BmacIL's Guard GT Build

aham23 said:

Did you install it yourself? Sounds awesome.

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I had some help from [MENTION=17191]mindys[/MENTION], giving me his factory resonator and helping with the install, but it's very doable by yourself, just takes more time. Just the axleback takes about 45 mins or so by yourself. The full catback would be about the same, maybe an hour, but you don't have to cut so you save time there. One thing is that if you do just an axleback you can do it with the rear tires on ramps and don't have to jack up the front. If you do a full catback you need to put stands under the front to get at the cat outlet pipe joints.

It's a good setup! Nice and quiet inside and still pretty damn loud outside. No drone at all!

[MENTION=10281]BmacIL[/MENTION]
Hey Brian,
If you thought the new spring setup was too stiff, do you think you could resell them with minimal loss? We are both considering very similar suspension mods.

GTP said:

[MENTION=10281]BmacIL[/MENTION]
Hey Brian,
If you thought the new spring setup was too stiff, do you think you could resell them with minimal loss? We are both considering very similar suspension mods.

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Probably, yes. I would look at [MENTION=26233]Rebellion[/MENTION]'s thoughts on it, though. Based on his feedback, it was a little harsh for a couple days, but really smoothed out. He went with FRPP track handling dampers all around, GT350R fronts and BMR SP084 (handling rate) rears. It seems this car handle quite a bit of front rate without getting particularly harsh, as most of perceived harshness is how the rear reacts and the corresponding body motion.

I suppose there is the inertia of the engine weight, although the car is close to 50/50 distribution.

But aren't our butts closer to the back axle? That would validate your post.

GTP said:

I suppose there is the inertia of the engine weight, although the car is close to 50/50 distribution.

But aren't our butts closer to the back axle? That would validate your post.

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Significantly.

This is fairly true with most cars though. Rarely is the front of the car fully settled by the time the rear hits the bump the front just hit, and the response there is a large determiner of how harsh things feel and the amount of perceived body movement when hitting bumps.

BmacIL said:

Probably, yes. I would look at [MENTION=26233]Rebellion[/MENTION]'s thoughts on it, though. Based on his feedback, it was a little harsh for a couple days, but really smoothed out. He went with FRPP track handling dampers all around, GT350R fronts and BMR SP084 (handling rate) rears. It seems this car handle quite a bit of front rate without getting particularly harsh, as most of perceived harshness is how the rear reacts and the corresponding body motion.

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[MENTION=16078]GTP[/MENTION], you can PM me with specific questions to not fill up this thread...

In overall, the setup feels stiffer than the PP I test drove but the harshness is not bad. It did take like 2 weeks to break in, the first few hours after installation were very harsh, at the end of the first week it became very DD-able. At the end of the 2nd week, you couldn't feel any discomfort (unless you hit something obvious). My wife says it's comfortable...enough said.

Along with the BMR CB005, there's no bouncing or abnormal movement at all (when stock it seemed to develop this infinity shaped oscillation, all of that's gone). It's how a performance car should feel, IMO. Quality of the parts is excellent, no fitment problems, noises or random mishaps. Keep in mind I have also Boomba vert links...

The whole point of the setup is to have stiffer rates and minimal drop. The determining factor is the drop, if you're going 1" or more, there are tons of options. Anything less than 1" leaves you with just a few options (Shelby or BMR).

The setup is cheap, 150 for all four springs...dampers you could reuse with softer springs, if they were too stiff for your taste.

Rebellion said:

[MENTION=16078]GTP[/MENTION], you can PM me with specific questions to not fill up this thread...

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Thanks for the offer. I have read the entire thread, and I try not to over-post.

BTW, I tried to test drive a (used) GT350, but the roads were too smooth to judge if the spring rate was too high for a DD.

As for wife approval - mine heard me start up the car with just X-pipe added. She immediately asked if I made it louder! And mind you, this was with the car in the driveway and she in the house! Damn that woman has acute senses.

So, I am also sure she would immediately notice a higher spring rate. She loved the car perfectly when stock: stock wheels, stock exhaust, and stock ride. I have changed out the first two of those three areas already, and the results are not great in her book. :headbonk:

I :love: them both.

