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West TX GT

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Now that people have had some time to install the struts and shocks they got for an unbelievable Black Friday price, I'm curious what you guys are are going with for stiffness and what springs you have. I have BMR handling springs and started at halfway (1.5 turns). I played around with full soft and full hard just for test drive kicks and the difference is huge. I have settled on 2.25 turns front and back for now but I'm still playing with it. Curious if any have tried different settings front and back. Please post your settings and your springs and how it "feels".
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BmacIL

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Now that people have had some time to install the struts and shocks they got for an unbelievable Black Friday price, I'm curious what you guys are are going with for stiffness and what springs you have. I have BMR handling springs and started at halfway (1.5 turns). I played around with full soft and full hard just for test drive kicks and the difference is huge. I have settled on 2.25 turns front and back for now but I'm still playing with it. Curious if any have tried different settings front and back. Please post your settings and your springs and how it "feels".
What were your impressions with your springs at 1.5 turns?
 

wildcatgoal

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For Steeda Ultralites (a very different spring philosophy, drop, and weight distribution than BMR Handling springs by a long shot) I tended to like 1.5 turns front and back before I had LCA bearings. After LCA bearings, I adjusted the back up to 2 turns. My sway bar settings front and back were one slot from full stiff for most of these adjustments and usually I was on 20" 35 aspect tires inflated to 32 psi cold.

For my Swift Spec Rs, which, compared to the Ultralites, have a notably stiffer front spring (relatively closer to BMR Handling's front rate) and a slightly softer rear spring plus a very different drop profile and thus different weight distribution, I started at 1.75 turns up front and 1.5 in the rear. It's pretty dang good as-is but I need to experiment. Just no real reason to as I'm just tooting to and from work these days, if I even drive the car. Presently my sway bar settings are on full soft and I am rolling on my 19" PP wheels with stock size 40-aspect soft-sidewall Continental DWS (A/S) tires at 32 psi cold. I suspect I'll change the damper settings as I stiffen the sway bars and put stiffer sidewall summer tires back on. I know in 2017 I'm going to be more experimenty with all my adjustability vs. set it and forget it.

I mention sways and tires because they impact spring rate. You may wish to change your damper settings depending on your sway bar settings, if you have adjustable sway bars, and the characteristics of your tires and your chosen tire pressure.
 

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Part of the original question I think is crucial, "what springs you have". You'll want the dampening tuned to the spring rate and every car with various mods will be slightly different, although it would be nice to see general numbers where people are settling.

What would be more helpful if someone had a link to credible information on how to best tune adjustable shocks/struts for purpose. I have the adjustable Konis and have been all over the map with adjustment and really have no clue what I'm really doing. I know it's subjective to the owner/driver and what they want out of the car and driving experience but I still don't know what are the indicators I should look for and how to separate front from back.
 

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BmacIL

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Part of the original question I think is crucial, "what springs you have". You'll want the dampening tuned to the spring rate and every car with various mods will be slightly different, although it would be nice to see general numbers where people are settling.

What would be more helpful if someone had a link to credible information on how to best tune adjustable shocks/struts for purpose. I have the adjustable Konis and have been all over the map with adjustment and really have no clue what I'm really doing. I know it's subjective to the owner/driver and what they want out of the car and driving experience but I still don't know what are the indicators I should look for and how to separate front from back.
I think you're going to always have a tough time dialing in your setup with the progressive springs and Koni yellows. The Koni's have compression damping tuned for a higher rate linear spring (BMR Handling or stiffer), so that paired with the soft initial rate of your springs can make for a choppy ride. The Steeda adjustables have lower nominal compression damping, which allows them to be comfortable with a large amount of the springs available for our cars.
 

jbailer

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I think you're going to always have a tough time dialing in your setup with the progressive springs and Koni yellows. The Koni's have compression damping tuned for a higher rate linear spring (BMR Handling or stiffer), so that paired with the soft initial rate of your springs can make for a choppy ride. The Steeda adjustables have lower nominal compression damping, which allows them to be comfortable with a large amount of the springs available for our cars.
I think you're right although I've been trying to avoid it. At some point I think I'll need to switch to the Steeda adjustables. Most likely when it warms up.

It still would be nice to have some kind of procedure. I mean adjusting front and back together might be deceiving as 1 might be biasing the decision. Then trying to separate the adjustments, I wouldn't know what to look for.
 

BmacIL

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I think you're right although I've been trying to avoid it. At some point I think I'll need to switch to the Steeda adjustables. Most likely when it warms up.

