​Mustang Suspension 101 - Don't Spend a Dime Before Reading These Tips

​Mustang Suspension 101 - Don't Spend a Dime Before Reading These Tips

Before you jump into modifying your Mustang's suspension, you need to understand what all those parts do, and how they apply to your vehicle. Getting better handling takes more than just bolting in some stiffer shocks.

Lowering

Lowering a car improves handling by lowering the center of gravity, keeping the body from moving around when taking corners. However, ground clearance can be an issue for a daily driver, especially if the car has a body kit.

Shortening the length of the front struts alters the suspension geometry, which can throw off the position of the wheels. If the car is lowered a small amount, this can be corrected with an alignment. For major drops, caster/camber plates are needed to reposition the top of the strut so everything lines up correctly.

A shorter spring will have less movement, resulting in a harsher ride. Some kits get around this by using progressive springs: instead of a single stiffness, different coiling throughout the spring lets it control a wide range of impact forces.

Chassis Flex and Handling

A flexible chassis acts like a large spring without a shock absorber, taking in the energy of an impact and releasing it unpredictably. That motion moves the suspension around, keeping it from doing its job.

The Fox body and its derivatives use a unibody design with front and rear subframes. Subframe connectors join the subframes together to create two rails that run the length of the car. Ford put connectors on some convertible models to help counteract the loss of rigidity caused by removing the roof, but any Fox or SN95 can benefit from adding connectors.

Strut tower bars can help with flex in any Mustang by helping keep the tops of the struts in position. Due to the intake design '05-'10 Mustang V8s, some bars can interfere with the aftermarket manifolds.

Solid Axle or IRS?

From 1999 to 2004, SVT Cobras came with an independent rear suspension. This axle was designed as a self-contained unit, using all the same mounting points as the solid axle found in other Mustangs of the era. This means it's a drop-in replacement for SN95 Mustangs, and it can be mounted in Fox bodies with some modifications.

With a solid axle, the rear wheels are connected directly, so if one wheel moves, so will the other wheel. This reduces tire contact over bumps and makes the ride harsher. With an independent suspension, each wheel can move freely, improving road contact. Camber can also be adjusted on an independent suspension for better tire contact, especially when taking corners.

On the other hand, a solid axle is lighter, flexes less when power is applied, and is cheaper, especially if you're looking to build something to handle massive amounts of power.

Rubber or Polyurethane Bushings?

Rubber bushings are used in stock components, while polyurethane is commonly used for high performance aftermarket parts. While they do have some differing characteristics, choosing between the two comes down to having rubber's superior vibration isolation for comfort or polyurethane's lack of flex for more precise feel. If you live in a desert climate, polyurethane is also worth considering because it's more resistant to dry rot.

Sway Bars

A sway bar connects the left and right side wheels together to keep one wheel from getting too high or too low than the other wheel, resulting in body roll. Stock setups use mild bars to keep the suspension free to absorb bumps, while performance setups use stiffer bars to keep the body planted in corners. Drag racers might not turn, but they need strong rear sway bars to control axle torqueing at launch.

Putting Together a Working Suspension

Whatever your goal is, Anderson Ford Motorsport has what you need to improve your Mustang's handling. We offer individual parts to let you mix and match as well as complete kits for proven handing improvements.

17th May 2016

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