Help me choose new suspension

[High Velocity]

Word of warning though, I got extremely lucky, but overpaid for the kit. The wait times on it are ridiculous. I have seen people stating its been 6+ months waiting for it. I originally ordered mine through jegs, and after a month of them pusing the delivery times I broke down and bought the last package steeda had, yet at $400 to 500$ markup. But I also hate buying things and having to wait an absorbent amount of time for them.

American Muscle seems to have the best pricing on the kit right now. But it's out of stock. They do have the dampers and springs in stock, But no sway bars. If you don't mind me asking what did you end of paying total at JEGS and what was the total from Steeda. Did you do camber plates?

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[MidwayJ]

Do you have any pictures of the stance of your car with those BMR minimum drop springs? Also why did you choose Bilstein over the Ford dampers?

Pictured is my '19 GT with the BMR minimum drop springs and 19x10 wheels with 285/35 tires all around. That's a little shorter than stock, so there would be less wheel gap with taller tires and/or 20 inch wheels.

At the time I bought the Bilsteins in 2020, they were relatively new on the market for the S550 and getting good reviews. Most were pairing the Ford track dampers with stiffer springs like the BMR handling, so I figured the Bilsteins would be a better match for the softer spring rates of the minimum drop or performance springs.

 

[Sparky1337]

I went with the Ford Performance Race dampers and Steeda min drop springs.

Originally, I was going to swap in GT350 non-magneride springs for a min drop, higher spring rate, and OE quality. But I was having a hard time getting either the front or back as I was told they were “discontinued”.

The Steeda min drop spring so far do exactly as advertised. They dropped my car (non perf pack 2016 GT) by a 1/2 inch and are pretty tight.

Biggest downside, the uppermost spring coils make contact, and clang over bumps. Mine came with sleeves to counter this, but for $400 I’d expect the springs to be perfect out of the box. If you look around, it appears to be pretty common.

 

[Mustangcol]

I went with the Ford Performance Race dampers and Steeda min drop springs.

Originally, I was going to swap in GT350 non-magneride springs for a min drop, higher spring rate, and OE quality. But I was having a hard time getting either the front or back as I was told they were “discontinued”.

The Steeda min drop spring so far do exactly as advertised. They dropped my car (non perf pack 2016 GT) by a 1/2 inch and are pretty tight.

Biggest downside, the uppermost spring coils make contact, and clang over bumps. Mine came with sleeves to counter this, but for $400 I’d expect the springs to be perfect out of the box. If you look around, it appears to be pretty common.

I went with the ford track dampers and the GT350 nonmagnaride springs. I got them from levittown ford almost 1 year ago and it didn't take long to ship out.

They've been great. It was the smallest drop and stiffest spring rate. I wanted a balance of max ride height and handling because my city has lots of speed bumps.

Comfort has been good. I noticed an improvement in ride comfort when I went with the SVE wheels with 285/35r19

 

[Sparky1337]

I went with the ford track dampers and the GT350 nonmagnaride springs. I got them from levittown ford almost 1 year ago and it didn't take long to ship out.

They've been great. It was the smallest drop and stiffest spring rate. I wanted a balance of max ride height and handling because my city has lots of speed bumps.

Comfort has been good. I noticed an improvement in ride comfort when I went with the SVE wheels with 285/35r19

Yea, Levittown was the dealer that told me they were discontinued. I tried to buy them around June.

 

[Mustangcol]

Yea, Levittown was the dealer that told me they were discontinued. I tried to buy them around June.

Ah, that sucks. I checked and I ordered mine October 15, 2024.

 

[JustSomeGuy]

I have the Ford Performance track kit. It is stiffer than the PP1 stuff (should be the FP street kit if I’m not mistaken) but not crazy. I have a bunch of other stuff (like aluminum diff pucks) that makes my ride a bit on the stiff side, but the suspension it perfect IMO for the street. The only thing I wish it had was sway bar and links, I’ve heard that the sway bars don’t do much with stock links because the stock links flex so much it almost “undoes” what the sway bars do…

 

[S550HPP]

Thanks I’m thinking the same thing. Would you mind saying what the 3 aftermarket brands were that you tried and didn’t like?

Bilstein B6 worn out after 18 mths ride turned to crap no warranty. Two sets of Koni Special Active (2022 & 2024 production dates defective warranty refund from seller twice no hassles didn't even have to sent them back.

If I did not do the work myself it would have been $3K in wasted shop charges for 4 swaps incl the take off Fords I put back on in the end.

Just go for the Ford Track kit.

