Lowering my 04...

[04SonicBlueGT]

Hello, im new and i was wondering if anyone can help me. i am about out to buy some black bullitts, 17X9 in the front and 17X10.5 in the rear. and i was wondering if i needed anything else then the springs... i was going to go with H&R Super Sport from american muscle.

H&R Super Sport Springs (96-04 GT/V6) at AmericanMuscle.com - Free Shipping!

my car is pretty new. it has 42,000 miles so i dont know if i need to really change anything else then the springs.

[sonicpony03]

welcome to ya

I would consider cast and camber plates along with your springs. They will prevent any uneven tread wear/cupping to those new tires on those bullitts. Usually cc plates are recommended for any drop beyond 1" on the 99-04's. Maximum Motorsports are some of the best out there, I've heard very good things about them.

Ford Mustang Caster Camber Plates at AmericanMuscle.com - Free Shipping!

If you have the cash, you could look into some shocks and struts since you're tearing that area apart. But as you said, the car's pretty new, so they're not necessary. Your stock ones should be fine for a while.

P.S. Good choice on the black bullitts...they look very good on our color cars
And post up some pics of that sonic blue GT, we don't have too many of them on the site.

[04SonicBlueGT]

y would i need camber plates? and i only have 1 picture on my fone of it before i got tints and Mach 1 Chin Spoiler.

[sonicpony03]

As the car is lowered by the aftermarket springs, the camber angle (how the tire leans when looking at the front of the car) is changed from being vertical (or close to, if you notice how the wheels sit when fully locked in either direction). This change is either inward or outward, causing your tires to wear unevenly.

If you were dropping the car .75" or 1", you could probably fix the camber by just an alignment. But when dropping larger amounts (+1.5") the cc plates are needed on the front shock towers. So basically, it you don't want to have to replace the front tires after 10k miles, I'd get the cc plates.

[WhiteStang99]

Instead of hitting the pavement like this: |
Your tires will hit the pavement like this: / or like this: \

Which basically means you will wear the inside of your tires your tires completely bald before you get any noticeable wear on the outside. CC plates are well worth it. I had Maximum Motorsports Caster/Camber plates on my 99 with a 1.5" drop and they were perfect.

[04SonicBlueGT]

i didn't think just lowering my car will be so expensive... lol geeeez. well how does the camber plate work? i replace the sotck 1 with the MM and how do i fix the wheel so it can hit the floor straight?

[sonicpony03]

Those are about the going prices for springs and cc plates. The overall cost is way more if you have them installed by a shop.

The springs/cc plates can be installed in a day or less if you have the patience, tools (impact gun), and mechanical know-how.

Here's an article I found a little while ago. This install of cc plates was done on an 02 GT.

How To Install Caster/Camber Plates - Mustang Monthly Magazine

[04SonicBlueGT]

yeah i see but all i need to do is put them on ... i dont need to mess with it to aline it myself? all i need is to get an alignment at a shop?

thanks for the advise my the way. great help

[John@NQS]

You can't go wrong with the MM plates. We have sold and installed a lot of these and have not had a failure yet. MM also offers limited lifetime warranty on the parts. The H&R springs are a nice spring as well.

As mentioned above, with that much of drop, you may have trouble getting the car back 'in spec' for alignment and the CC plates will allow for greater adjustment. Track and auto-x people like them as well as they can adjust the caster-camber for track use.

Any alignment shop should be able to align the car using the plates.

[04SonicBlueGT]

Oh ok so with just installing the MM plates myself and getting an alignment at a local shop will do the trick? and i will not have any other problems?

[SpectorV]

look at pics in my signature (link to them in there) I have H&R race. I would recommend them if you want good handling with a good drop. The sports drop you to much IMO... I am at my limit~ anymore would be to low for looks and driving ( at least to me)

you will need CC plates and in the future springs/shocks. I recommend 4 bolt Maximum motorsport plates.

[edross]

like SpectorV said H&R race give you plenty of drop, btw american muscle actually posted a couple pics of my car on there site for the H&R race lowering springs, is that cool or what

[04SonicBlueGT]

Well H&R Race Springs for GT's its only a 1.25" in the front and only 1" in the rear... no offence but thats nothing. not worth the drop if its that small. and SpectorV its different for Cobras its 1.6" in front and 1.5" in the rear. thats about what i want. H&R super sports give me 1.75" in front and 1.5" or 1.6" in the rear.

always im going to have 17" wheels not 18" so it looks like i have a huge wheel cap. and that isnt not what i want at all

[04SonicBlueGT]

Another thing i am doing it for looks only im not going to be turning at 30-40 MPH lol

[WhiteStang99]

The caster/camber plates simply allow for more adjustment than your stock setup. I don't think it's possible to have it aligned properly with a stock setup and a 1.5" drop from springs.

I had my new springs put on, then put on the caster camber plates, and took it straight to a shop, who aligned it for me with no problems.

[SpectorV]

hmm interesting, so the Race doesnt drop as much on GT's hmm oh well then the super sports sound about right, you can always run poly isolators to raise it up a tad~

you can do springs and see if the alignment is ok, its a risk as if its not the cc plates are about the same amount of work as springs and its easy to put them in while doing it~ just something you will have to decide about.

[04SonicBlueGT]

I mean I was going to go with my stock isolators. Like I said my car has pretty low miles, and so what ur suggesting is that I do the springs first to see if an rubbing occurse? If it does then I get MM plates?

[lowflyn]

go ahead and get the c/c plates, you will need them. period.

[sonicpony03]

Quote: Originally Posted by edross like SpectorV said H&R race give you plenty of drop, btw american muscle actually posted a couple pics of my car on there site for the H&R race lowering springs, is that cool or what

Hey I saw your car on the American Muscle site. Looks good man, after seeing the drop on your car, I'm probably going to get those H&R's...they look good.

[edross]

Quote: Originally Posted by sonicpony03 Hey I saw your car on the American Muscle site. Looks good man, after seeing the drop on your car, I'm probably going to get those H&R's...they look good.

thanks Sonicpony, it didnt look low enough when i took it off the stands but they settle nicely after about 200 miles

[SpectorV]

also note on MM's cc plates they allow the strut to raise up some more to offset the drop, as you lower the car more of the strut shaft is in the strut body right, makes since.

So.. the lower you go the more the strut shaft will be in the strut body all the time, this wears it out a little faster. The MM plates raise it up about an inch~ to help offset some of this.

[04SonicBlueGT]

Nice nice. thanks for the help SpectorV ur great help man. i will buy my Bullitts hopefully tomorrow friday. and then get those MM plates to then buy the H&Rs

[SpectorV]

sounds good, do a cc plate install how to (take a ton of pics mainly) we could use it on the site.