[icckart]

I just installed Koni yellows all around, Steeda sport springs and HD mounts (got the 2011+ Koni struts). It took a full (long) day to install everything + do an initial "eyeball" alignment. I know LOTS of you are running this setup - or with the 2010 style mount and struts. I'm curious what specs. people are running:
1) How many turns (front and rear) on the Koni's - meaning FROM full soft towards firm?
2) How much neg. camber do you run (for a DD)?
3) Does anyone "mark" their strut towers with various camber setting - so you can use the nice HD mount "arrows" and adjust between DD setting and "track" setting?
4) Did you do anything on the rear to compensate for the 1.5" drop (adj. panhard or ?).
5) Did you change front or rear sway-bars too?

The car LOOKS a lot nicer now, with a slight forward rake.
Comparing the Steeda springs with the factory (Brembo) ones, the Steeda's look rather "wimpy". Supposedly the BBP front/rear rates are: 131/167. The Steeda sports are: 200/175 (both linear I think - don't know about the BBP factory units for sure though).

I'll post a "feel" update when I have some more experience, and have things more dialed-in. Impressive difference so far though!

My initial setting will (after a real alignment tomorrow) be:
Koni => 1.5 turns front, 1.0 turns rear
HD mounts => set for -1.5 deg. Camber both sides

Any words of wisdom will be greatly appreciated!

 

[JAJ5Point0]

1) How many turns (front and rear) on the Koni's - meaning FROM full soft towards firm?

1/2 turn for the street, 2 turns for the track (with Steeda Sports).

2) How much neg. camber do you run (for a DD)?

-1.2 to -1.6 is all fine.

3) Does anyone "mark" their strut towers with various camber setting - so you can use the nice HD mount "arrows" and adjust between DD setting and "track" setting?

- no. I use H&R camber bolts to set the base setting and then go "all the way in" for track and "all the way out" for the street. The difference is exactly 1.0 degrees. There is negligible toe change.

4) Did you do anything on the rear to compensate for the 1.5" drop (adj. panhard or ?).

Fays2 Watts Link - it's centered and it rides better.

5) Did you change front or rear sway-bars too?

- no.

My initial setting will (after a real alignment tomorrow) be:
Koni => 1.5 turns front, 1.0 turns rear
HD mounts => set for -1.5 deg. Camber both sides

Those settings are ok, although the dampers will make the ride a little stiff. It depends what you like.

 

[Surfergeek]

Subscribed for input ....

Did the same thing this weekend only difference being after talking with Sam about my order (StranoParts) we went with the Ultralites instead of the sports. According to Sam, performance difference between the two is almost indistinguishable.

For now I am set with the Steedamounts all the way to the outside per the instructions until I can get an alignment. And I put the Koni's at full soft all the way around.

Even without the necessary tweaking, it's a huge improvement!

 

[F91]

For DD I have 3/4 of a turn front and zero back. Probably should go full soft. I did have to use an an adjustable PHB after a 1.5 inch drop. The rear was off center about 3/4 of an inch. Same sways.

 

[icckart]

Did the same thing this weekend only difference being after talking with Sam about my order (StranoParts) we went with the Ultralites instead of the sports. According to Sam, performance difference between the two is almost indistinguishable.

Sam told me (after a discussion about my local road pavement quality) that the Ultralites would ride a little stiffer. I assumed that meant they had a higher spring rate. Sam claimed that the "progressive" (non-linear) part on the Ultralites is just a "keeper" spring, and should have no real effect. However, here's a direct quote from Steeda:

The Ultralites actually have a softer spring rate than the Sports. They have a 195lb front spring rate as compared to the 200lb front spring rate of the Sports. The rears are the same rate.

Sam may be wrong on this one???

Thanks for the input everyone. I suspect I'll end up with a Watt's Linkage (soon). Sam told me I'd NOT need an adj. PHB since, with "only" 1.25 in. drop in the rear, the axle shift should only be 1/8 in. or so. F91 - 3/4 in. sounds like enough I'd want to adj. it out too. Guess I better measure mine...

