Steeda or Ford Performance track handling kit

Hi guys,

I will soon get my 2017 Mustang GT and my plans are to exchange the OE shocks, struts and springs.

So I thought about the Steeda handling kit
https://www.steeda.com/steeda-s550-...ance-pack-handling-kit-15-16-gt-555-2354.html

or the Ford Performance Street Kit
http://www.cjponyparts.com/ford-rac...led-fastback-ecoboost-gt-2015-2017/p/MFR3AMA/

or the Ford Performance Track Kit
http://www.cjponyparts.com/ford-rac...led-fastback-ecoboost-gt-2015-2017/p/MFR3AM8/

I don't want to go on the track, just street use.

Non of these kits seem perfect for me.

1. The Steeda doesn't come preassembled. To preassemble them (I would like to do this by myself) I would need the Steeda S550 Mustang Billet Rear Shock Mount. Do you guys know if I would need any OE parts to assemble the front shocks?

2. The Ford Performance Kits come preassembled with what I understand all parts needed for the install. But I don't like the stance of the car with the springs (front looks a bit higher than rear), which would mean that I would replace the springs with Steeda Mustang Ultralite Springs. But I don't know if this a good setup together.
I also heard that the front sway bars and the rear toe links (only track kit) cause a clunking noise. I would need lateral locks then.

At the moment I'm tending to go with the Ford Performance Street Kit + Steeda Mustang Ultralite Springs - Linear (15-17 GT/V6/) + Lateral Locks

What do you guys say?

PS: Do I need new bolts if I want to install the kits?

1. You would need the spring isolators/bearings/etc for the strut assemblies if not included.

2. If you are going to replace the springs in that kit, just get the Steeda kit.

I would get the Steeda kit, probably... I pieced my own together that was what I wanted but it's not all that different from their kit. I would add their billet shock mounts as well because they are fantastic.

You will at least need new spline bolts/nuts for the front struts. I replaced the top nuts as well as the rear shock mounting hardware (which was completely unnecessary, by the way, but I had ordered it so I used it)

I already contacted steeda what oe parts I have to use to assemble their kit, but they are beating around the push.

bl4d3runn3r said:

I already contacted steeda what oe parts I have to use to assemble their kit, but they are beating around the push.

Click to expand...

Here are the install videos that will give you insight into what you will need to re-use & what is changed during installation.

The rear shock mounts are sold separately:

https://www.steeda.com/?subcats=Y&p...med=Y&q=shock+mounts&dispatch=products.search

Spring Install: [ame="[MEDIA=youtube]b-EcQd93i4g[/MEDIA]"]

Camber Plates: [ame="[MEDIA=youtube]id=WQRkYnvaWB4;t=46[/MEDIA]"]

Rear Toe Link Install: [ame="[MEDIA=youtube]fNC7Pi7wEW8[/MEDIA]"]

Steeda Pro Actions: [ame="[MEDIA=youtube]eONBLy5KjaM[/MEDIA]"]

How in depth are you looking to go as to what is being re-used?

TJ

I just wanna sell the OE parts after the install of the Steeda kit and I prefer to sell the OE parts assembled. And I want to preassemble the shocks and struts so that I can replace them without reusing any OE parts from the shocks, struts and springs.

I just want to be able to provide the car shop with a pre-assembled kit, so that I can save some installation time that I have to pay otherwise, if the car shop has to disassemble the OE shocks and struts.

I'm considering some of the same packs, and I'm still on the fence. Not exactly sure which route is the best.

I will let you know tomorrow what I figured out.

I went with the Ford Track kit. I think Steeda had higher reviews on here, but I have no regrets. You can see all my suspension mods in my signature. The only NVH I'd say I noticed was after the toe knuckle bearing and RLCA front inner bearing swap. And that is only slightly more road noise. I have no clunking, creaking, or rattling whatsoever. I daily drive my car often 130 miles a day and this setup is great for me. It no longer feels like a high powered Camry and there wasn't too much sacrifice to ride comfort.

You can see my stance with this suspension in the attached photos taken by [MENTION=7311]Grimace427[/MENTION]. Grimace also did my suspension installs.

My front and rear tires are 275/40/19. I think that makes the front tire .70 inches larger diameter than the stock 255s and thus .35 inches less wheel gap in the front compared to stock tires on this suspension. With my stock tires, I didn't think the front had more gap than the rear. Now with my larger front tires, the gap up front is a bit less than the gap in the rear giving it a slight rake.

That car looks good man - have you noticed a change in the wheel hop?

Edit - Also the bouncy and sometimes floaty feeling over bumps?

DoubleX said:

That car looks good man - have you noticed a change in the wheel hop?

Edit - Also the bouncy and sometimes floaty feeling over bumps?

Click to expand...

I have no wheel hop anymore with my mods. I can't say for sure what mods killed it or if it was a combination of them all. The RLCA and toe knuckle bushings were the last things I added and I still had wheel hop before them with the stock tires. But I changed wheels/tires at the same time as those bushing changes. Even before the RLCA and toe knuckle mods, wheel hop was nearly gone.

Bounciness may be a little worse than it was with my PP setup. I read another member with the track suspension who said it got rid of the bounciness, but with all my mods, bounciness either hasn't changed or is maybe a little worse. Overall though, this setup is substantially better than where I started and there isn't really anything I'd change right now. I don't feel any floating over bumps.

DoubleX said:

That car looks good man - have you noticed a change in the wheel hop?

Edit - Also the bouncy and sometimes floaty feeling over bumps?

Click to expand...

I looks excellent, exactly what I want.

