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Handling upgrades?

2K views 25 replies 12 participants last post by  bamaboy2014 
#1 ·
Anyone that has one or both front strut and rear shock tower brace.

Where did you get it?
For what cost?
Was it worth it?
Would a 4 bolt be better than a 2 bolt for the front?

I was looking at SR performance on americanmuscle.com

I was also looking at bmr lower control arms to help with wheel hop.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Dont buy SR, it's junk.

While sway bars are a pretty moderate investment in terms of affordability, and improvement, i personally wouldnt do them at this time. Typically sway bars are the last piece in a suspension puzzle and used for fine tuning either over or understeer. That being said, some people prefer to put very stiff sway bars on factory suspension so they can have a pleasant ride around town, and then some decent stiffness in the corners. This method "can" work if done well, so just make sure you use quality pieces if you go this route.


You dont need a strut tower brace, and none of the designs on these cars are really any good.

What exactly are you trying to accomplish here with these mods?
 
#7 ·
I do a lot of highway driving and if i go over some bumps or uneven pavement the car shakes pretty bad from side to side, I think its called "cowl shake" the faster I am going the worse it is. One time I almost lost control of it scared the **** out of me.:eek:
 
#4 ·
For me I've had the boss 302 strut tower $70 @ Cj pony when they run the sale. I had the sr lower springs before and they wasn't too bad if you want to be around a 1 1/2" or better drop. I currently have the ford "P" springs and the ride and look great with around a 1" drop. The j&m aluminum adj panhard bar works well. I have a new set of gt500 lower control arms sitting in the box for two months that I haven't installed yet. But to summarize everything the springs and lower control arms would be your best bang for the buck.


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J120A using Mustang Evolution mobile app
 
#5 ·
I had a 15 Ecoboost with Performance Package which came with a K brace tying the strut towers to the cowl but no strut to strut brace. I installed the Ford Performance strut towers brace. It made a very noticeable improvement in the composure of the front of the car over rough or broken pavement. For that alone I would say it is well worth the price.
 
#6 ·
The big question that should be answered. Is do you want the car to feel like it handles better? Or do you want it to actually handle better? Many people confuse these and are really content with a "tighter" suspension by just putting on stiffer springs and sway bars. Marginally better handling, but its stiffer so it feels "better".

And I add to the motion of SR being junk.
 
#14 ·
Agree with the factory shocks and struts being crap from day one. I changed mine when my Mustang only had a couple thousand miles on it. Got rid of the floating and 50% of the harder braking 'nose dive'. I use the Koni orange ones 7 years ago and they are still good. I have read about some of the Koni orange ones having quality issues the last couple years :(. Something about squeaking sounds............
 
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#23 ·
ttt



"Something about squeaking sounds..." Speaking from painful first person experience here, yes, that struggle is real. I may never own another set of Koni shocks again after my last set.
 
#21 ·
I bought the ones made for the 2005-2010 Mustangs because the ones made for the 2011 weren't being made yet, at the time. I also had to use the GT500 strut mounts. I'm happy I did because when I removed my factory strut mounts, little ball bearings fell out and went everywhere:(. The GT500 strut mounts don't do this :).
 
#22 · (Edited)
Plus one on SR being junk, and another plus one because they have a little problem with stealing intellectual property (the "SR" watts link that is actually a Fays2 watts link that almost got them sued).

Next, braces are great for separating money from owner on this chassis, and nothing else.

Now, on to shocks. In the last year, all four of my Konis have died. The rears had internal failures, while the fronts actually sheared the rod in half. Your options are Bilstein, then your $1000+ per corner manufacturers. If you are an engineer with a background in suspension design, you *can* make a custom Fortune Auto work (not a well known option, but I have been pleased with their ability to build to a provided spec). Their off the shelf stuff is pretty awful though. They are only halfway through the first season, so no data on service life yet.

Side note, if you are a good enough driver, the stock stuff actually works pretty well. I was able to outrun some pretty fast guys in the same class with a bone stock 2012 GT500 (which is the slowest of the S197 family). You just need to be patient with it while waiting for the chassis to take a set, and plan way ahead.
 
#24 ·
Side note, if you are a good enough driver, the stock stuff actually works pretty well. I was able to outrun some pretty fast guys in the same class with a bone stock 2012 GT500 (which is the slowest of the S197 family). You just need to be patient with it while waiting for the chassis to take a set, and plan way ahead.
I learned to plan ahead with the Stock V6 Performance Package and surprised a lot of GT's as I was leaving them in the corner :whistling:
 
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