Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums

Just redid the front end.  New rack, balljoints, tie rods, etc....  I put new springs in.  99 Mustang Gt front springs.  Moog Part #8594.  383 rate.  78-04 Ford Fox body. 

I was under the impression from searching this forum that SN95 springs would lower my car about an inch.  However it is on the ground and I am 4x4'n. 3 1/2 inches between fender and tire.  This is higher than the stock springs that were on it.  The car is an 84 with snowflakes on it.  Does my car have to be an 87/88 to use SN95 springs? 

I have to redo it, I won't be able to live with this.  What springs will bring me down around 2 inch gap?  Obviously I don't know how to search because I did and screwed everything up.

With an older car, I'd have suggested driving around the block to cycle the suspension and settle things out before panicking.  Can you see if anything is binding?  Did you set it down before tightening everything up, or did you tighten things up while the suspension was unloaded (hanging)?

somethings up,  I'm using the 01 mustang bullitt springs and that gives me 2 fingers on the front with a 351w based stroker and the rear you need to use the adjustable control arms to bring it up.

I forgot to add that the motor is a 5.0 with aluminum heads/intake.  Install went perfect considering this is my 4th time rebuilding a T-bird front end.  I am going to string it tomorrow to align it.  I will drive it around and see if it settles any.  I did stand on the bumper and jump up and down.  It didn't seem to have an effect, still 3.5 inches.

Did you take the control arms off?

If you did, and you torqued the bolts down with the suspension unloaded and hanging, then you'll have a higher stance. The fix is to place your car on something secure, with the suspension loaded (vehicle's weight, no more) and loosen things up, a bit, maybe push down on the bumper a few times to help it settle, and retorque everything. Als, driving it around a bit afterwards will help too.

Also, in the control arms, there's an indentation where the springs sit, you have to have the spring set just right, or it will likely cause a bit higher ride height.

I've got '97 GT springs in mine, and last week I yanked a set from a '00 that I also grabbed the calipers and brackets from. They'll be going in my '88 'Bird once the "WussStang" is "done".

Control arms didn't come off.  I changed balljoints, stabilizer links, and tie rods.  Springs are seated with pigtails in the correct position, only covering one of the drain holes as per the service manual suggestion.

Part # breakdown for stock spring replacements from Moog Top is T-Bird, bottom is Cougar.
(http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk191/V8Demon/Car%20Tech/Moog-Tbird-Springs.jpg)
(http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk191/V8Demon/Car%20Tech/Moog-Cougar-Springs.jpg)

Here is an actual spec sheet for Moog springs.  I'm posting a direct link because it is a large file; rather long.
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk191/V8Demon/Car%20Tech/MoogSpringsspecsheet-1.png
Open it in a new tab and scroll down.  The part #'s are in ascending numerical order.

What part # would correspond to you in stock trim?  Still running the stock control arms or  have they been swapped out?  Are you running spring perches?  Any weight reduction/parts removed from the front end? 

It would seem part # 8732 would bring you down a bit if you did in fact receive the correct part # to begin with. 

For what it's worth, I'm running Moog #8598 up front and Moog # 8599 out back.  Aluminum heads, no A/C, new style starter (18 pounds lighter) and she sits like this:
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/t31.0-8/1956720_623088174450377_1829759368_o.jpg)

Tires sizes are 235/60-15 front and 255/60-15 rear.  I would question as to whether or not you did in fact you received the right part #.  If I ran that part #, I'd be stanced/hellaflush/whatever they call it.

Thank you v8 Demon for that spec sheet!  Mine were part number 8594.  I will be going outside and digging up the box out of the trash to double check that I got the right parts. 

According to the spec sheet everything between an 8594 and 8598 are the same except the rating.  Mine is 383 and yours are 415.  My tire size is 225-60-16.

I really like the 225/60 size. its impossible to find cheap in a 15" rim now.

I drove it today and it seems to have settled a little bit.  Around 2 1/4 inch gap now.  Here is the before pic and an after pic. 

Thanks for all the suggestions, I am going to drive it like it is for a while to see how things go.