 

[Mustangcol]

Bilstein B6 worn out after 18 mths ride turned to crap no warranty. Two sets of Koni Special Active (2022 & 2024 production dates defective warranty refund from seller twice no hassles didn't even have to sent them back.

If I did not do the work myself it would have been $3K in wasted shop charges for 4 swaps incl the take off Fords I put back on in the end.

Just go for the Ford Track kit.

I had new BIlstein B6 on the rears and it would bounce badly. Swapped them out for the ford track dampers with steeda billet shock mounts and its perfect now.

 

[High Velocity]

Pictured is my '19 GT with the BMR minimum drop springs and 19x10 wheels with 285/35 tires all around. That's a little shorter than stock, so there would be less wheel gap with taller tires and/or 20 inch wheels.

At the time I bought the Bilsteins in 2020, they were relatively new on the market for the S550 and getting good reviews. Most were pairing the Ford track dampers with stiffer springs like the BMR handling, so I figured the Bilsteins would be a better match for the softer spring rates of the minimum drop or performance springs.

Looks good

 

[High Velocity]

I went with the Ford Performance Race dampers and Steeda min drop springs.

Originally, I was going to swap in GT350 non-magneride springs for a min drop, higher spring rate, and OE quality. But I was having a hard time getting either the front or back as I was told they were “discontinued”.

The Steeda min drop spring so far do exactly as advertised. They dropped my car (non perf pack 2016 GT) by a 1/2 inch and are pretty tight.

Biggest downside, the uppermost spring coils make contact, and clang over bumps. Mine came with sleeves to counter this, but for $400 I’d expect the springs to be perfect out of the box. If you look around, it appears to be pretty common.

Post some pictures of your cars stance. If they drop a non performance pack car by half an inch, would they drop the performance pack cars by the same amount?

Do the performance pack cars sit any lower than a base model?

 

[High Velocity]

I went with the ford track dampers and the GT350 nonmagnaride springs. I got them from levittown ford almost 1 year ago and it didn't take long to ship out.

They've been great. It was the smallest drop and stiffest spring rate. I wanted a balance of max ride height and handling because my city has lots of speed bumps.

Comfort has been good. I noticed an improvement in ride comfort when I went with the SVE wheels with 285/35r19

Post some pictures of the car. I haven't heard of this suspension setup before but sounds cool.

If you went from a 40 series tire to a 35 series tire, shouldn't the ride have got worse? Or did you go so much wider that it technically is as tall as a 40 series tire?

I'm just trying to learn as much as I can because after my current tires wear out, I will be buying new wheels and tires.

 

[High Velocity]

I have the Ford Performance track kit. It is stiffer than the PP1 stuff (should be the FP street kit if I’m not mistaken) but not crazy. I have a bunch of other stuff (like aluminum diff pucks) that makes my ride a bit on the stiff side, but the suspension it perfect IMO for the street. The only thing I wish it had was sway bar and links, I’ve heard that the sway bars don’t do much with stock links because the stock links flex so much it almost “undoes” what the sway bars do…

Can't you just buy any brand sway bar end links for your Ford track sway bars?
Please post some pictures of your cars stance with the track kit.

 

[Sparky1337]

Post some pictures of your cars stance. If they drop a non performance pack car by half an inch, would they drop the performance pack cars by the same amount?

Do the performance pack cars sit any lower than a base model?

I can probably do that next week. I have been taking measurements at different times since the install to make sure it settles properly and I can’t tell too much of a difference personally and have been waiting to take a second comparison pic.

 

[High Velocity]

Bilstein B6 worn out after 18 mths ride turned to crap no warranty. Two sets of Koni Special Active (2022 & 2024 production dates defective warranty refund from seller twice no hassles didn't even have to sent them back.

If I did not do the work myself it would have been $3K in wasted shop charges for 4 swaps incl the take off Fords I put back on in the end.

Just go for the Ford Track kit.

This is exactly the type of advice I am looking for and why I research. My gut has always told me to buy OEM if possible. Especially with Mustangs because you can upgrade and customize them by buying RTR, Shelby, Roush and Ford performance parts.

It's crazy to me that big name brands like Bilstein and Koni had problems. I believe Steeda and RTR struts and shocks are Koni shocks and struts and are just valved to there specifications.

I've also been hearing a lot lately about aftermarket springs making noises and or not lowering evenly all around.

I have made up my mind and I going to buy the Ford performance track kit. Only problem is everyone is currently out of stock of the complete kit. But now I'm wondering if I need camber plates to go along with it and which brand of camber plates to buy.

I'm thinking I should probably just buy the Ford performance camber plates as well. Any thoughts on that?

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