another spring/strut/shock question...

Topic: another spring/strut/shock question... (Read 2019 times) previous topic - next topic

another spring/strut/shock question...

January 12, 2015, 10:19:29 PM

been looking on here for a few hours now major headache cant figure out what I wanna here.

I have and 87 sport it was a 5.0 car from birth.

I bought a full set of sn95 springs years ago. put them up front not much difference.

put them in the rear sagged like I had a trunk full of bricks... took them back off and put stock sport springs back under the rear.

im going to redo most of the suspension...

for the rear I already have old school Kenny brown single adjustable lowers, stock uppers.... for now gonna get a set of CHE uppers eventualy.

question for that is can I cut a coil out of the rear springs or is that gonna make it sag again?? also I see I would need chuck w shock mount things, so is there any other kind of shocks for the back other than tbird ones??

on to the front, I have stock struts with sn95 springs.... how much would cutting a coil outta them lower it and what struts should I run?? tbird or sn95??

don't wanna go super low...

the cars gonna do a lil bit of everything. street drag and I wanna try autocross with it...

any help would be greatly appreciated

thanks kevin

another spring/strut/shock question...

Reply #1 – January 12, 2015, 10:23:04 PM

forgot to mention running roh wheels 225/50r16 up front and 255/50r16 in rear if that's any factor

another spring/strut/shock question...

Reply #2 – January 12, 2015, 10:49:56 PM

The chef arms can be had with an adjustable spring perch that will raise the spring by an inch or two, plus being adjustable.

another spring/strut/shock question...

Reply #3 – January 13, 2015, 12:04:31 AM

If you lower the rear much, you WILL need the Chuck shock brackets. Otherwise, you can order Tbird length shocks from any decent parts store that doesn't have slack-jawed mouth breathing neanderthals behind the counter. You know...the ones who ask if the car has air conditioning when you're ordering brake pads for an '84 Mustang. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

The Chuck brackets allow shorter, more common shocks to be used, such as Fox shocks. My advice...figure out your ride height, then measure...not once, not twice, but several times with the car on level ground, then get a rough idea of the length you need, and then talk to a knowledgeable suspension guy and see what you'll need. You don't want one that's too long, nor too short. I made this mistake on my Tbird once...the rear was so tight that running over a rubber band caused the thing to almost come off the ground. I've got a burnout video where the ass end was bouncing because the rear wasn't set up properly.

another spring/strut/shock question...

Reply #4 – January 13, 2015, 10:09:54 AM

X2 on the Chuck W shock mounts! My car was lowered for several years but with T-bird Monroe Sensa-Trac shocks. When I finally went to the Chuck W adapters and Fox Mustang shocks, I discovered that my old shocks were seriously screwed up from riding out of their "sweet spot". Plus the car rides and handles really well now!

My setup is non-adjustable lower CHE arms, adjustable upper CHE arms (to set pinion angle), Moog Turbo Coupe-spec rear springs with a couple coils cutoff, TC sway bar, Chuck W adapters, Tokico Fox Mustang shocks/struts.

Edit; guess I should mention up front I am running Fox Mustang Steeda springs (bought off ebay no idea any of the specs)

another spring/strut/shock question...

Reply #5 – January 13, 2015, 11:20:07 AM

Do you know what year and model of SN95 Mustang you got the springs from? The reason I ask is that for every year of Mustang there are several different spring rates of springs depending on which car they come off of i.e. convertible V6, convertible GT, convertible Cobra, hardtop Cobra, V6 coupe, GT coupe, etc.

You only use Chuck's rear shock adapters if you are going to run the Fox Mustang or SN95 Mustang rear shocks as they are physically shorter than the stock Thunderbird / Cougar rear shocks by about 1-1/2" or so in the body. The only difference between the two is the SN95 shocks have internal bump stops.

For the front if you are going to keep the car stock height or drop it mildly (like an 1" or less) then my personal preference would be to go with the SN95 Mustang struts. If you are going to lower the car more than that then go with the Fox Mustang struts. This all has to do with the spindle mounting location on the body of the struts which makes the Fox Mustang struts a little better for dropped cars. Another suggestion would be Maximum Motorsports caster / camber plates for the car as they are very helpful in getting the front geometry dialed in (think alignment) but pay attention to the installation as the instructions are very clear on how to install the strut into the CC plates depending on the ride height of the car.

With all of that said the only other thing I can think of is making sure you installed the front springs correctly into the coil spring pocket in the front control arm. Look at the illustration of the spring placement on the bottom of page three in these installation instructions for the FMS "C" Springs:

http://1.cdn.lib.americanmuscle.com/files/ford-racing-mustang-c-springs-install.pdf

Good luck with the car!

Darren

another spring/strut/shock question...

Reply #6 – January 13, 2015, 03:52:09 PM

I'm willing to bet those spring were off a hardtop stang
I pulled mine from a 96 gt vert and it gave me a good drop in the rear not too low
I have 315s out back and even with 2 subs, a box, and 2 amps it doesn't sag low enough to cause probs
It does get pretty low when people get in the back though

If your going to cut the springs cut only a bit at a time off

On my 87 TC I cut off about 5/8 of a coil off the Front stock springs to get me where I wanted
Start at 1/2 coil then about 1/4 increments maybe even 1/8

another spring/strut/shock question...

Reply #7 – January 13, 2015, 08:08:51 PM

Talked to chuck bout shock mounts currently dosnt have any and isnt making some for awhile. So I guess stock tbird shocks it is for the rear.

As for what the sn95 springs came out of I cant remember its been years.

So I may cut half a coil off them and see where it gets me. Still unsure as to how low thats gonna be to determine what struts I need.

Also I bought caster camber plates few weeks sgo forgot I had them..

another spring/strut/shock question...

Reply #8 – January 13, 2015, 08:15:36 PM

The more I look at it I dont mind the rear. More room for drag radials or fatter tires. I judt wanna get the nose down a lil

another spring/strut/shock question...

Reply #9 – January 13, 2015, 08:16:53 PM

Other weird news after bein a member for 5 yeats I finally was able to post a pic ha!!!

another spring/strut/shock question...

Reply #10 – January 13, 2015, 08:30:57 PM

side view