they are like 3 or $400. you can get them at maximum motorsports too. then you can adjust the rear height and front to whatever you want. You are looking at about $2000 in parts and about 2 hours tops per wheel for labor if you have a slow mechanic.

The above option is not perfect for an aggressive drop but at least with the kit you can adjust your caster/camber and that will make your car very happy.
Another thing to think about is that the lower you go the more stiff the car is going to be, if you do several hours of driving everyday in the car, the last thing you want is to be uncomfortable.

Wheel gap will look like this eventually
mustang1.jpg


The front wheels are high enough that I can get over speed bumps and barely touch the cement parking blocks at the local parking lots. Thats why the front looks to be a little higher than the rears.
 

Attachments

  • mustang1.jpg
    mustang1.jpg
    647.4 KB · Views: 141
Last edited: