Hey guys. New to the forum and new to the mustang world. I am 17 and buying my first car in a little less than a week. Saved up enough to put a major down payment down on a 2001 mustang gt. Not your typical stupid ass kid though like most that I know, I like to take care of the things I own as I worked for them. I always wanted one so I figured Id save up and go for it. Here's my dilemma. Dont laugh. I don't know alot about cars but would like to do some tasteful things to the car that I will have professionally installed. I want new tires and rims, exhaust and suspension. The only thing I need advice on is suspension as I dont know alot about it. Ive read up on the main components in other threads but am really just curious as to what control arms, springs shocks, struts dampers really do. Are dampers the same thing as struts? What really will I need? I dont want to go throwing money on things I don't need or know much about.
Welcome........Congrats on saving up for a 01 GT @ your age....Dampers are the same thing as shocks & struts, & if u plan on lowering the car u should definately get some good aftermarket ones. I prefer Bilsteins, but I would assume you are probably on a budget, so some Tokico's or Kyb's should do the trick, as long as you dont go too low. For springs I prefer the h&r supersports because they lower the car just the right amount for a daily driver, & to still look like u actually lowered the car. And the last thing u will probably need are the Caster/ Camber plates to get your alignment right, and you will need an alignment 4 sure. The Maximum Motorsports ones are the best, but BBk should be ok if you are on a budget. This is all you will need to lower your stang the right way....Now if you want to go a little deeper with your suspension, check my mod list..... Good Luck, & be careful when u get your stang....
Wow thanks for the quick reply. Ill definetly look into what you've talked about. Any advice on the cheapest place to buy from? Possibly kits that might include alot of these items together and save me some $? You're not kiddin when you said you assumed I was on a budget lol. I might have to save for a kit after I get some new tires on it. Anywho I can guarantee ya I aint gonna be stupid with it. But im guessing thats what they all say.... Oh and another newb question what the difference between coilovers and springs what are the +/- I see you have front coilovers and rear springs. Just a little uneducated lol.
What are you going for? Do u just want to lower it on a budget? Dont reallly know where to find kits, because I bought everything seperately. Check Ebay for the best price, or check your local craigslist. Here was a decent price on the budget tokico shocks/struts... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TOKI...tegoryZ33590QQihZ006QQitemZ160120320315QQrdZ1 Here is the caster/camber plates I recomend http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Maxi...tegoryZ33581QQihZ001QQitemZ110130439260QQrdZ1 & here are the springs http://www.maximummotorsports.com/index.html?https&&&www.maximummotorsports.com/store/
In this first pic is my front suspension with the standard spring installed. Notice the location of the spring & how it is seperate from the strut. This setup will probably be better for u right now because coilovers are very costly, & they arent absolutely necessary...Standard lowering springs will be fine for your setup. http://www.cardomain.com/member_pag...ages/5/web/2585000-2585999/2585752_7_full.jpg Here is a pic of the coilover spring & kit & the kit installed on the car http://www.cardomain.com/member_pag...ges/5/web/2585000-2585999/2585752_93_full.jpg http://www.cardomain.com/member_pag...ges/5/web/2585000-2585999/2585752_92_full.jpg
Here is Maximum Motorsports explanation of coilovers....I appologize for it being so long, sorry, I didnt know how to link it.......
I would suggest spending some time on www.maximummotorsports.com reading the tech articles and installation instructions. You will learn a great deal from this.
learn to drive the car with stock suspension, its much more forgiving and more fun... after you've gotten that down then start toying with it... only mods i would say are really good to do while learning to drive are a catback or midpipe and a short shifter... anything else might screw up the dynamics of the car
Huh....I always felt like the stock suspension was dangerous and deadly. But anyways.....sounds like you got a pretty good idea on where to start with your Mustang. Exhaust is always a must on a v8. Suspension, keep it simple with the springs/shocks unless you really really get into road racing or something. The control arms are the bars that connect the rear-end assembly to the frame. Usually one on top, one on bottom on each side. They swing up and down with the rear end as it hops. Aftermarket control arms are usually alot stronger and stiffer, and lighter. So you might have less lateral flex with them and would lose some weight. Neither of which is a big deal unless you're looking to out corner a Porsche.
Haha, was. Before they traded Iverson. Now Im a nuggets fan lol. Thanks all for the great advice it is much appreciated and extremely helpful.
I like him too but it was time for him to go, maybe Denver with a full year of him and Mello together will make a run in next years playoffs
hey as long as you're not a celtics fan right now anything is good lol. BTW I ABSOLUTELY HATE THE SPURS.
