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Suspension Rookie

1K views 14 replies 10 participants last post by  Project Pony 
#1 ·
So I read ME daily. I try to take everything you guys post.. Problems, suggestions, successes, and failures. Everything I read/follow has given me so much knowledge. That's an understatement.

With that said... I am still so lost when it comes to anything suspension related at all. Shocks, struts, ball joints, UCAs, LCAs, coil overs, isos, etc.. Although I know what each part is to see it and have replaced a select few of these parts on my other vehicles when they need it.. I still can not tell you what each part does.. Especially with all of the different combinations I hear you guys talking about.

I have a 2004 GT (stock other than some cosmetics) and it rides rough, which I know it is a Mustang and i have to sort of expect that.. Right? But what I would like is some sort of upgrade, possibly to the entire system, to make it a smoother ride.

I'm not looking to lower it or make it a track/drag car.. However I have no idea if it was lowered at some point before I owned it.

Any help and any suggestions would really be appreciated!
 
#3 ·
I'm kind of in the same boat lol all stock but someday want to lower and change suspension, but don't know where to start or what needs to be done first. The thread outlining it always sends me for spins as well.

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#4 ·
Well, if you're not gonna race it you may want to look into a IRS Swap from a cobra (that's always been a hinderance for Mustangs, their solid axle). Other than that I'm probably as lost as you in terms on what exactly makes a better ride. A lot of times it's give-and-take senarios such as having lower profile tires increases responsivness, but takes away from the "smoothness" of a ride. Alot of times that's what you have to trade-off...response vs smoothness

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#5 ·
The smoothest riding new edge I have ever been in was a stock terminator. If you want a smooth ride I would look into doing an IRS swap, for a street driven car it hooks better and rides way better by a mile.
 
#7 ·
I do appreciate the responses. And my back haha no it's more like I feel like I let the car down every time I hit a bump or road imperfection. I live in Pittsburgh so it's hard to miss all of them. I hit some of the same bumps in my Impreza and Trailblazer and I can't even feel anything. The mustang tho... It's like I'm driving over piles of bricks haha so I just want the roads to not be such a stressor on my suspension... Then again it could all just be in my head thinking I'm hurting the car..
 
#8 ·
Welcome to the forum and to the world of Mustangs. Stock, our GT cars are 'entry level' sports cars. So, expect a more responsive and stiffer drive. Consider that part of the 'fun.'

I'm doing some minor rear suspension work, also. I switched to tubular LCAs and have no more wheel hop. I changed the rear shocks and have a much smoother and a little quieter ride. I took off the busted quad shocks about a week ago, but ordered replacements today. After I install them, I'll post if there is any driving improvement. The story is that if you install tubular LCAs, you do not need the quads.

My car has a varying passenger side wheel setback. It varies from 1/8" to 3/4". I'm trying to figure out what suspension part is moving/broken. I'm eating a set of rear tires about every 8,000 miles and this is getting expensive with 275/40/17 tires.








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#13 ·
Welcome to the forum and to the world of Mustangs. Stock, our GT cars are 'entry level' sports cars. So, expect a more responsive and stiffer drive. Consider that part of the 'fun.'

I'm doing some minor rear suspension work, also. I switched to tubular LCAs and have no more wheel hop. I changed the rear shocks and have a much smoother and a little quieter ride. I took off the busted quad shocks about a week ago, but ordered replacements today. After I install them, I'll post if there is any driving improvement. The story is that if you install tubular LCAs, you do not need the quads.

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When I put the 315's on last week I noticed my quads were shot. They were seized, so I pulled them out. Stock control arms at the moment, but over the last few days of testing, I've yet to see any negative impact. In fact I made a few hard pulls to see if all my hard work and money were well spent. Surprisingly, no wheel hop. It hooks right up and goes with no drama. The MM control arms and on my build list, but at least for now I'm not having any issues.
 
#9 ·
My car rode pretty decent with the stock suspension but now with the SR lowering springs and koni shocks and struts it rides a bit stiff but I think it worth it for how it looks lowered .

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#10 ·
I agree your car looks real nice man. Again I appreciate the responses and I will get pics up asap. Hopefully tomorrow with the "heat wave" we have rolling in.

I took her out tonight to my inlaws for Halloween.. Also my bday. And I'm thinking maybe I'm just being picky. It's not really that bad. Just stiffer than my other cars.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Assuming it hasn't been lowered....
My first thought is that it's a 12 year old car and it may be in part due to fatigued suspension components. If you could get someone with some experience to drive it and offer their opinion, that should be very helpful.
Since you seem to be interested in a smoother ride, I would think new OEM parts may be the way you want to go.
Don't think you want to start replacing parts without a reasonably good idea of the outcome.
 
#12 ·
Mine handled pretty poorly with its old worn out suspension. I recently overhauled all that and it made a HUGE difference. You can check it out on the Project Pony 2.0 build thread.

The new edges are a little older at this point, and even just replacing worn out stuff with OEM parts would make a big difference in handling.

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