Short shocks/struts

[tzoom]

Anyone now of a manufacturer for shorter shocks and struts. I want to lower my Mustang at least 2". The KYG struts I bought will let me go 1-1/2" but I want to go a little lower.

[kbrandt]

In general, dropping a Fox Mustang 2" is a bad thing. The front end camber curve gets bad at that point. If you're going to do this, you're likely to end up with worst handling when you're done.

If you really want to drop it that much, you can get some more bump travel by adding caster/camber plates that raise the upper strut mount. I believe the Maximum Motorsports caster plats do this. Also, the SN95 struts have more bump travel than the Fox struts. They won't mount to the pre-'87 spindles though without spacers. Personally, I'd recommend going with the '94-'95 spindles and appropriate brakes at that point.

As for the rears, the shocks aren't really the limiting factor. You're going to be nearly on the bumpstops at 2" drop.

Again, this is likely to cause more problems than you first imagine. Are you sure you want to drop it that much?

[tzoom]

In general, dropping a Fox Mustang 2" is a bad thing. The front end camber curve gets bad at that point. If you're going to do this, you're likely to end up with worst handling when you're done.

If you really want to drop it that much, you can get some more bump travel by adding caster/camber plates that raise the upper strut mount. I believe the Maximum Motorsports caster plats do this. Also, the SN95 struts have more bump travel than the Fox struts. They won't mount to the pre-'87 spindles though without spacers. Personally, I'd recommend going with the '94-'95 spindles and appropriate brakes at that point.

As for the rears, the shocks aren't really the limiting factor. You're going to be nearly on the bumpstops at 2" drop.

Again, this is likely to cause more problems than you first imagine. Are you sure you want to drop it that much?

I have SN95 Spindles for a 5-lug conversion. I have Caster/Camber plates and a bump steer kit. I'm building this 86 LX to SCCA American Sedan specs. I have two sets of stock springs that I will be cutting down that I will use to determine the ride height I want. When I've decided on that I will go to Blue Coil for a pair of 900# springs for the front and 200# for the rear. This will probably be a track day and occasional autocross car that might see some street time.

[wraithracing]

If you are serious about competing in either SCCA AS, NASA AI/AIX, or autocrossing I would recommend worrying more about setting the suspension up for optimum handling and less about the "ride height".

Any serious road race Mustang will have a nice low ride height as is, the lowering of a Mustang/Capri to 2" or more is not beneficial. The suspension geometry goes from bad to worse and your handling and the predictability of the car will suffer. I would highly recommend talking with Jack Hidley at Maximum Motorsports or someone at Griggs Racing in regards to your setup, needs, desires, and racing class to help get you a baseline to start with. You don't state all of your suspension setup, but IMHO the 900lb front springs are way too much for the car to start out with and are definitely not balanced with a 200lb rear spring. Maybe you are doing something I am unfamiliar with, but since the AS class is heavily regulated, I doubt you are doing much that hasn't been done before.

I also don't see the benefit of cutting stock springs to determine ride height and then swapping those springs for higher rate springs as the springs height will change due to the increased spring rate. As for the question in regards to shorter struts/shocks I am not aware of anyone that makes anything such as that for the Foxes. The rear shocks I am sure you could find something that will work as they are fairly standardized setup. The front struts would be the issue, but again the extreme lowering will not improve the handling, so I see no benefit. There are a ton of really fast cars in SCCA AS, and NASA AI/AIX that are running stock length struts/shocks and I am sure if there was a benefit to a shorter set, they would have already been running them. If you really want to change things up then I would recommend checking out Agent 47 or Griggs SLA setup for the fox. A lot of different options and very fast when setup right, but a huge upfront cost. Nothing wrong with it, but unless you are looking for that last tenth or 2 tenths of a second on the race track, I would recommend saving the cash and running the stock strut setup until you really need it.

Good Luck!

Trey

[tzoom]

The 900#/200# spring specs come from posts on the American Sedan forum.

[Travis T]

Wow, I'm running the C springs and they're 650 for the fronts and the car is stiff as a board.

[wraithracing]

The 900#/200# spring specs come from posts on the American Sedan forum.

That's fine, but what setup are they running. Just using spec numbers doesn't guarantee handling. I know the AS rules and specs are very specific, but I am honestly not up to date on them as I haven't raced SCCA in years. I am much more familiar with the NASA AI/AIX rules and specs. Nothing wrong with running a 900lb spring up front if the car needs it and can actually put it to use. But again, I still don't understand the reason for cutting stock springs to "get your ride height" and then install the 900lb springs. If your plan is to follow the AS Forum for your car setup, then I would recommend just installing the springs as most others are running or whichever setup you want to copy for your Mustang.

Good Luck!

Trey

[qtrracer]

The Fox chassis struts are "shorter" than the sn95 cars due to the placement on the spindle. By adding a CC plate spaced up enough to provide more bump but not "bump" the hood will add enough bump travel for a car lowered about one inch (as stated above, going lower degrades the "good" geometry). On the other hand, the sn95 shocks add some bump travel on a lowered Fox.

Since you are using an 86 what k-member and a-arms are you planning? If stock 86 you may want to reconsider when going with the sn95 spindles.