The Mustang Forum for Track & Racing Enthusiasts

Taking your Mustang to an open track/HPDE event for the first time? Do you race competitively? This forum is for you! Log in to remove most ads.

  • Welcome to the Ford Mustang forum built for owners of the Mustang GT350, BOSS 302, GT500, and all other S550, S197, SN95, Fox Body and older Mustangs set up for open track days, road racing, and/or autocross. Join our forum, interact with others, share your build, and help us strengthen this community!

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

22
2
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
Long Island, NY
What’s up guys! Looking at beginning modifying the suspension. I recently bought Ford Performance shocks/struts with the track lowering springs and camber plates from a buddy of mine. Looking at finding sway bars to buy while the car is on the lift to do it all in 1 shot. My friends swears by Steeda. I have others swear by Vorshlag.

For reference this isn’t gonna be a fully purpose race car, I don’t want the most expensive top of the line stuff, it’ll be overkill for the amount of time I’m actually gonna track it. I definetly would still prefer adjustable sway bars. If there’s any other components that I should be buying with the sway bars let me know. Like for example I’m seeing sway bar links online, but not sure of their purpose and if they should be bought together or if I can buy them at a later date. Long term gonna go coilovers so if whatever yall recommend can work with what ever I do down the road that would be the best.
 
Just wondering if you have driven the car the way it is currently setup? It often seems folks go a little crazy on getting a bunch of stuff done before they ever get much track time. I would install what you have already, get a good track alignment and go to the track. You might find yourself doing quite well and hopefully race brake pads, track wheels and some high quality track rubber is in your equation.

Signed,
Curious and well meaning
 
Just wondering if you have driven the car the way it is currently setup? It often seems folks go a little crazy on getting a bunch of stuff done before they ever get much track time. I would install what you have already, get a good track alignment and go to the track. You might find yourself doing quite well and hopefully race brake pads, track wheels and some high quality track rubber is in your equation.

Signed,
Curious and well meaning
Haven’t installed the shocks yet. Doing one more autocross next weekend before there’s a month break in the calendar. During that break I’m gonna install them and get a proper alignment for the track on the car. I mean I feel the car has a lot of roll in the corners so I thought to kill 2 birds with one stone while I’m gonna get the shocks installed. Even if I don’t install any this time around. Still curious as to what suspension brands most people prefer and use
 
You might go to the " Build Thread " and list what you have already done to the GT. This may give folks some ideas about how the car is currently modded, and make it easier for members to give you suggestions.
 
I mean I feel the car has a lot of roll in the corners so I thought to kill 2 birds with one stone while I’m gonna get the shocks installed.
Time for a quick rough and ready suspension lesson.
The fundamentals of suspension basics are that the spring are for holding the car up and that sway bars are for tuning the front to rear balance. Just because they are called sway bars doesn't mean that's their primary function. This gets messy as we are discussing going from a soft road car and transitioning to something with more track manners.
Taking a softly sprung road car and throwing some big sway bars WILL reduce body roll. Job done. It will feel better and no one is any wiser until they try find the limits of grip and it does something nasty because there was no engineering involved.
Your newly acquired Ford Performance shocks/struts with the track lowering springs and camber plates have taken you up a notch in the spring department. Not a huge notch but combined with the shocks will slow down the "rate of roll" that you were experiencing that you probably found discomforting. Not necessarily actual roll angle.
Going big on sway bars without mechanical grip (read tyres and suspension settings) makes for a very skatey car. And that's in the dry, lets not talk about the wet.
I believe this is where @Bill Pemberton was coming from. You have effectively already reduced your body roll. No purchase necessary. Drive it first and see if it needs rather than what else can i buy.

To answer your primary question, i'll quote a well known person on here. Stick with one supplier when it comes to a suspension package. The package was built to work together. So in your case, see if you can get hold of the corresponding Ford Performance sway bar kit that was designed to go with your springs and shocks.
2nd part was sway bar drop links, you can use your original ones. Race car, would get adjustable ones as they allow you to adjust the length so you don't preload the bar when the car is sitting level. They are also stronger as the loads being experienced are much greater. At the end of the day they are a 10 minute swap. Will take longer getting the wheels off to make the job easier.

