Advice on setup for street and track!

Junkyard Dog · Jul 21, 2026

cjatrains said:
Conclusion I can't recommend it. Maybe should have gone the 3 row, Triple Pass option from Fluidyne.

Since you mentioned the triple pass by Fluidyne, I thought I would pass on the link to this thread.

Radiator & Oil cooler

Radiator: I really can’t find a definitive answer on radiator. I plan to duct the radiator once I get the proper radiator. Im just struggling to choose which radiator. Is a single pass sufficient? Is a triple pass even better but provide too much pressure and not worth it for an N/A car? Which...

trackmustangsonline.com

Fabman's car stays cool, and he has a modern Coyote engine in his S197. He details his cooling modifications in the thread, and explains how a triple pass radiator actually works (admission here that it was news to me).

There are several threads on ducting air into the radiator on the forum, too.

Gunslinger55 · Jul 21, 2026

TeeLew said:
You guys are getting serious enough for an Aim dash.

I got an aim dash in my TA2 mustang. No idea how it works lol seems like very little info displayed but i guess tons to analyze after the fact

Gunslinger55 · Jul 21, 2026

Junkyard Dog said:
Since you mentioned the triple pass by Fluidyne, I thought I would pass on the link to this thread.

Radiator & Oil cooler
Radiator: I really can’t find a definitive answer on radiator. I plan to duct the radiator once I get the proper radiator. Im just struggling to choose which radiator. Is a single pass sufficient? Is a triple pass even better but provide too much pressure and not worth it for an N/A car? Which...
trackmustangsonline.com

Fabman's car stays cool, and he has a modern Coyote engine in his S197. He details his cooling modifications in the thread, and explains how a triple pass radiator actually works (admission here that it was news to me).

There are several threads on ducting air into the radiator

Gunslinger55 · Jul 21, 2026

Junkyard Dog said:
Since you mentioned the triple pass by Fluidyne, I thought I would pass on the link to this thread.

Radiator & Oil cooler
Radiator: I really can’t find a definitive answer on radiator. I plan to duct the radiator once I get the proper radiator. Im just struggling to choose which radiator. Is a single pass sufficient? Is a triple pass even better but provide too much pressure and not worth it for an N/A car? Which...
trackmustangsonline.com

Fabman's car stays cool, and he has a modern Coyote engine in his S197. He details his cooling modifications in the thread, and explains how a triple pass radiator actually works (admission here that it was news to me).

There are several threads on ducting air into the radiator on the forum, t

TeeLew · Jul 22, 2026

Gunslinger55 said:
I got an aim dash in my TA2 mustang. No idea how it works lol seems like very little info displayed but i guess tons to analyze after the fact

It's displaying what it needs to, right? If a temp get high or a pressure gets low, it will let you know. Beyond that, it's really just shift lights and lap time. Maybe show tire pressures if you're getting clever? It's nice to know when the pressures are high enough to hit curbs or if an end or a corner needs to be managed because they've climbed too high.

Generally speaking, drivers don't look at the dash much, anyway.

Gunslinger55 · Jul 22, 2026

True. I’ll be learning it for a while. Very minimalistic but i do know engine shuts down with low pressure and assume other parameters. i know that need to do some researching on it and get the program

Junkyard Dog · Jul 23, 2026

@Gunslinger55 - posts 164 and 164 quoted my post twice, but you did not write anything?

Gunslinger55 · Jul 24, 2026

Oops. Must have been some sort of misfire

Rodpwnz · Jul 26, 2026

TeeLew said:
The front motion ratio is about 0.97. A 1" spring difference is going to be 1.03" of ride difference. It would also close the bump stop gap 1".

These are springs you could use. Take a look at the available travel.

View attachment 111021

If you wanted to get a little tricky and get an extra 1/8" of travel out of a 6" spring, then you could go with a coned spring which has a 2.5" end on one side and a 3" end on the other. Put the 2.5" end on the damper and the 3" end on the strut upper. You'd need to make an adapter to take up the additional diameter of the upper perch, but that's not too tough.

View attachment 111022

Also, you have to look at the load capacity of the spring. AJ correctly states the 6" will go to bind before the bump rubber is fully engaged. Having said that, the load capacity for a 300#/in, 7" spring is 1356# at solid height. The load capacity of a 500 #/in, 6" spring is 1809# at block height. It's going to be harder to get the stiffer spring to coil bind, regardless of the available travel. The XT spring gets you up to 1882# total load.

You're going to bottom something at some point. It's either going to be the bump rubber, spring, the damper internally, the car on the ground or the suspension arm themselves hitting something. Coil-binding the spring to control ride height is the 2nd least bad approach, Bump rubber being the best. If you're actually running the spring at bind, then you can add a coil sleeve to make the final ramp a little more progressive.

View attachment 111023

Thanks for sharing - this is very helpful when considering a 6 inch spring. I called many of the reputable spring providers and none have 6.5 inch options that would fit the AJ kit, and short of ordering 200+, will not consider a custom spring order. There are chinese dealers on aliexpress/alibaba that will custom design a 2x spring set for me, but I'm not sure if I can really trust the quality, specs, and performance.

I've been talking to AJ about his kit, spring rates and ride height and he mentions that his kit with 7 inch 400# spring would sit 3/4" lower than stock ride height. That would be perfect considering I already have the 7inch 400# spring. I also remember you mentioned 7inch 400# would sit around stock ride height - would that include being a bit lower?

I'm still debating 450 or 500# 6 inch spring vs 350 or 400# 7 inch spring to weigh ride height adjustability, performance and comfort. However, I already have the 7 inch 400# springs, and 400# really seems to be the sweet spot, so I'm leaning just rolling with those and seeing where I land on ride height.

Now rear springs - I have no idea what I would like. I have a set of 1100# rears ready to install, but I remember you speaking about rear springs being "to taste" per driver. I don't really have anything to compare to, but I do think I enjoy the 800ish# M-5300-W rear springs that will "squat" when cornering. Between 750 to 900 range, what would you suggest? Or would you say to try the 1100# I already have or something else?

bnight · Jul 27, 2026

Rodpwnz said:
Now rear springs - I have no idea what I would like. I have a set of 1100# rears ready to install, but I remember you speaking about rear springs being "to taste" per driver. I don't really have anything to compare to, but I do think I enjoy the 800ish# M-5300-W rear springs that will "squat" when cornering. Between 750 to 900 range, what would you suggest? Or would you say to try the 1100# I already have or something else?

Really dends on goals I But overall start with chosing your fronts and then decide on rears I think 1200 is the highest you can buy in OEM location and if you go to 650 lbs springs this should be in the right ball park.

So Overall:

500/800 lbs is a good starter combo for 200TW tires.
650/1200 lbs - should be entry level for slicks and the highest you could go with springs in the divorced springs location.

This is part of the reason why in racing applications Ford shift to real coilovers on the back but they also use custom RLCAs to sustain the higher forces from the springs.

TeeLew · Jul 27, 2026

bnight said:
Really dends on goals I But overall start with chosing your fronts and then decide on rears I think 1200 is the highest you can buy in OEM location and if you go to 650 lbs springs this should be in the right ball park.

So Overall:

500/800 lbs is a good starter combo for 200TW tires.
650/1200 lbs - should be entry level for slicks and the highest you could go with springs in the divorced springs location.

This is part of the reason why in racing applications Ford shift to real coilovers on the back but they also use custom RLCAs to sustain the higher forces from the springs.

If you use a kit to adapt race springs to the rear control arms (there are several), then you can run whatever you wish. I could stick a 4000-pounder on the rear if I wanted.

The divorced spring in general is a bad idea, if only for the rear control arms. Since they're taking all the spring load in the middle of the arm, it has to be strong and stiff enough to support it. When you put the spring on the coil-over, then you no longer have to support that load in the middle of the control arm and it can be made like any 'normal' arm and will probably weight 1/2 as much. I hate the bend it puts in the spring, as well. That's definitely not a good thing.

I think I'd agree with your 1200 #/in rear for slicks or DOT slicks (Hoosier whatevers). That corresponds to about a 550 #/in rear in the coil-over position. I think the DH racecars get 700 #/in as the minimum rear spring they're allowed to run? I think a 550 spring would probably be more appropriate for those cars. With the springs they have available, they're all chronically loose. It makes the races fun to watch, because everyone's car has so much deg, but it's got to be a handful at the end of a race.

Word around the campfire is the GT3 often doesn't run this stiff (700), but that will be a moving target depending on the track.

bnight · Wednesday at 5:56 AM

TeeLew said:
I think I'd agree with your 1200 #/in rear for slicks or DOT slicks (Hoosier whatevers). That corresponds to about a 550 #/in rear in the coil-over position. I think the DH racecars get 700 #/in as the minimum rear spring they're allowed to run? I think a 550 spring would probably be more appropriate for those cars. With the springs they have available, they're all chronically loose. It makes the races fun to watch, because everyone's car has so much deg, but it's got to be a handful at the end of a race.

Word around the campfire is the GT3 often doesn't run this stiff (700), but that will be a moving target depending on the track.

Yeah DH racecars can use 700 to 1000 #/in (100 #/in increments) rear springs in coilover position. In my case the Ohlins 65 mm springs only go as far as 914 lbs in the rear and that's in the divorced spring location. Obviously I could use another solution for the rear springs like switching to Steeda and using bigger springs but still only so much rates going to 1400 #/in springs or more in the back will be hard to do. I think the Steeda Dual Rates actually have the highest 1200 #/in rate in the rear if we are talking OEM style springs.

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Advice on setup for street and track!

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