Lowering

Frustration, oh no, letting everyone know what you're dealing with and helping someone else to avoid the same problems with a "business".

I hate to distract from the off topic nature of this thread but I think it might be a good idea for somebody to do a nice comprehensivewrite up on all the facets of lowering an S197 Mustang.

My car is lowered and as I found out as I went along there is a lot more involved in doing this properly than just a set of spings. Initially I did just that, I installed a set of 1.5" lowering springs but found that it caused other problems. when lowering the car that much it changes the geometry of the overall chassis.

An adjustable panhard bar is essential to realign the rear end/axle housing, because lowering will cause it to shift to the drivers side a bit. Another item that is needed in the rear of the car is a way to correct the pinion angle, you can install either an adjustable upper or pair of adjustable lower control arms. I installed both while I was at it, I used all BMR componets but there are others available.

In the front end a set of caster camber plates are needed to do a proper front end alignment. I didn't do this at first and found after a few thousand miles I was getting uneven tire wear and some weird noises, so I installed a set of MM (Maximum Motorsports) Caster Camber plates and corrected the alignment problems. When disasembling the front strut mounts to do that install the factory mounts had been destroyed by the misalignment and the parts fell all over the floor.

When I installed the original lowering springs and kept the stock FORD shocks and struts the ride suffered terribly (in my case) a week ago I removed the first spring set (Saleen) and installed a matched set of Tokico lowering springs and matched shocks & struts. Now I have the same lowered stance, excellent handeling but greatly improved ride quality.

So if somebody would like to do a comprehensive tech article/write up with photos I am sure it would be greatly appreciated by many of the posters here.

Casey4
Sorry for neglecting this thread.
I didnt get a response when I was ready to the lowering so I didnt do a writeup.
I went with the Eibach Pro kit and didnt need all the extras like you did.
Other than the caster bolts, and the adj panhard rod I was ok.
My pinion angle was still in spec so that was good.
I did my own alignment on the frontend and had it checked again at the local tire shop after a week or so of letting the springs settle in.
It was good to go, so that was good.
Havent had any problems at all other than Speed bumps and steep approach curbs.
LOL
Winter is on the way now though and I think I will be parkin the car more than I wish.
I changed tires too and went with Michelin 255 45 17 **Pilot **Sport A/S Plus on the stock wheels.
So in the end Total drop:
Front 1.9
Rear 2.2

Rich Sr.

Here is a pic for those interested.
If your budget allows I would go with 18 wheels and wider tires on the rear then I did.

Rich Sr.