Suspension is a bit of a black art, it pays to read and watch a lot of videos from well know race prep shops. The biggest take from doing that will be how little most of us know. Myself included. You have a package that will do you well for the type and amount of track driving you mention. The rest of the suspension bits are static components, in other words it doesn't matter where you get them from. Do you need them? Sticking to what you say you intend to do, no. Every bushing you change thinking it will make the car faster takes you closer to hating driving it on the road. Be warned. The fact that you mentioned going coilovers without a real reason is my point.

As Bill signed off with "curious and well meaning". You asked the question, we are giving you well intentioned responses from year of experience. The whole purpose of being on here in the first place. Plenty of people in the industry will happily sell you anything and everything whether its needed or not. We are trying to save you money long term so you can spend more on track time. The fun part. Keep throwing the questions out there.
 
Time for a quick rough and ready suspension lesson.
The fundamentals of suspension basics are that the spring are for holding the car up and that sway bars are for tuning the front to rear balance. Just because they are called sway bars doesn't mean that's their primary function. This gets messy as we are discussing going from a soft road car and transitioning to something with more track manners.
Taking a softly sprung road car and throwing some big sway bars WILL reduce body roll. Job done. It will feel better and no one is any wiser until they try find the limits of grip and it does something nasty because there was no engineering involved.
Your newly acquired Ford Performance shocks/struts with the track lowering springs and camber plates have taken you up a notch in the spring department. Not a huge notch but combined with the shocks will slow down the "rate of roll" that you were experiencing that you probably found discomforting. Not necessarily actual roll angle.
Going big on sway bars without mechanical grip (read tyres and suspension settings) makes for a very skatey car. And that's in the dry, lets not talk about the wet.
I believe this is where @Bill Pemberton was coming from. You have effectively already reduced your body roll. No purchase necessary. Drive it first and see if it needs rather than what else can i buy.

To answer your primary question, i'll quote a well known person on here. Stick with one supplier when it comes to a suspension package. The package was built to work together. So in your case, see if you can get hold of the corresponding Ford Performance sway bar kit that was designed to go with your springs and shocks.
2nd part was sway bar drop links, you can use your original ones. Race car, would get adjustable ones as they allow you to adjust the length so you don't preload the bar when the car is sitting level. They are also stronger as the loads being experienced are much greater. At the end of the day they are a 10 minute swap. Will take longer getting the wheels off to make the job easier.

Suspension is a bit of a black art, it pays to read and watch a lot of videos from well know race prep shops. The biggest take from doing that will be how little most of us know. Myself included. You have a package that will do you well for the type and amount of track driving you mention. The rest of the suspension bits are static components, in other words it doesn't matter where you get them from. Do you need them? Sticking to what you say you intend to do, no. Every bushing you change thinking it will make the car faster takes you closer to hating driving it on the road. Be warned. The fact that you mentioned going coilovers without a real reason is my point.

As Bill signed off with "curious and well meaning". You asked the question, we are giving you well intentioned responses from year of experience. The whole purpose of being on here in the first place. Plenty of people in the industry will happily sell you anything and everything whether its needed or not. We are trying to save you money long term so you can spend more on track time. The fun part. Keep throwing the questions out there.
Very much appreciate this perspective and info you gave me. end of day not sure how far I’ll take this build. I’d track it more if I had more time and lived closer to a track. My mindset was pay for the part that I feel like I’ll end up with long term so I don’t waste money upgrading the same part twice. I see your point tho and it’s a good one. Based on what you said, Is there like a rule of thumb of what order to upgrade things?
 
Very much appreciate this perspective and info you gave me. end of day not sure how far I’ll take this build. I’d track it more if I had more time and lived closer to a track. My mindset was pay for the part that I feel like I’ll end up with long term so I don’t waste money upgrading the same part twice. I see your point tho and it’s a good one. Based on what you said, Is there like a rule of thumb of what order to upgrade things?
Safety first and foremost.
Personally i hate "stock" cars on track. They were never intended to be pushed that hard and you need to know what you are doing to deal with it.
You have done the first part and got a basic package that is known that will control the mass of the car better. Car isn't flopping around and you will have better control.
The next one everyone mentions and for good reason is brakes. It's usually first on the list. These things are HEAVY. Heavy car and big speeds generate a lot of heat and you will need pads and fluid that can deal with that. Plenty of threads on here and 2 site sponsors that deal with pads etc.
Next up is seat time. Nothing beats learning to drive with competent instruction. Not your mate who is a bit quicker but erratic. The more time you spend on track the more you will understand about how your car behaves and then you can think about what to improve. It will become obvious what you don't like and would like to fix.
Tyres and rims will make you faster. Square setup to maximise front end grip and the ability to swap between corners. It will also put way more load on every other system and you start the round about again.

