Koni is here!

[Need 4 Steed]

So I just finished installing my struts. Need an alignment before I hit them hard and I want to give them a little time to settle in, but they feel great.

As of now I have the full set of koni on and I am running vogtland 1" drop progressive springs. I have front and rear set right in the middle and they feel a bit stiffer than the performance package.

Handling and turning response are a bit better and the ride is also smoother.

I may try out a softer setting and see if I can get a smooth daily driving set up. After that I will go towards the top end of the firm side and see how cornering and launch/braking feel.

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[Todd15Fastback]

So I just finished installing my struts. Need an alignment before I hit them hard and I want to give them a little time to settle in, but they feel great.

As of now I have the full set of koni on and I am running vogtland 1" drop progressive springs. I have front and rear set right in the middle and they feel a bit stiffer than the performance package.

Handling and turning response are a bit better and the ride is also smoother.

I may try out a softer setting and see if I can get a smooth daily driving set up. After that I will go towards the top end of the firm side and see how cornering and launch/braking feel.

Nice! Any issues with installing the struts?

 

[Need 4 Steed]

No issues. The struts went in just as any other strut install. Took about an hour each side for the struts. And maybe half an hour each for the rears accounting for boring out the top bracket hole.

 

[MaverickGT]

Ordered mine from Steeda with some other Steeda goodies and was told they would know sometime in May when they'll ship.

 

[MaverickGT]

Looks like the have about a 2.5 turn adjustment. I set them right in the middle and went for a little test drive.

From the pictures jbailer posted it looks like the rear adjustment is made under the car. Can you get to this without removing the wheel? I ask since on my 08 GT I could adjust from inside the trunk. Thanks

 

[jbailer]

From the pictures jbailer posted it looks like the rear adjustment is made under the car. Can you get to this without removing the wheel? I ask since on my 08 GT I could adjust from inside the trunk. Thanks

Yeah same on my 06 GT. On this, you have to jack up the body so you can reach above the tire to adjust.

 

[ForTehNguyen]

how thick of metal do you have to drill through to enlarge the hole?

 

[Need 4 Steed]

Correct. Just carry a jack with you and you can adjust both rears in about 5 minutes. It would be nice to do a cut out in the trunk to adjust and fortify the mounting area. But that will be farther down the road.

 

[Need 4 Steed]

The hole is already there but the thickness is less than an inch.

 

[ForTehNguyen]

sounds good, nothing my impact gun and bits cant handle

 

[Whiskey11]

I did my install today. Don't care about the alignment settings just yet... A few observations:

Drilling out the hole in the back wasn't that big of a pain, a corded drill and a 1/2" drill bit would do it. My cordless drill died about halfway through the first and my second battery was dead. If anything the rears were the least painful part of the entire endeavor.

On to the fronts... if you plan on renting a tool from Autozone or O'Reilly Auto Parts and get the two separate spring compressors, prepare to screw up the paint on the Koni's... bad. Ford's HORRIBLE design has this tiny spring perch that the spring sits on but a massive perch guard that makes installing the spring compressors very difficult and guarantee's scuffing the piss out of the paint.

One thing I will give Ford credit for is that they designed the front strut mounts to be two pieces... the bearings are actually part of the lower assembly... the advantages to this wont be known to those who never dealt with the 05-14 front strut mounts (awful, just... awful), but it was extremely nice to not have to worry about the strut mount exploding on you!

Slotting the front struts for camber was a pain, even with a dremel...

How do they feel? On full soft, they feel like the stock shocks and struts with one major exception, they have more rebound. The car changes directions easier at full soft than it does with the PP shocks... compression feels the same though. It was raining so I didn't get to push it too hard but the car feels great. One thing to note, on the softest setting, the PP Bounce is still present... if there is one thing Ford ensured lived on of hte Mustang DNA, it's that no matter if it is an IRS car or a Live Axle car, you'll feel like you are riding in a car with a live axle...

One of these days (like next Saturday, actually) I'll get to play around with the shock/strut settings and really dial them in!

 

[Need 4 Steed]

If you put the spring compressor on with the hex drive end at the bottom and use a swivel adapter on your wrench you can get it on there. Otherwise it is just barely too big of a perch.

I'm in the same boat for adjustment. I am set in the middle and it sounds like you went with full soft.

I'd like to hear how it is on the highway and bumps and other road conditions on the soft setting.

 

[Whiskey11]

If you put the spring compressor on with the hex drive end at the bottom and use a swivel adapter on your wrench you can get it on there. Otherwise it is just barely too big of a perch.

I'm in the same boat for adjustment. I am set in the middle and it sounds like you went with full soft.

I'd like to hear how it is on the highway and bumps and other road conditions on the soft setting.

It's at full soft so I have a baseline of where it will never be! Chances are after the next autocross test'n'tune coming up this weekend, they'll stay at competition settings until winter time. I'd "play" around with them but the weather is going to be crappy until the Test'n'Tune so no real use.

 

[jbailer]

how thick of metal do you have to drill through to enlarge the hole?

The part you have to drill through is only about 3/8".

 

[Todd15Fastback]

I did my install today. Don't care about the alignment settings just yet... A few observations:

Drilling out the hole in the back wasn't that big of a pain, a corded drill and a 1/2" drill bit would do it. My cordless drill died about halfway through the first and my second battery was dead. If anything the rears were the least painful part of the entire endeavor.

On to the fronts... if you plan on renting a tool from Autozone or O'Reilly Auto Parts and get the two separate spring compressors, prepare to screw up the paint on the Koni's... bad. Ford's HORRIBLE design has this tiny spring perch that the spring sits on but a massive perch guard that makes installing the spring compressors very difficult and guarantee's scuffing the piss out of the paint.

One thing I will give Ford credit for is that they designed the front strut mounts to be two pieces... the bearings are actually part of the lower assembly... the advantages to this wont be known to those who never dealt with the 05-14 front strut mounts (awful, just... awful), but it was extremely nice to not have to worry about the strut mount exploding on you!

Slotting the front struts for camber was a pain, even with a dremel...

How do they feel? On full soft, they feel like the stock shocks and struts with one major exception, they have more rebound. The car changes directions easier at full soft than it does with the PP shocks... compression feels the same though. It was raining so I didn't get to push it too hard but the car feels great. One thing to note, on the softest setting, the PP Bounce is still present... if there is one thing Ford ensured lived on of hte Mustang DNA, it's that no matter if it is an IRS car or a Live Axle car, you'll feel like you are riding in a car with a live axle...

One of these days (like next Saturday, actually) I'll get to play around with the shock/strut settings and really dial them in!

Thanks for the information and feedback!

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