Ford Performance Street Handling Kit

[Bigred911s]

I just ordered the full kit from Ford (M-FR3A-MA 2015-2018 MUSTANG F) which gets you about a one inch drop. Will a wheel alignment with the factory wheel alignment settings be enough after install to not have any tire wear issues or will I need camber plates etc?

Thanks.

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[Bluemustang]

I put on the track springs which are the same drop and my shop was unable to get to factory alignment specs. It won't be bad but you'll have a little more negative camber which will add a little bit more tire wear than normal. I wouldn't worry about it too much but some CC plates would be nice, but there is no need to get them.

 

[Roadway 5.0]

Your tires may wear a bit unevenly, but I wouldn't stress this too much to the point of purchasing camber plates. Install the kit, get an alignment to ensure toe is proper, and embrace the glory of increased negative camber

 

[Bigred911s]

Thanks guys. Form what I'm reading the factory front and rear camber adjustment range should be enough to dial everything in given I'm only lowering car to about 1".

I just need to make sure I find an alignment shop that has experience working on lowered cars.

 

[Dr. Norts]

I just ordered the full kit from Ford (M-FR3A-MA 2015-2018 MUSTANG F) which gets you about a one inch drop. Will a wheel alignment with the factory wheel alignment settings be enough after install to not have any tire wear issues or will I need camber plates etc?

Thanks.

I just ordered this kit as well. Post some pictures and your impressions once you get it all installed.

You currently have a base suspension?

 

[JohnD]

Thanks guys. Form what I'm reading the factory front and rear camber adjustment range should be enough to dial everything in given I'm only lowering car to about 1".

I just need to make sure I find an alignment shop that has experience working on lowered cars.

If you go to a shop that has a newish alignment rig it would be hard for them to screw it up. The machine does all the heavy lifting where it matters (the measuring), they just make adjustments to get it where you want it.

 

[TheLion]

Thanks guys. Form what I'm reading the factory front and rear camber adjustment range should be enough to dial everything in given I'm only lowering car to about 1".

I just need to make sure I find an alignment shop that has experience working on lowered cars.

I ran the Ford Street X springs on my 2016 EB for about a year and a half. There's some additional tread wear on the inner shoulders of the tires, maybe about 1/32 more than on the outer edge. However I never had any other abnormal wear (no feathering, cupping etc.).

However with the additional camber, around -0.5~-1 degree, you get better corner stability as there's more tire to roll onto in a corner. Most street cars (non-performance) come with 0 degree or -0.5 chamber for tread wear and long term traction purposes (in a daily, you typically are more concerned about having enough tread for bad weather than fast cornering, so you want even shoulder block tread for snow, heavy water, mud etc.). I'm not sure what the stock camber is on the Mustang GT PP's, but I think it's around -0.75~-1 ish.

If you use camber plates to get back the addition camber, you'll loose an important benefit. For a street car you drive every day, about -1.5~-2 is all you can do without having severe tire wear issues. But it's enough to give you a decent bite in corners, pending the caster angles and tire design are optimal for the chassis.

Having the inside shoulder slightly more worn than the outside won't negatively affect handling from a performance driving standpoint. During a turn, caster typically puts the inner (tire facing the direction your turning) onto the outer shoulder and the outer tire onto the inner shoulder. And the body roll and weight of the car will roll force on to the outer edge of the outer tire and onto the inner edge of the inner tire. Given the small difference in wear, it won't really affect handling unless the shoulder is completely gone (at which point your past the wear bars on both the outer and inner shoulders of the tire).

As far as I know, there is no factory camber adjustment. Only toe for the front and rear. Front obviously is done by the tie rods, rear is done by cam bolts on the toe links. Factory camber is set with the length of the linkages and strut mounts and is fixed sans the small slop in the bolt holes on the chassis. You would need adjustable camber plates, which for auto x purposes isn't a bad idea. Some are quick adjust, so you could set them at home to something extreme like -3~-4 degrees for auto X, then return them to -1 for daily use after the event with just a ratchet and socket.

I'll be adding the Ford Street X springs paired with a BMR cradle lockout kit to my otherwise stock 2016 PP GT I just traded up to. Only other mod this year will be the 35lb clutch assist spring.

Those 3 things really make this 2016 PP GT a great car overall. The combination of the Street X lowering springs and the cradle lock out kit provides the following benefits over stock:
1. Less bouncy on bumpy roads, car is more settled on most actual street surfaces and some auto x courses which are often old air strips, parking lots or pit roads on oval tracks / drag strips
2. Slightly more camber, allowing higher corner speeds
3. Lower CG, so less body roll assuming no other changes
4. Looks just about perfect in my opinion for a street car!
5. Eliminates the rubber band feeling in the rear end
6. Makes the rear end far more predictable, the front and the rear are in unison and instead of doing their own things
7. Better feedback on what the rear end is actually doing, allowing you to use throttle modulate under steer, the GT has plenty of power to modulate understeer pending you can actually feel what's going on
8. Reduces wheel hop, while it won't completely eliminate it in all circumstances (depends on tires, temperature, track surface and launch RPM), it reduces it to the point that if it does occur, it's not so severe it feels like the rear will fall off. It becomes more of a mild stutter.
9. As the IRS bushings age and start to crack, they will move even more, IRS lock out eliminates that issue all together, plus there's no permanent modification or need to cut out the stock bushings, you can always take it off if you wanted to for some unknown and unfathomable reason...

In my opinion, an otherwise stock GT PP doesn't really need anything else that those 3 mods to be a really great muscle car / sports car. Having come from a modified 2016 Ecoboost (FMIC, FP Power Pack etc. making 350 crank hp / 400 ft-lbs crank), the GT has more than enough power to be fast and fun all the time. It doesn't leave you wishing for more power at times unlike the 2.3T did, at least for me. So for the time being I just want to correct the suspension deficiencies, especially since this car makes a crap ton of power, handling becomes the greater concern, not just for fun / performance, but for safe spirited driving too!

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