I suppose really the first thing you should do is seriously work out where you want to end up first. Is it a dual duty road/track car? Is it your only daily? How many times do you think you are going to get it on track. And the one no one really want to mention, can i afford to push it hard. These things will eat consumables, there is that weight thing again. Am i better getting a smaller lighter car that will be cheaper to track and therefore have more fun. The old adage, drive a slow car fast is more fun than driving a fast car slow. For years i drove a slow car over the limit. Great fun. People i competed against eventually went faster, they changed cars and went faster in a straight line. Everyone has a different idea of what they want so find yours first. It may change along the way but at least you had a target to start with.
Build a car isn't about throwing a whole stack of parts that everyone else has suggested and its done. Its about finding what works for your style. Yes there are basic strategies that everyone follows but lots of differences. Just do a search for spring rates on here and see how much we all differ but achieve a similar outcome.
 
Safety first and foremost.
Personally i hate "stock" cars on track. They were never intended to be pushed that hard and you need to know what you are doing to deal with it.
You have done the first part and got a basic package that is known that will control the mass of the car better. Car isn't flopping around and you will have better control.
The next one everyone mentions and for good reason is brakes. It's usually first on the list. These things are HEAVY. Heavy car and big speeds generate a lot of heat and you will need pads and fluid that can deal with that. Plenty of threads on here and 2 site sponsors that deal with pads etc.
Next up is seat time. Nothing beats learning to drive with competent instruction. Not your mate who is a bit quicker but erratic. The more time you spend on track the more you will understand about how your car behaves and then you can think about what to improve. It will become obvious what you don't like and would like to fix.
Tyres and rims will make you faster. Square setup to maximise front end grip and the ability to swap between corners. It will also put way more load on every other system and you start the round about again.

I suppose really the first thing you should do is seriously work out where you want to end up first. Is it a dual duty road/track car? Is it your only daily? How many times do you think you are going to get it on track. And the one no one really want to mention, can i afford to push it hard. These things will eat consumables, there is that weight thing again. Am i better getting a smaller lighter car that will be cheaper to track and therefore have more fun. The old adage, drive a slow car fast is more fun than driving a fast car slow. For years i drove a slow car over the limit. Great fun. People i competed against eventually went faster, they changed cars and went faster in a straight line. Everyone has a different idea of what they want so find yours first. It may change along the way but at least you had a target to start with.
Build a car isn't about throwing a whole stack of parts that everyone else has suggested and its done. Its about finding what works for your style. Yes there are basic strategies that everyone follows but lots of differences. Just do a search for spring rates on here and see how much we all differ but achieve a similar outcome.
I can see myself at most going once a month. I’m in the NE so winter is a thing. I only got like 8 months before I cover it up for the winter. But I wanna keep it street legal to bring to c&c, meets, cruises or autocross events which are much more closer to home. I’m personally ok with sacrificing comfort as I’m only taking the car out on nice weather weekends. I for sure don’t wanna strip the interior. Maybe half cage and rear seat delete at most. I already have bucket seats. I’m aware for the track, cooling is a big issue. So on top of brakes, I’m looking at hood and fender ventilation to keep the engine bay cool. Plus trans and diff coolers.
 
I can see myself at most going once a month. I’m in the NE so winter is a thing. I only got like 8 months before I cover it up for the winter. But I wanna keep it street legal to bring to c&c, meets, cruises or autocross events which are much more closer to home. I’m personally ok with sacrificing comfort as I’m only taking the car out on nice weather weekends. I for sure don’t wanna strip the interior. Maybe half cage and rear seat delete at most. I already have bucket seats. I’m aware for the track, cooling is a big issue. So on top of brakes, I’m looking at hood and fender ventilation to keep the engine bay cool. Plus trans and diff coolers.
Perfect, have a look through my build then. Mine is on the limit for a road car. It has just that. Happy to answer any questions as to what was involved and any pitfalls.
 
Top