[braupe]

I am in the process of buliding my front suspension (as much aspossible with out changing the k member) and was wondering if I should invest $160 in 03 cobra control arms, and what are the benefits? I already have c/c plates and lowering springs, but I want a stiffer sway bar and Bump steer kit. Am I forgeting anything? Also is a 30mm cobra sway bar a good choice?

Thanks,

Braupe

[braupe]

I am in the process of building my front suspension and was wondering what strut to go with? I want an adujustable strut that I can make loose for the drag strip but can also make stiff for the road course. Would a lakewood 70/30 or 90/10 do the job?

[reivaxtorres]

dont get the cobra control arms. they are of no benefit to 99+ mustangs aside from 30% stiffer bushings, which you can get for a lot cheaper than $160, even if you go thru ford.
if you had a 94-98 car, it would improve turing radius by about 10%.

30mm front sway bar wouldnt really help you unless you upgrade the rear one while you are at it. if you only upgrade the front one with a stiffer one, you will be getting a lot of understeer, more so than it already has. sway bars work together, so either upgrade them both or niether one. for your car, i would suggest 04 cobra front sway bar and 98 cobra rear sway bar.

also, if you want to improve the handling of you car, also get the strut tower brace like you said in your sig (awaiting install) and also get the rear shock tower brace. i got mine from Home for your Ford Mustang @ Blue Oval Industries and it was a very, very easy install. reduces trunk space (which might not work with that 12" sub), but i really felt the difference. also dont forget the subframe connectors.

[Snackmaster]

I've always been a fan of Tokicos adjustables. Lakewood's are a good choice as well.

[braupe]

Thanks for the advise, I am planning on focusing on the front first, them doing a irs swap on the rear. Do you like yours? Also is a bump steer kit worth it?

[braupe]

Thanks Snackmaster,

Are lakewoods stiff enough for road course?

[Snackmaster]

That I couldn't tell you (but I'm sure someone here can chime in). I just know a lot of guys run Lakewoods and will never look back.

[reivaxtorres]

good choice on the IRS, i really like it on my car. car handles a lot better and it rides better as well. barely starting to do mods on it, i had planned on lowering it this weekend but that fell thru as some other work took a little longer than expected.

when you get the IRS, swap out the subframe bushings for polyurathane ones while it is still off the car, this will make it so much easier for you. and stick with an 03/04 cobra unit. those are a little better than 99/01 units. also, whatever you do, DON'T get the polyurathane spring insulators. i got them for the front of my car and it picks up all the road vibrations. when i lower it again, i will be putting in the stock ones.

and no, the bumpsteer kit is not worth it unless your car is lower than 2.5". before the IRS swap, my car had a 2" drop with the lower spring insulators removed and i did not need the bumpsteer kit, i just needed the cc plates which i never installed because i always kept the tires rotated and thus the wear never got bad.

[reivaxtorres]

i have tokico d spec struts and had the d spec shocks on my car when it had the solid axle, and trust me these were really good between switching between the track and the road course. wait until you are ready to install the IRS you want to get and the dspec kit for the 04 cobra (rear shocks for a gt will not work with an IRS, something about the IRS has stiffer spring rates and the shock wont handle the spring).

with my IRS, it came with the factory Bilstien shocks, and those, even tho they arent adjustable, seem like they do the job just fine.

[braupe]

ha ha, I do the same thing right now, I rotate once a month because my c/c plates are not in yet. Ok I will avoid the poly isolators and the bump steer kit.

[reivaxtorres]

Originally Posted by braupe

ha ha, I do the same thing right now, I rotate once a month because my c/c plates are not in yet. Ok I will avoid the poly isolators and the bump steer kit.

yeah, lately i have gotten lazy and my tires show it, but i used to drift once a month and i always swapped rims and tires when i went to the track, so it was perfect for me to rotate them while i already had them off.

i need new front tires right now, so that makes me even lazier to rotate them, haha

[markwondi]

Lakewood struts are NOT adjustable. A 90/10 strut will be severely bouncy on a street car, i've done it.

For an adjustable set of struts, QA1 and Strange are good.

[markwondi]

I'm going to be the odd man out, and suggest you use a panhard bar/torque arm setup rather than the IRS.

[reivaxtorres]

Originally Posted by markwondi

I'm going to be the odd man out, and suggest you use a panhard bar/torque arm setup rather than the IRS.

not the odd man out, i was thinking of going that route with my car until i drove my friends car that has a similar setup. while it handled tons better than my old setup, he also took me for a spin on our local freeways and some local streets and the ride was horrible/noisey. since my car is my DD, i choose to go a slightly less performance oriented route and got the IRS for both comfort and performance. i know the panhard bar will out perform the IRS if setup properly, but i just didnt want to have a bad ride quality. maybe if i ever get another mustang for track-only duty i will go that route, but for now this works for me

[braupe]

Thanks markwondi, Would strange be a good compromise?