GTP said:

Thanks for the offer. I have read the entire thread, and I try not to over-post.

BTW, I tried to test drive a (used) GT350, but the roads were too smooth to judge if the spring rate was too high for a DD.

As for wife approval - mine heard me start up the car with just X-pipe added. She immediately asked if I made it louder! And mind you, this was with the car in the driveway and she in the house! Damn that woman has acute senses.

So, I am also sure she would immediately notice a higher spring rate. She loved the car perfectly when stock: stock wheels, stock exhaust, and stock ride. I have changed out the first two of those three areas already, and the results are not great in her book. :headbonk:

I :love: them both.

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I would suggest BMR SP089/SP082 springs on PP shocks then. Most report improved comfort over the PP setup, while improving performance, and the lowering is mild (7/8" front, 0.5" back).

BmacIL said:

I would suggest BMR SP089/SP082 springs on PP shocks then. Most report improved comfort over the PP setup, while improving performance, and the lowering is mild (7/8" front, 0.5" back).

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Yes, I know - as I said this is one of my favorite threads.

Anyway, when you are on a smooth road it really doesn't matter WHAT the spring rate is - it will feel fine. And the same applies to a really rough road (Detroit) - it doesn't matter how soft the springs are; the road still sucks.

I just wish I could have driven that GT350 on some slightly rough roads - it is the middle ground that I would want to test out the ride.

Get it?

GTP said:

Yes, I know - as I said this is one of my favorite threads.

Anyway, when you are on a smooth road it really doesn't matter WHAT the spring rate is - it will feel fine. And the same applies to a really rough road (Detroit) - it doesn't matter how soft the springs are; the road still sucks.

I just wish I could have driven that GT350 on some slightly rough roads - it is the middle ground that I would want to test out the ride.

Get it?

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I drove a GT350 around Dearborn for half a day and it handled rough roads surprisingly well. I didn't think it noticeably harsher than a GT PP. This was the Track Pack with the Mag ride.

[MENTION=16078]GTP[/MENTION], just a thought...if wife compliance is an issue and you wanted a minimal drop, but you're not dead-set on linear springs, you could do the track or Y springs from Ford Racing (along with the full track set), or some other 1" drop progressives.

Add a 0.25" Steeda spacer and you'll be almost at the same drop as the SP082/089 (1/0.5" vs 0.75/0.5"). Ride comfort, in theory, should be better than linears. Another hidden benefit is that the wheel well distance should be perfect since my 0.75/0.5" setup has approx 0.25" of difference up front.

If I wasn't such a purist about linears, I would have gone this route, but my level of wife compliance is good enough

One other thing that Kelly mentioned some while ago, is to have softer springs, for instance, SP082/089, with BMR sways on full stiff. Supposedly, this idea of "soft springs/stiff sways" works, but I haven't researched this option. My first thought is that it seems harder to balance, unless you know what you're doing. I'm on the opposite approach, still have my base GT sways.

Ordered a bunch!

Steeda Pro-Action fixed shocks and struts
GT350R front springs
BMR SP085 handling rear springs

Thanks [MENTION=26233]Rebellion[/MENTION] and [MENTION=9985]BMR Tech[/MENTION] for listening to my endless hemming and hawing over options and giving me counterpoints.

BmacIL said:

Ordered a bunch!

Steeda Pro-Action fixed shocks and struts
GT350R front springs
BMR SP085 handling rear springs

Thanks [MENTION=26233]Rebellion[/MENTION] and [MENTION=9985]BMR Tech[/MENTION] for listening to my endless hemming and hawing over options and giving me counterpoints.

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Cool stuff!

I ended up learning a ton with our discussions, it is thanks to you that my setup is possible. Best of luck with the install!

BmacIL said:

Ordered a bunch!

Steeda Pro-Action fixed shocks and struts
GT350R front springs
BMR SP085 handling rear springs

Thanks [MENTION=26233]Rebellion[/MENTION] and [MENTION=9985]BMR Tech[/MENTION] for listening to my endless hemming and hawing over options and giving me counterpoints.

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And installed! Love it so far. Fantastic handling AND ride. I like the mild drop a lot, too.