 

[5.0_SD]

Sam may be wrong on this one???

I doubt that...Sam is one of the most knowledgeable people in the world about Mustang suspension setups...I would trust what he says. I'm pretty sure he isn't active on this forum, but he is on many others...there are a couple other one's out there that have very knowledgeable people who race their Mustangs and know tons about the suspension setups for these cars.

 

[icckart]

I doubt that...Sam is one of the most knowledgeable people in the world about Mustang suspension setups...I would trust what he says. I'm pretty sure he isn't active on this forum, but he is on many others...there are a couple other one's out there that have very knowledgeable people who race their Mustangs and know tons about the suspension setups for these cars.

Yeah, I'm aware of that. However, on one of those other forums he ALSO posted that he doesn't sell many Ultralites compared to Sports. If the Ultralites indeed are stiffer/harsher - some other factor is at play (perhaps the extra 1/4 in. drop???). I'm pretty sure Steeda (Brandon) knows their own products well. Sam specifically recommended going with the better ride quality of the Sports on my crappy local roads. His GF lives near, and he's personally driven some of the roads - said the Ultralites might be a bit too harsh. I don't care about the extra 1/4 in. lowering they provide.

Doesn't matter anyway - I doubt there's much real-world diff. between the two springs. I'm just curious about this apparent conflict (Sam vs. Steeda). I must be missing something?

 

[SteedaBrandon]

I just installed Koni yellows all around, Steeda sport springs and HD mounts (got the 2011+ Koni struts). It took a full (long) day to install everything + do an initial "eyeball" alignment. I know LOTS of you are running this setup - or with the 2010 style mount and struts. I'm curious what specs. people are running:
1) How many turns (front and rear) on the Koni's - meaning FROM full soft towards firm?
2) How much neg. camber do you run (for a DD)?
3) Does anyone "mark" their strut towers with various camber setting - so you can use the nice HD mount "arrows" and adjust between DD setting and "track" setting?
4) Did you do anything on the rear to compensate for the 1.5" drop (adj. panhard or ?).
5) Did you change front or rear sway-bars too?

The car LOOKS a lot nicer now, with a slight forward rake.
Comparing the Steeda springs with the factory (Brembo) ones, the Steeda's look rather "wimpy". Supposedly the BBP front/rear rates are: 131/167. The Steeda sports are: 200/175 (both linear I think - don't know about the BBP factory units for sure though).

I'll post a "feel" update when I have some more experience, and have things more dialed-in. Impressive difference so far though!

My initial setting will (after a real alignment tomorrow) be:
Koni => 1.5 turns front, 1.0 turns rear
HD mounts => set for -1.5 deg. Camber both sides

Any words of wisdom will be greatly appreciated!

Camber settings:
OE: -.7°
Street: -.7° to -1.0°
Street (Aggressive): -1.0° to -1.25°

Our Sport springs do have a linear rate of 200lbs (F) & 175lbs (R).

We do recommend an adjustable panhard bar, but it is not required for the drop that the Sports provide. Just depends on how far off it already was/is from the factory. :bigthumbsup

Let me know if I can help you with anything.

 

[icckart]

Thanks Brandon for your replies. Just out of curiosity can you comment on your spring material vs. stock:
Since I had to take off the stock (BBP) springs and put the Steeda Sports on right afterwards (and I personally did the install), I noticed a fairly significant difference in size/weight - both fronts and rears - stock vs. Steeda. The stock units seemed huge and heavy in comparison. I know different metal alloys have vastly different properties (tensile strength vs. weight, etc.). However, the Steeda Sports seemed thinner/smaller/lighter than stock units, but have significantly higher spring rates. Is it just "Steeda magic" (or cheapo Ford OEM) that makes smaller lighter springs STIFFER - or am I trading something?

