The website I was going to buy the Eibach Pro springs from said they don't carry them no more, but its still on there website. Go Figure. Any way I am looking for a set of springs for my '86 V8 T-Bird for autocrossing. Would like to know where I can get some spring within the next week. really would like to know. Any help is appreciated.
http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/ProductDisplay/s-10101/makeId-1000114/p-4817/c-10101/modelId-1001315
I noticed them there, but do you know if they have them and what are the spring rates.
the rears are unavailable through jc whitney
run your stock stuff, get a feel for the car before you make any changes, making a bunch of changes makes it hard to get a good starting point for mods
I understand but I needed some new springs anyway, mine are sagging in the front BAD.
I just got a set of 1in drop springs for a sn95. It dropped my 88 xr7 about 1.5in all around. They are the Ford motor sport springs. The ride was fine until I installed the heavy duty shocks. The ride quality isn't all that great now but its nice to be able to corner without alot of body roll. Plus the roads here in Illinois suck with our car swallowing pot holes.
I was thinking about that but not sure, if that worked for you maybe it can work for me. Was it the M-5300-C kit or something else?
I am wanting to say it was the F kit but I am not sure anymore.
Don't use the C kit rears on a Tbird/Cougar...load rating is too low.
Fronts are nice though.
"F" kit sounds about right for one of the SN-95 kits, and the load ratings on the rear springs is much better.
C kit is only good if you are looking for a low stance.
yeah and C springs might be to low to shove 245/50/16 tires underneath huh! And I would have to buy both kits if I want the C fronts and F rears i'll bet. Nice idea but to much money.
I use C kits on the front with a 1/4" spacer....work fine and sit fine. They also have a nice spring rate. The rears are just too wimpy for the backs of these cars.
Give the F's a try.
I have 225/50 R16 on mine and I don't think I would have any problem fitting 245's.
I've got 245 front 255 rear...and I know folks who have wider. My ex's 83 ran 245/50-16s and it was as low as mine is. It will depend more on your wheels.
i used to run truck tires on mine lol, 255 60-15, and 225/70-15 on seperate occasions, and never had problems. (truck tires are good for hopp'n curbs :p)
I have 275/40/17's on the rear and can drop it on the bumpstops with room to spare. That's with Fox Mustang width axles and some fender rolling, there is actually room to go wider.
Well, considering that I am autocrossing the car (which is the reason i am getting the springs). I will probably go with the c springs. I know that the rates on the rear are a little low, but its higher than the Eibachs I was going to get, they 150-200 progressive, the c's are 200-300 progressive. The only thing is is that the book says it wil lower a V8 Mustang 1 inch in the front and 2 inches in the back. that might be a little to low for 245's, I don't know, any body tried it.
I don't know if this will hepl but my 91 Mark VII will sit low enough that the lers drag and my 245/50zr16 fit.
You are not reading what I wrote. yes the
spring rates are higher..but the
load rating is MUCH lower. It is much too low for a TBird IMO....ie we're talking 400+# less load capacity on the rear springs vs the stockers.....
A 245 isn't that much wider than a 225. On my car with the c springs the back wheel tucks about 1/2 inch. And Orange Crush said he could drop the back to the bumpstops and he is running 275's. So if you would pay attention they will fit. C springs for autocrossing? :screwy: Trust me C springs are only good for lowering on a cougar or tbird. Listen to Chuck he knows his stuff.
OK, but what would be good springs, the F springs are kinda low for what I want to use them for and I would like to have some higher rate springs to keep the body roll down. And just saying, I may be wrong, I thought load rating for springs was for if you are towing, which I am not doing.
http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?t=62
maybe that will help
The load rating on a spring is how much weight it's able to support....on a stock TBird/Cougar rear spring, this value is 950#, per spring...on the C-kits, it's 730# per spring. It doesn't have to do with only towing...it also hold the rear of the car up. We're talking about almost 450# less rating. Some of the other lowering springs raise this value to almost 800#. That's about the minimum you'd want on one of these (I've 4-corner weighed my car (83 2.3T) and with driver the rear weight of the car was just about 1600#.
Now the front rate on the C-kits is 650# (linear), while the stock, and most "lowering springs" are 425-530# progressive. The C-kit fronts are pretty good springs, and unless you step-up to the eibach competition set (750-850#), it's hard to find much heavier these days. The F or G kits both offer higher spring rates than stock on the front and about the same on the rear, with much better load ratings to hold the heavy hind end of these cars up. Unless you get custom springs there isn't really much choice these days.
It also all depends on what mods the class you are wanting to run in allows. Have you checked that out? Sometimes adding c/c plates bumps you into a modifed class. The reason I ask is you can set thing up differently if you can fiddle with the alignment far past what you can do with the stock stuff.
What is allowed in the class you want to run? That should be one of the first things you figure out. Springs, struts, geometry, tires all play a key part in helping these things handle, but unless you know what you are allowed to change and what you aren't you really have no direction to go.
I know Hawk might have something to say on this matter as well. He's very knowledgeable about setting these chassis up as well.
The class I fell under with the previous mods I already had put me in E Street Prepared. The supension mods are open to any and everything as long as it uses the stock mounting locations, you can't use coil-overs on a fox body in this class. I checked and i can use caster/camber plates, I ordering MM plates when I order the springs. I just have to figure out the spring issue.
Start with something like the F or G kit and dial in as much positive caster as you can with those c/c plates to help with the camber gain on turn. Also, get at least the large stock front bar (33mm) and use poly bushings.
Then drive the car for a bit and see what it needs. If you decide then that the front springs are too soft, you can then hunt down something different (stiffer) like the C-kits or even the Eibach Comp front springs. I know you can get just the C-kit fronts from KBs.
Thanks for the advice Chuck, I ordered the F springs from Summit and will install them on the car and let ya'll know how they worked out and how everything went at the autocross.
Got The springs in. The car looks really good and the F springs give it a low stance. I lowered about 2 inches in the back and about 1 inch in the rear. When you push down on it the front feels a little stiff but the rear is kinda on the soft side, I am guessing because of the GR-2 shocks. The car rides about the same to, I did run into a clerance problem though with the 245 width tires,I had to trim the front inner finder liners because under hard cornering the liners would rub at the top. One thing I noticed that was still the same is that the lower control arms are smiling. I did that even before I installed the springs. Some one told me that the car was converted from a V6 to a V8 and thats why the lowers are like that, but the vin says its a V8, and besides the new springs are V8 springs. Are all T-Birds like this when lowered?
BTW, set caster to 1 degree + on both sides with C/C plates, that was all I could get, and both of the old front springs were broken. It looks like they got rusty an snaped from the rust at the bottom of the spring.
ALL Fox bodies are like that when lowered....
all i can say is bbk-2501 on summitracing.com
Autocrossed the T-Bird today. The body roll went down dramataclly and the car felt really good on the tight course we ran today. I might need to adjust the camber a little though, the outside of the tire was wearing only. More caster helped on the turn ins to, thanks again Chuck W. I plan on adding shocks and sway bars later.
BTW, I took 1st in my class today to :grinno: