Putting on my Ford "P" springs this week

[2012Boss302]

My springs should be here today or tomorrow. Is there a good starting point for the strut/shock settings?? Right now I'm at 3F/2R and am pretty happy with it.

Past vehicles I have set up for oversteer but that was done with sway bars. This car is so easy to swing the rear out I don't know how much of an impact strut settings would make. I want more neutral/understeer until I have learned how to properly control this thing...

 

[cloud9]

I am using the FRPP dampers, but I assume you are using the stock Boss dampers? On track I started 2 front and 3 rear (0 is firmest and 7 softest) and had too much oversteer. I have since been running 1 front and 3 rear or 0 front and 2 rear. I back off one or two settings for the street. I also have staggered wheels front to back.

 

[gww52]

I did this two weeks ago.Ran the Glen with shocks at 0 0.Any more and the rear wanted to step out over bumps.
Guy

 

[VoodooBoss]

If you're using the stock dampers I'd start with the same positions so you can directly feel the difference with the P springs and then adjust accordingly. I suspect you'll want to keep the rears one or two adjustments softer in the rear with the P springs.

 

[VoodooBoss]

I did this two weeks ago.Ran the Glen with shocks at 0 0.Any more and the rear wanted to step out over bumps.
Guy

Which dampers are you using? Gary and I are both using the 18000-C dampers.

 

[gww52]

I kept the stock Boss dampers.I wanted to see how they worked out with the spring change.I'm completely happy with the results.
Guy

 

[Grant 302]

I'd suggest 3F/3R or 4F/3R to start on the street. I've just put P springs and Boss shocks/struts on my GT last week. I was playing with it a bit today, and I don't think anything softer than 3 would work with these springs on either axle.

 

[2012Boss302]

I put the "P" springs on today. I love the look, the car is level now but not so low I have to watch driveways.

My new question. The car feels noticeably soft now. What used to be jarring cracks and bumps are now almost too soft. I understand the difference between a linear rate spring and progressive but, has the handling been compromised?

 

[VoodooBoss]

My new question. The car feels noticeably soft now. What used to be jarring cracks and bumps are now almost too soft. I understand the difference between a linear rate spring and progressive but, has the handling been compromised?

My experience has been the opposite but I have different dampers as well. I think most of how my cars rides is springs and not the dampers though. Mine rides rougher, maybe 10% more so than stock, and has less brake dive and body roll. It feels a lot better while tracking my car.

 

[2012Boss302]

This has been my initial drive. I still need to do the alignment then I'll take it out on some real roads. Thanks for being such a big help here on the whole board, you are a saint....

 

[Grant 302]

I put the "P" springs on today. I love the look, the car is level now but not so low I have to watch driveways.

My new question. The car feels noticeably soft now. What used to be jarring cracks and bumps are now almost too soft. I understand the difference between a linear rate spring and progressive but, has the handling been compromised?

What settings are your shocks at now? At 2F/2R, the ride is pretty soft. At 5/5, I don't think you'd be complaining about softness.

 

[VoodooBoss]

This has been my initial drive. I still need to do the alignment then I'll take it out on some real roads. Thanks for being such a big help here on the whole board, you are a saint....

Thanks, I'm glad I can help. I'm here like the rest of you trying to maximize the fun out of our cars. Let us know what you think after a nice drive.

 

[06mach1]

What settings are your shocks at now? At 2F/2R, the ride is pretty soft. At 5/5, I don't think you'd be complaining about softness.

I would have to agree. 5 & 5 is pretty firm! Firmer than with the stock springs. I drive around on the street with shocks set on 1 & 1.

 

[2012Boss302]

What settings are your shocks at now? At 2F/2R, the ride is pretty soft. At 5/5, I don't think you'd be complaining about softness.

Right now they are set at 3F/2R. I'm limiting my driving until I get it aligned next week.

I wasn't so much complaining about the ride, it was only a 10 mile trip on a straight road. The bumps that used to cause a noticeable crash seemed a lot softer now. Once I get it aligned I can go play ;D

 

[Grant 302]

What settings are your shocks at now? At 2F/2R, the ride is pretty soft. At 5/5, I don't think you'd be complaining about softness.

Right now they are set at 3F/2R. I'm limiting my driving until I get it aligned next week.

I wasn't so much complaining about the ride, it was only a 10 mile trip on a straight road. The bumps that used to cause a noticeable crash seemed a lot softer now. Once I get it aligned I can go play ;D

Oops. Just noticed you put your current settings in your first post!

But back to your original question, I don't know if the sway bars on the Bosses will work for understeer. My GT should be slightly more biased toward understeer with the smaller rear bar and a 255/275 stagger, and so far I've found it to have a tendency to oversteer even at 2F/3R on my car.

I'm also needing an alignment...just gotta carve out some time since I wan't to do two camber settings and I'm using the string/offset method DIY.

 

[2012Boss302]

But back to your original question, I don't know if the sway bars on the Bosses will work for understeer. My GT should be slightly more biased toward understeer with the smaller rear bar and a 255/275 stagger, and so far I've found it to have a tendency to oversteer even at 2F/3R on my car

Sorry I wasn't clear. My last two cars, Infiniti g35 and Pontiac G8 had stock springs and struts with adjustable sway bars. The Infiniti had no power, relatively speaking. I could set the front bar to full soft and the rear to it's stiffest setting and just barely swing the rear around. The Pontiac was the same just 10 times worse. It was a lot of fun until I wrecked it.

Really the shock setting question was more of an educational question for me. I understand the theory but is there as dramatic difference as there is with adjustable sway bars?

I think I just high jacked my own thread....

 

[Grant 302]

But back to your original question, I don't know if the sway bars on the Bosses will work for understeer. My GT should be slightly more biased toward understeer with the smaller rear bar and a 255/275 stagger, and so far I've found it to have a tendency to oversteer even at 2F/3R on my car

Sorry I wasn't clear. My last two cars, Infiniti g35 and Pontiac G8 had stock springs and struts with adjustable sway bars. The Infiniti had no power, relatively speaking. I could set the front bar to full soft and the rear to it's stiffest setting and just barely swing the rear around. The Pontiac was the same just 10 times worse. It was a lot of fun until I wrecked it.

Really the shock setting question was more of an educational question for me. I understand the theory but is there as dramatic difference as there is with adjustable sway bars?

I think I just high jacked my own thread....

I think the OP is allowed to do that!

I think the shock adjustments are more dramatic for feel, but are finer than sway bar adjustments in the 1mm/position changes.

An adjustable sway should have more dramatic effect, but I don't know that you'd even feel it, except at the limits of traction.

 

[2012Boss302]

Excellent gentlemen. Thanks for all your help as usual...

 

[2012Boss302]

sorry to keep reopening this. Just to make sure I did this right, the tightly wound coils on the rear springs go to the top correct?? I know the front only go on one way.

 

[Grant 302]

sorry to keep reopening this. Just to make sure I did this right, the tightly wound coils on the rear springs go to the top correct?? I know the front only go on one way.

I don't know which is correct, but I have mine in the other way, with the tighter coils on the lower side.

My rationale for doing so is that the front springs have the 'soft' coils on the lower side, and that I can see if the soft coils are binding (like I think they should) if installed that way.