One trade-off: The loss of >1" of travel to full compression (i.e. hitting the bump stop). Since that 167 lbs rating (BBP stock rears) is linear and actually (I believe?) in units of "lbs/inch" of compression, doesn't that mean that the stock springs actually need to be slightly STRONGER (thus the size/weight diff.)? If it's 167 lbs/in (vs. 175 lbs/in) - BUT stock has a full 1.25" MORE total travel - aren't they actually STIFFER at FULL compression???

 

[icckart]

Forgot to mention: It seemed I had to CRANK on the spring compressors a LOT more to get the stock units compressed enough to get them off, due to needing to actually shorten them much more (that extra 1").

 

[icckart]

Sorry for all the posts - just curiosity.

A little research showed me that ACTUAL (i.e. effective) spring rate is a little more complex than I though: Depending upon not only material, but "wire" diameter, winding diameter, number of "active" coils, coil "bind", etc. - and that's only for linear springs!

So - are Steeda Ultralites "harsher" (with slightly less travel, slightly progressive taper, but a slightly lower K in the front)? Just wondering why Sam recommended I go with Sports if I wanted a less "bumpy" ride quality over poor road surfaces???

 

[Sharad]

I'm daily driving with my Koni Sports at +1.75 turns front and +1.5 turns rear. I autocrossed the car with this adjustment and I liked how the car handled, but for an HPDE I'd probably start with +2F and +1.75R. Running UPR/Eibach Pro springs, BTW.

 

[JB2012]

Great combo OP, I have the same setup, but with the 2010 mounts (I didn't want to wait!)

1) How many turns (front and rear) on the Koni's - meaning FROM full soft towards firm? 0.5 in the rear, 1.0 in the front for daily use, more on the track
2) How much neg. camber do you run (for a DD)? -1.0 to avoid excessive tire wear on all the long highway trips I take while still giving a bit more steering response and ultimate grip.
3) Does anyone "mark" their strut towers with various camber setting - so you can use the nice HD mount "arrows" and adjust between DD setting and "track" setting? I don't
4) Did you do anything on the rear to compensate for the 1.5" drop (adj. panhard or ?). Nope.
5) Did you change front or rear sway-bars too? Nope.

I've found that the car actually has a better ride quality than when stock. Not to be confused with soft/firm. The valving in the Koni's just handles the ride motions better, not to mention the better handling from the extra negative camber and stiffer springs.

 

[icckart]

Great combo OP, I have the same setup, but with the 2010 mounts (I didn't want to wait!)

I've found that the car actually has a better ride quality than when stock. Not to be confused with soft/firm. The valving in the Koni's just handles the ride motions better, not to mention the better handling from the extra negative camber and stiffer springs.

Looking at your sig. you have almost exactly the same car too (I didn't know you could get red leather with Kona blue). BTW: I see Ford "retired" Kona blue in 2013 - and it was/is their BEST color IMO!

Thanks ALL for the input...
I'm going with -1.25 deg. and 0 deg toe. Running 1.5 turns front and 1.0 rear doesn't seem too harsh. I may back off though, if the springs settle more.

As for the handling diffs: Actually, I wasn't expecting TOO much. After all, the BBP was pretty good to start with (or so I thought!). WRONG! Now THIS is how the car SHOULD come from the factory - the difference is simply amazing.
1) The "wallow" - back/forth rocking on turn in to tight corners is GONE.
2) Guess I'm not working the Brembos hard enough, but brake dive is, essentially, GONE.
3) Before, stomping on the go pedal mid-turn would definitely upset the chassis - usually making the rear start to come loose. Now, the car just stays PLANTED (ok, I've not pushed hard enough yet on the street - it'll have to wait for the next autocross).
4) As JB2012 states, the ride is actually BETTER. Even though the spring rates are a little higher (actually a LOT higher in front 200 lbs vs 135-ish), there's much less annoying "bounce". Clearly the BBP is WAY WAY under-damped for its stock spring rates.
5) The car now LOOKS like it should (not a big deal for me, but a nice side benefit).

