New shocks / springs for street track setup?

[stevbd]

Considering my car is pretty old now (I guess they all are) I planned on replacing my front upper strut mount. Because I am going with new shocks, I can go with either the older 05-10/GT500 style or the newer 11-14 style mount. Is there any reason to go with one or the other?

thanks

Neither. You definitely want adjustable camber plates. In terms of ROI on track, CC plates >> adjustable dampers or spring heights, imo.

 

[EF1]

Neither. You definitely want adjustable camber plates. In terms of ROI on track, CC plates >> adjustable dampers or spring heights, imo.

Camber plates are still strut mounts and need to match the style of strut used. There are two different styles for the S197 like mentioned in earlier post.

 

[Mike_FL]

I would just get the Vorshlag street pro kit. It has everything you need. Fit and forget

 

[ShifterX]

Camber plates are still strut mounts and need to match the style of strut used. There are two different styles for the S197 like mentioned in earlier post.

This is what I am trying to figure out. Even with CC plates I need to use an OEM upper spring mount, right? Does that also include the upper steering pivot bearing?

 

[EF1]

This is what I am trying to figure out. Even with CC plates I need to use an OEM upper spring mount, right? Does that also include the upper steering pivot bearing?

Camber plates are just an adjustable upper strut mount. They take the place of the stock mount.

 

[Mad Hatter]

You can put together a Bilstein kit for about $1500, which is very reasonable. I really liked the basic cortex/koni setup for $2795 and later upgraded the shocks to DA for SA. The Cortex setup lets you hang with and beat Porsche GT4's so its doing something right. Found the base cortex setup much better at the track, and more comfortable on the street then original boss shocks with P springs.

 

[ShifterX]

Camber plates are just an adjustable upper strut mount. They take the place of the stock mount.

Don’t you need the upper spring perch from the oem mount? Thought I read that somewhere.

 

[EF1]

Don’t you need the upper spring perch from the oem mount? Thought I read that somewhere.

Not for any I have seen. The Steeda HD mounts bolted right up to the factory style struts. In my case the 2011+ non adj Koni’s. The Vorshlag plates are modular. You specify the type of strut and they send the correct perch.

 

[ShifterX]

Ok, I read the instructions on this cc plate. It must be unique.

How to install Maximum Motorsports Caster Camber Plates on your 2011-2012 Mustang | AmericanMuscle

www.americanmuscle.com

go half way down and you will see what I mean. This plate uses the factory upper spring perch and thrust bearing. The older version comes with a perch and bearing but you need to use the stock upper spring isolator.

My only concern is that all the hardware is replaced. Especially the thrust bearing. If that comes new with the cc plate, all the better.

 

[ShifterX]

You can put together a Bilstein kit for about $1500, which is very reasonable. I really liked the basic cortex/koni setup for $2795 and later upgraded the shocks to DA for SA. The Cortex setup lets you hang with and beat Porsche GT4's so its doing something right. Found the base cortex setup much better at the track, and more comfortable on the street then original boss shocks with P springs.

I wish bilstein made a pss kit for this platform. I was leaning more toward koni just because of adjustability.

What would your bilstein setup look like?

 

[stevbd]

@ShifterX agree with @EF1, every CC plate I've seen includes the spring perch and bearing as part of the assembly. Yes, the size of those elements will vary depending on the spring and shock you are using. Your new CC plate is the upper strut mount. You don't use the oem strut mount or spring perch. Good luck.

EDIT - sorry, I just cross posted. I'm not familiar with the MM plates you describe on the AM site. I have the Vorshlag plates which are extremely well regarded. Another nice thing about the Vorshlag plates is they will rebuild and modify them for a very reasonable cost for any spring or shock changes you might decide to make in the future. Two thumbs up.

 

[EF1]

Ok, I read the instructions on this cc plate. It must be unique.

How to install Maximum Motorsports Caster Camber Plates on your 2011-2012 Mustang | AmericanMuscle

www.americanmuscle.com

go half way down and you will see what I mean. This plate uses the factory upper spring perch and thrust bearing. The older version comes with a perch and bearing but you need to use the stock upper spring isolator.

My only concern is that all the hardware is replaced. Especially the thrust bearing. If that comes new with the cc plate, all the better.

These plates fit 2008-2010 style struts. They do not work with the 2011-2014 style strut. The strut to spindle hardware they are referring to is the bolts and flag nuts that secure the bottom of the struts. These camber plates reuse the spring perch but have new bearings.

 

[EF1]

I did not read down far enough on the link you sent. It does appear they are reusing the perch and pivot bearings. The plates I have used have new perches and bearings. I would nit want to use the stock bearings as they are a common point of failure.

 

[Mad Hatter]

I wish bilstein made a pss kit for this platform. I was leaning more toward koni just because of adjustability.

What would your bilstein setup look like?

this is a quick list from LMR.COM. But you can make the list up at Summit or any other seller as well. Either Koni or Bilstein would be about the same price



A very popular and successful kit is the Ford Perf. kit. Not the most adjustable, but you know it would work.

 

[ShifterX]

I did not read down far enough on the link you sent. It does appear they are reusing the perch and pivot bearings. The plates I have used have new perches and bearings. I would nit want to use the stock bearings as they are a common point of failure.

Yep, that was my concern as the thrust bearing is a fairly important wearable item. Would prefer that everything is replaced with the CC plates.

 

[ShifterX]

Was looking at the Steeda plates and its the same thing with those as well. However the steeda plate supplies the bearing, just not the upper perch.

 

[EF1]

Was looking at the Steeda plates and its the same thing with those as well. However the steeda plate supplies the bearing, just not the upper perch.

View attachment 94068

I don't remember reusing the spring perch with the Steeda mounts, but I must have. On the plus side, the spring perch really isn't a wear item. The thing that fails in the oem mounts is usually the bearings. I had the 2011-2014 version of the Steeda mounts on my car for several years without issue. I went to the Vorshlag plates to get more adjustment. Like others have said, the Vorshlag plates are modular and they configure them to your springs and struts. They are rebuildable and can be reconfigured later if you change components. I have been running them for a couple of years now without issue.

 

[ShifterX]

Thinking of going very close to your setup @EF1. Or at least your previous setup. Koni yellows with Steeda hd mount and maybe comp springs. For my expected level of street vs track, this is probably the best balance.

Just trying to figure out which mounts and struts to order.

this

Steeda Mustang Heavy Duty Upper Strut Mounts (2011-2014)

Steeda's Upper Strut Mounts for 2011+ Mustang have been tested on several popular race tracks to ensure increased suspension performance along with no increase in NVH.

www.steeda.com

Or this

Steeda Heavy Duty Mustang Upper Strut Mounts (05-10 GT & 07-14 GT500)

Steeda's heavy duty, direct replacement, upper strut mounts replace the weak factory mounts for S197 Mustangs. The Steeda street heavy duty upper strut mounts are manufactured to the same exacting tolerances as our industry leading caster/camber plates.

www.steeda.com

Since I am buying new struts, I can use either. From what I can tell I need the upper perch and isolator from my current setup if I go with the 11-14. If I go with the gt500 style I would need to by a 05-10 upper isolator.

That aside they look the same and the gt500 style is over $100 cheaper.

 

[EF1]

Thinking of going very close to your setup @EF1. Or at least your previous setup. Koni yellows with Steeda hd mount and maybe comp springs. For my expected level of street vs track, this is probably the best balance.

Just trying to figure out which mounts and struts to order.

this

Steeda Mustang Heavy Duty Upper Strut Mounts (2011-2014)

Steeda's Upper Strut Mounts for 2011+ Mustang have been tested on several popular race tracks to ensure increased suspension performance along with no increase in NVH.

www.steeda.com

Or this

Steeda Heavy Duty Mustang Upper Strut Mounts (05-10 GT & 07-14 GT500)

Steeda's heavy duty, direct replacement, upper strut mounts replace the weak factory mounts for S197 Mustangs. The Steeda street heavy duty upper strut mounts are manufactured to the same exacting tolerances as our industry leading caster/camber plates.

www.steeda.com

Since I am buying new struts, I can use either. From what I can tell I need the upper perch and isolator from my current setup if I go with the 11-14. If I go with the gt500 style I would need to by a 05-10 upper isolator.

That aside they look the same and the gt500 style is over $100 cheaper.

I don't think you can go wrong either way. The big difference between the two versions of struts is the length of the shaft. I used the 2011-2014 model Steeda mounts with the non-adjustable Koni's and Steeda Sport springs the first time around. It served me well for a dual use car until the Koni's started getting weak. They were on the car for over 40,000 miles. I initially used the same Steeda mounts when I installed the Koni' yellows and Competition springs. There were no issues with the bearings or the perches. I switched to the Vorshlag plates after a month or so trying to get more negative camber. It didn't really help much. The Vorshlag mounts have more adjustment than the Steeda mounts and have castor adjustment but the limiting factor for me was the strut body contacting the inside of the strut tower due to the diameter. I will probably go to coil overs when the Koni yellows wear out to get more negative camber and I can just swap out the perches and bushings on the Vorshlags without buying another set.

 

[blacksheep-1]

I always recomend a Ford Racing kit ( and American muscle has them on sale) because they are designed to work together, #2 suggestion would be a Cortex kit. With regards to coil overs... anything less than $5K is prolly not worth owning, the other point is that coil overs will need a well advised rebuild every 20K miles.