It still would be nice to have some kind of procedure. I mean adjusting front and back together might be deceiving as 1 might be biasing the decision. Then trying to separate the adjustments, I wouldn't know what to look for.
Well you just have to think of what it's doing. You're only adjusting rebound, so you're effecting weight transfer rate and ride control. From a ride perspective, it's best to set them to the same front and rear and then work in small increments (say 1/4 turn) away from that midpoint. What you'll be trying to do is set the rebound such that for each bump, there is an up, and a down, and the ever so slightest hint of an up after the down motion of the body. You want the system to be slightly underdamped (damping coefficient) for good ride response in all conditions. Simplified ride control can be quantified and analyzed, but what feels good to people is quite subjective. That's why Ford, for instance, has both objective measures and subjective calls on ride, handling, steering feel and NVH.

For handling response, that is a little more straightforward. More rebound control in the front slows weight transfer to the rear, and more in the rear slows weight transfer to the front. Of course, it also changes side to side as you go firmer on control, which often gives the illusion of less body roll even if peak roll angle is nearly identical.

For your springs, I'd probably start the Konis off at about 1/2 turn from soft all around. I'm not sure where you're at now.
 
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West TX GT

West TX GT

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What were your impressions with your springs at 1.5 turns?
It was quite a bit better than stock but I have stock sway bars still so I increased them to 2.25 turns to kill body roll. It feels pretty good but I can feel just about any imperfection in the road. I like it a lot but it won't be for everyone. The car gives a lot more confidence taking turns at much higher speeds through my little "test route". I'm still playing with it. Once I get sway bars I'll likely start all over, good thing it is so easy and quick.
 

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It was quite a bit better than stock but I have stock sway bars still so I increased them to 2.25 turns to kill body roll. It feels pretty good but I can feel just about any imperfection in the road. I like it a lot but it won't be for everyone. The car gives a lot more confidence taking turns at much higher speeds through my little "test route". I'm still playing with it. Once I get sway bars I'll likely start all over, good thing it is so easy and quick.
Thanks. I ordered the non-adjustable Pro-Actions, which have equivalent damping to the adjustables at 1.5 turns from soft, which is why I was asking. I'm pairing with GT350R front springs (240 lb/in) and BMR SP085 (Handling) rears. I was pretty confident when I ordered them that they would have enough control for these rates (your fronts are even higher at 300 lb/in), and it's nice to hear some positive feedback of the sort.
 

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Well you just have to think of what it's doing. You're only adjusting rebound, so you're effecting weight transfer rate and ride control. From a ride perspective, it's best to set them to the same front and rear and then work in small increments (say 1/4 turn) away from that midpoint. What you'll be trying to do is set the rebound such that for each bump, there is an up, and a down, and the ever so slightest hint of an up after the down motion of the body. You want the system to be slightly underdamped (damping coefficient) for good ride response in all conditions. Simplified ride control can be quantified and analyzed, but what feels good to people is quite subjective. That's why Ford, for instance, has both objective measures and subjective calls on ride, handling, steering feel and NVH.

For handling response, that is a little more straightforward. More rebound control in the front slows weight transfer to the rear, and more in the rear slows weight transfer to the front. Of course, it also changes side to side as you go firmer on control, which often gives the illusion of less body roll even if peak roll angle is nearly identical.

For your springs, I'd probably start the Konis off at about 1/2 turn from soft all around. I'm not sure where you're at now.
The curious thing to ask is...why the 'stang is so underdampened from factory? (specially on the base GT, seems less underdampened on the PP, but still applies) I mean, is this considered comfortable from their standpoint?
 

SteedaTech

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The curious thing to ask is...why the 'stang is so underdampened from factory? (specially on the base GT, seems less underdampened on the PP, but still applies) I mean, is this considered comfortable from their standpoint?
Yes, Ford has to please a much larger consumer group. We are the enthusiast that want to take a great platform to the next level or to our specific needs.
 
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West TX GT

West TX GT

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Thanks. I ordered the non-adjustable Pro-Actions, which have equivalent damping to the adjustables at 1.5 turns from soft, which is why I was asking. I'm pairing with GT350R front springs (240 lb/in) and BMR SP085 (Handling) rears. I was pretty confident when I ordered them that they would have enough control for these rates (your fronts are even higher at 300 lb/in), and it's nice to hear some positive feedback of the sort.
I think you will be fine. A noticeable improvement over the pp setup.
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