Second picture doesn't work for me.

I'm only seeing the "before" picture (like the one in the first post).

Are you planning on getting an alignment soon?

Sorry about the pic issue.  Instead of uploading the pic again I'm going to wait until tomorrow and just post a full car pic.  The pic I took was py cellphone pic anyway.  I did go get it aligned today and it rides very nice.  Eventually down the line I'm going to cut a little off of the spring coil and lower it a bit more.  That will be early spring though when I paint the car.

New struts?
Spring isolators installed?

I've got new struts on my Mustang, along with new everything else up front except springs, and I've noticed it sits a little higher than it did, but mine is a 2.3 car for now. BTW, OP, what size are your front tires? I did pretty much the same as you did on my Sport, there's no way in hell I had 2.5 inches between rubber and fender. My fronts are/were 245/70 on a 17" Bullitt wheel and they filled the wheelwell quite nicely, and rubbed a little, at that. Those are on the Stang now, however. When I get back to the 'Bird it'll be getting 4 lug swapped, the 5 lug stuff is going under another car. I'm gonna run turbines...I like the look too ed much to have it any other way.

Struts and strut mounts are less than a year old and new ones had to be special ordered so I didn't change them.  New isolators were put on.  (Thank goodness I live near Jegs because no regular parts store carries them.) 

Wheels are snowflakes with 225/60/16's.

I think your car should sit lower. You can see how mine sits in my sig. That's with stock LX springs and 225/55/16 tires.

Current ride height. 

Looks like it has settled down a bit..?

Looks good, nice layout. ;)

I am still not happy with the height, I can't live with the front being higher than the back.  It settled a little over an inch.  I'm at about 2 1/4 gap from the 3.5 after install.  The back are moog cargo coils (I have a big speaker box in the trunk)

Spacers....air shocks....or new springs.

Does anyone make an adjustable rear LCA for these cars? If so, that would help as well.

CHE performance does and I think maximum motorsports does too

Dude this looks nice and clean, aside from the front sitting a little high it is very well executed.
How does the front ride right now?

Hmm.  The Cargo Coils show a spring rate of 340 lbs/inch.  The 8599's are rated at 249....
A 225/60-16 works out to 26.6 inches...  How old are the rear springs?  The cargo coils shouldn't sit THAT low....

Maximum Motorsports sells adjustable lowers for these cars.  CHE sells adjustable ride height lowers and double adjustable uppers (nice for setting pinion angle).
The lowers:  http://www.cheperformance.com/prod-103.htm
The uppers:  http://www.cheperformance.com/prod-118.htm

As far as the cargo coils they are brand new.  They sit that low because I have a box with 2 12's, a full size spare, a floor jack, 2 jack stands, a 4x4 block of wood. and a 60 pound tool bag in the trunk. :P

Take all that  out of the trunk. If not, go spend $70 for a new set of air shocks, then you can level it out easily any time.

Sounds like about 200 pounds, +/-, that needs to find another place to reside. ;)

Yep. You really can't complain that the rear squats when you fill the trunk with all that junk. With all of that weight, if the springs didn't squat, then you'd have a car that rides like a 3/4 ton pickup.

I've got a stupid question.  Our cars tend to break just less than a full coil from the bottom, did you get the leftovers and the spring seat out of the control arm first?  If you're not looking for it it could be hard to spot.

Also, with having all that "stuff" in the trunk, it'll raise the nose some as the weight is behind the rear wheels. Empty the trunk and re-check your ride height. You might be surprised. Just my .02

John


Foe, are those black wheels from a crown vic cop car??

Yup.  They work for now, but I had to use 1" adapter spacers (7 inches backspacing!) and the front are out too far now for 245/45r17s.  Sometime soon, I've got to come up with a different solution.

Foe, I'm not too well versed on the differences of the CV wheels, but would the other years (before or after 2003) make a difference in your favor?

Prior to 05 they used a 16 inch steel wheel, with the same backspacing as Mustang, but I don't have 16" tires, I have 17" tires.