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Ford Racing Suspension Upgrades

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So the Boss finally hit 100,000 miles so it was time for some upgrades.
New diff. Cover- M-4033-A
Panhard bar- M-4264-A
Shocks/dampers-M-18000-C
Springs-M-5300-T
RLC arms-M-5649-R1
Replaced stock rear sway bar with an Laguna Seca bar.
Blowfish front brake cooling kit

Also had to replace the rear spring insulators since they had wear holes in the upper ones. Also the front left shock mount fell apart when I took it off the spring.
Love the look and ride. Currently have all 4 shocks set at 3. Only noticeable negative comment is every bump is heard with a clunk or thud but it handles great. I assume that is normal with all of the upgraded bushings and all.
I have read this entire thread and wanted to know if you guys had any opinions on any other things I needed to add with this setup. Street only use with spirited driving to work at 5:00am.
 
For an improvement over the stock bulbs look at sylvania silverstar ultra bulbs. They make a noticeable difference.
 
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1,113
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
5-10 Years
Philly Metro Area
You may need the LCA relocation brackets. It depends on the angle the LCAs are at. If they are downhill from axle to chassis then yes. You want them to at least be level if not slight uphill from axle to chassis.

You probably won't need camber plates as long as you can get it aligned with about -1.0 to -1.5. If not you can get the eccentric camber bolts for much cheaper.

Get the HID headlights! You really didn't need the brake cooling ducts or the rear diff cover for a daily driver. They would have been more than enough to cover the cost of a complete retrofit HID kit for your car.

https://lmr.com/item/LRS-1300813/mustang-retrofit-sytle-headlight-kit-10-12

If you're going to do spirited driving at O-Dark-Thirty then visibility should be your primary concern.
 
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work with me here...back in the day I used to run up to the Appalachians to visit my parents,( hence the reason my 99 has a blower and cobra brakes)..however, the stock driving lights were not up to the task, a friend recommended these folks..I know..Blinglights sounds pretty ricey..but they actually were incredible, they will melt your retinas out when they are on and I would highly recommend them for driving lights.

https://www.blinglights.org/2013-2014-ford-mustang-xenon-fog-lamp-driving-light-kit-foglight/
 
You may need the LCA relocation brackets. It depends on the angle the LCAs are at. If they are downhill from axle to chassis then yes. You want them to at least be level if not slight uphill from axle to chassis.

You probably won't need camber plates as long as you can get it aligned with about -1.0 to -1.5. If not you can get the eccentric camber bolts for much cheaper.

Get the HID headlights! You really didn't need the brake cooling ducts or the rear diff cover for a daily driver. They would have been more than enough to cover the cost of a complete retrofit HID kit for your car.

https://lmr.com/item/LRS-1300813/mustang-retrofit-sytle-headlight-kit-10-12

If you're going to do spirited driving at O-Dark-Thirty then visibility should be your primary concern.
Thanks for the input. I will check the LCA angle tonight. I was always wondering what triggered the brackets. I put the diff cover on because I had to change the fluid and I already had the Panhard bar off, the brake cooling kit I just threw in for kicks. By the way my wife told me I probably didn’t need a Boss 302 and that I could save money with a Prius.
 
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Thanks for the input. I will check the LCA angle tonight. I was always wondering what triggered the brackets. I put the diff cover on because I had to change the fluid and I already had the Panhard bar off, the brake cooling kit I just threw in for kicks. By the way my wife told me I probably didn’t need a Boss 302 and that I could save money with a Prius.

just unfriend me now...
 
Looking for low cost shocks and struts replacement ideas.

My intent will be to end up with the parts to have two options I can change the car between:
1. street touring / hpde (with ability to adjust damping
2. hpde with more aggressive race components

I have a 2012 Mustang GT that I purchased last summer. Prior to this I had a 2012 boss 302 which I started to get the itch to modify so I opted to sell the stock Boss and bought a modified GT. (I really miss the Boss recaro seats and so does my wife, someone sell me your Recaro seats please!) The Mustang GT I bought was setup for time trial and had a lot of race components on it when I purchased: JRI coil overs, Cortex rear lower controls arms, Cortex Watts link, Eibach adjustable front sway bar, Brembo 14in Grand Am Spec Brakes, 2013 GT500 rear brakes, front lower control arms w/ 302s bushings, Steeda extended ball joints, bump steer kit, APR GT250 rear wing, 302s front splitter, DSS 1-piece aluminum driveshaft, 302s radiator, 302s brake controller, 302s steering rack calibration, 302s oil pan, 2013 GT500 fan, Track Spec hood vents, removable rear roll hoop built by Roush, 302s BBS wheels......

