Hey all I need shocks pretty bad on my 88 TC. I currently have a set of Max Motorsports plates that I bent due to a pretty bad pothole+having cut springs+running SN95 tokicos. As of right now I have replacement plates and plan on purchasing fox body struts as they are a tiny bit shorter. I still need to figure out shocks..the guys at MM obviously recommend Koni Yellows if I can afford them. But is there anything else out there that will give me a okay ride without blowing out quickly. I know that on a lowered vehicle you should be running a good/quality strut but asides from Koni Yellows I havent heard any other options.
Bilstein, Tokico, Koni they are all good brands of dampers the problem is you are bottoming them out so they are going to have issues. The SN95 struts are physically longer in the body but have the same length stroke as the Fox units. The Fox struts are shorter in the body by about an inch and that is what most people run on the lowered SN95 Mustangs as well as the 87-88 T-Birds and Cougars. You need to make sure that you have a bump stop installed between the CC plate and the strut. It slides up and down the strut shaft and when the car bottoms out it will take up most of the impact load and helps to keep the shock from getting hammered. You may just have to get used to the idea that there is a limit to how low the car can go with the stock geometry suspension. I know that with an SLA suspension it is a bit more forgiving and the damper selection is better as you can get different lengths. Anyhow, it simply sounds like you just need to install bump stops and raise the car up a tad. If you still have the 4 cylinder in the car I would start a thread on what springs to use to lower a TC as I only know what to use on a V8 car. Anyhow, hope some of that helps and good luck.
Darren