Stripler said:

I have no wheel hop anymore with my mods. I can't say for sure what mods killed it or if it was a combination of them all. The RLCA and toe knuckle bushings were the last things I added and I still had wheel hop before them with the stock tires. But I changed wheels/tires at the same time as those bushing changes. Even before the RLCA and toe knuckle mods, wheel hop was nearly gone.

Bounciness may be a little worse than it was with my PP setup. I read another member with the track suspension who said it got rid of the bounciness, but with all my mods, bounciness either hasn't changed or is maybe a little worse. Overall though, this setup is substantially better than where I started and there isn't really anything I'd change right now. I don't feel any floating over bumps.

Click to expand...

I heard that the toe bearing knocks, is that kit usable without the bearing? I just realized that you use thicker tires what is filling out the wheel gap even more.

I want to go with 255/25 R20 in the front and 275/32 R20 in the rear. This setup is 17mm at the front and 1mm at the rear smaller in diameter. Maybe I should go with a square setup instead of a staggered setup. What offsets are you using?

Regarding the Steeda Kit I was looking for, it comes with the Ford Performance Shocks and Struts, but Steeda can give you a customized Kit with the Steeda Pro-Action shocks and struts.

If you want to preassemble the Steeda shocks and struts before bringing the car to a shop for installation, you need the following parts from Ford.

Ford parts needed for steeda kit
Rear
2x Part Number:*18089 (Rear Shock Mount Shield) $10.40
2x Part Number: 5536 (Coil Spring Insulator) $5.20
2x Part Number: 5586 (Leaf Spring Insulator) $5.72
2x Part Number: 3C239 (Suspension Strut Mount Cap) $5.62
Front
2x Part Number: 5A306 (Coil Spring housing) $28.15
2x Part Number: 5349 (Pad Anti-Squeak) $2.92 & $4.22
2x Part Number: 18A047 (Suspension Strut Dust sleeve) $9.07
2x Part Number: HM1 (Bolts and Nuts) $4.94
2x Part Number: HN2 (Bolts and Nuts) $5.94

Total $164.36


Bolt and Nut Kit $50

Bumpstops $50


With all that stuff you should be able to preassemble the kit prior to the installation to safe some expensive installation time.

But I'm not sure anymore if I wanna go this route. Still not sure...

Yeah, my front tires have a larger diameter than stock which affects the wheel gap. My wheels are MRR GF09 19x9.5 with 30 ET. Tires are 275/40/19. Before I put on these wheels, I also had a nice flush look with my stock wheels and 25mm adapters.

You can definitely do the Ford kit and just not install the toe knuckle bushings that come with it. I think a lot of the clunking/knocking/grinding issues people encounter come from how they install the suspension and not the actual parts. If you don't "clock" the bushings and follow the instructions for torquing bolts, you could have issues. It's important to torque the appropriate bolts with the suspension loaded.

I also got lateral locks for the front sway bar (not needed for rear stabilizer bar) because without them, people on here had knocking issues. The lateral locks were only about $20 and they keep the sway bar from shifting laterally while cornering.

Stripler said:

I have no wheel hop anymore with my mods. I can't say for sure what mods killed it or if it was a combination of them all. The RLCA and toe knuckle bushings were the last things I added and I still had wheel hop before them with the stock tires. But I changed wheels/tires at the same time as those bushing changes. Even before the RLCA and toe knuckle mods, wheel hop was nearly gone.

Bounciness may be a little worse than it was with my PP setup. I read another member with the track suspension who said it got rid of the bounciness, but with all my mods, bounciness either hasn't changed or is maybe a little worse. Overall though, this setup is substantially better than where I started and there isn't really anything I'd change right now. I don't feel any floating over bumps.

Click to expand...

Stripler said:

Yeah, my front tires have a larger diameter than stock which affects the wheel gap. My wheels are MRR GF09 19x9.5 with 30 ET. Tires are 275/40/19. Before I put on these wheels, I also had a nice flush look with my stock wheels and 25mm adapters.

You can definitely do the Ford kit and just not install the toe knuckle bushings that come with it. I think a lot of the clunking/knocking/grinding issues people encounter come from how they install the suspension and not the actual parts. If you don't "clock" the bushings and follow the instructions for torquing bolts, you could have issues. It's important to torque the appropriate bolts with the suspension loaded.

I also got lateral locks for the front sway bar (not needed for rear stabilizer bar) because without them, people on here were have knocking issues. The lateral locks were only about $20 and they keep the sway bar from shifting laterally while cornering.

Click to expand...

Anything you could say me about the toe bearing? Knocking? Is it needed or can I just not install it to avoid knocking?

bl4d3runn3r said:

Anything you could say me about the toe bearing? Knocking? Is it needed or can I just not install it to avoid knocking?

Click to expand...

I have no knocking or odd noises with it. It and the RLCA bushing did completely eliminate my wheel hop. It could add some NVH and everyone interprets that a little differently, so if you are very concerned about NVH, just skip it. I care about NVH and I'm glad I did it and the RLCA bushing. YMMV.

Your car looks great!
I'm having very similar stuff put on my GT (non-PP) next month:
FR Track Handling Pack
BMR CB005 Cradle Lockout
BMR BK051 Poly Diff Bushing Lockout Kit
Steeda kit for CB005 (dowels)
Steeda RLCA bearing

I have 3 more suspension mods I'm looking to do, but not sure I can afford all 3 right now (listed in order of priority):
1) Front LCA Bearing
2) Spherical Vertical Links (leaning BMR for these)
3) Steeda Rear Shock Mount (lots of positive forum buzz about these recently)

I'm also saving for new rims and tires; been considering a fat staggered setup for a while, but the 275 square setup looks amazing on your car, so you have me reconsidering my future wheel setup!