It was my intention to make the car more streetable and work for open track days. I am keeping all the race parts and I am thinking I will have all the parts I need to change the car around as I go through stages of what want to do in life.That's the idea to satisfy my auto ADD (damn there are a lot parts to store though) but we'll see how goes.

I will be driving the car quite a bit. Last fall my youngest son and I went on road trip to Tennessee to visit my daughter and we spent a week or so in all the twisty mountain roads enjoying the fall colors and the mountain roads. On that trip I think I put around 3500 miles on the car. This year he wanted to get a Nintendo switch and these were out of stock due to the Covid 19 and hard to find. We found one in Salt Lake City Utah and we ordered and went on road trip to Salt Lake and spent some time in Utah (I was stationed there in the Air Force years ago so wanted to spend some time in old stomping grounds) then off to Colorado and spent some time in Western part with an old friend then off to Estes Park to spend little time with another friend then back home. We are from IL so that was another trip with quite a few miles.

So why am I telling all this? Well just to get an idea how going to be using car. So open road trips and a few open track days is how I plan to use for the time being,

The changes I have made to date:
Replaced 302s brake controller with stock brake controller
Replaced the Cortex lower control arms with Boss 302R lower control arms
Replaced the JRI coilovers with Ford Racing M-18000-C adjustable shocks and struts and Ford Racing K springs
Replaced the Vorshlag camber plates with Maximum Motorsports (kept the Vorshlag mated to the JRIs as an assembly)
Replaced the brembo 14in Grand Am Spec Brakes with 2013-14 GT500 15″ brembo front brakes (long term I'll switch back to the Grand Am Brakes with street pad and anti-rattle hardware for street)
Removed 302s front splitter and APR GT250 rear wing. Installed GT500 wing with trufiber LG93 Gurney Flap

One of the M-18000-C struts has failed and I am looking for help with what would be a good shock and strut system for my application.

I am looking for a street touring / hpde solution as if I want more aggressive I could install the JRI coil overs. I like that the M-18000-C are adjustable although I mostly had to full firm on the street. Someitimes mid range. Middle to lower setting could be more enjoyable while traveling on the highway and if wife is with. She hasn't complained about the stiffness but there certainly is a difference between 1-6 with the M-18000-C struts and shocks which could be nice at times.

I chose the K-spring and the M-18000-C originally figuring these were designed to work together from Ford. The K-spring was chosen to keep the car at a similar ride height as when it has the coil overs installed and is in race spec. I don't really have an issue going with another set of the M-18000-C but I am thinking to try something else as so many are recommending other struts besides these.

I had read in this thread (link1,link2,,link3,link4 where the koni sports were recommended compared to the M-18000-C components or just mentioned as being very good or planned to purchase, etc.. I thought that's perfect I'll go with those. Better damping the majority said and they come with a lifetime warranty which is a great plus as the Fords come with no warranty. Then I read another thread and the Koni yellows were not recommended (assuming Jason meant low-end Konis = koni sports) if the car is lowered significantly and stiffer springs than stock. Also I am curious about the strut length on a such lowered car. I was told that would be fine and I trust the source.

It seems that many recommend the Bilsteins over the konis yellows and the M-18000-C although they don't have any adjustment. So do I forego the adjustment and go with the Bilstein? As I said the adjustment would be nice but if the Bilstein is superior to the koni yellows and M-18000-C and I can get a proper length housing for the lowered ride height my car is that maybe should be the way to go. If the consensus is to go with Bilsteins do the Ford Racing K springs work well with them?

It seems like a bad idea to use the JRIs all the time and just adjust and swap the springs out depending on the situation? They are so expensive and the roads around me can be pretty rough at times. The reality is I don't see myself swapping out from stage 1 to stage 2 much throughout the year if at all for a while.

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