Conclusion: Yeah, tunes are great - assuming you don't blow #8. Exhaust systems sound nice - but don't buy you any real performance. Boss intake: Well great if you want to loose your low-end TQ and plan on bumping redline up A LOT (via tune) - but we still don't have the same internals or heads on a Coyote. Looks cool though (except the very pretty GT strut brace won't fit, and you gotta go with the ugly Boss one!). BUT... This $1300 suspension upgrade has TOTALLY changed the car. It's now a TRUE sports car - handling with the power to match!!!

My only question to myself: "Why did I wait so long to do this???"

Ok, the down side: Gotta get used to NOT pulling all the way up to curbs when parking. Gotta take some driveways at an angle too.

 

[Gray Ghost-Dog]

If I recall, fronts set at +1.0 from full soft... rears set at +0.75 from full soft. I can not remember what the HD Strut Mounts were set at. I do have front and rear adjustable sway bars... both set on the middle holes. I went a bit further with adding X11 ball joints, bump steer kit, adjustable front end links, adjustable pan hard bar and brace, adjustable upper control arm, 3rd link, aluminum lower control arms, and relocation brackets.

As this is my daily driver the set-up is way better than stock, but a little rough on these city streets. The positives outweigh the negatives, by a longshot! I will say that after I did most of these mods, relocation brackets were a must! Car lost some weight transfer when hitting the throttle... serious wheel-spin, even with traction control completely on! Lost a lot of grip, both on launch and at speed.

 

[Night-Mare]

Pics of the car? Been considering this same setup for a while myself, and would love to see how the drop looks on yours

 

[JAJ5Point0]

I just swapped over to my winter (Frankensuspension) setup:

Front: Steeda Boss 302 Front springs on Bilstein HD struts with GT500 upper mounts. Stock strut to knuckle bolts.

Rear: FRPP "P" springs with Koni Sports set at 3/4 turn from full soft.

Car rides nice and the extra stiffness in the front holds the S/C weight to match the 1" drop at the back. The car stands an inch taller than it did with my H&R Race springs on, but I'll give some of that up when I put the snowies on. Full JRZ double adjustable kit going on in the spring.

 

[icckart]

Nice, but you're INSANE - well, put more subtly - you have too much spare time (perhaps)??? After all, you're the guy with those $900 Girodisc rotors (and I say that out of 100% pure ENVY)!

I've heard of winter/summer TIRE and wheel swaps (ok, that does make sense, even though we only have 2 seasons in the Bay Area: hot or rainy). Winter SUSPENSION swaps though?

I like your term "Frankensuspension" too. Bilstein + Koni + Boss + FRPP = AbbyNormal (arcane movie reference...)

 

[devildog1679]

After having your same set-up for a whole summer minus the mounts and the addition of strano sways. I run mine on full soft on the street, more than enough for spirited driving. On the track which I did about 5 hours’ worth this summer I ran 1.5 turns front and 1 turn rear on most tracks. As for camber, I just stick to what the shocks with no mount gave me which is -1.3 both sides. Perfect for summer. For winter I’m adding camber bolts so I don’t destroy my winter tires.

 

[Ivan 5.0]

I'm curious what specs. people are running:
1) How many turns (front and rear) on the Koni's - meaning FROM full soft towards firm?
2) How much neg. camber do you run (for a DD)?
3) Does anyone "mark" their strut towers with various camber setting - so you can use the nice HD mount "arrows" and adjust between DD setting and "track" setting?
4) Did you do anything on the rear to compensate for the 1.5" drop (adj. panhard or ?).
5) Did you change front or rear sway-bars too?

1) Something like 2.5 front, 2.0 in the rear [revolutions from full soft: 450 degrees (front) and 360 degrees (rear)]
2) -1.8 camber, 7.6 caster, .06 toe
3) no; I don't track my car
4) My steeda sports are supposed to drop 1.25" in the rear; I use an adjustable PHB
5) no, but I will - the car could use a bit more bar