OK, suspension mods are one of the most covered topics on here, and it makes searching very tricky to get the most of your search results. But I have a few questions that would love some insight on.

My 86 951 has 91k on the stock set up, and after our latest and amazing drive through the mountains here in NC, my feelings about said suspension were correct. It's worn flat out. Here is what I am contemplating, but am also at the same time looking for input and/or critisism. I will number each of these that way it's easier for people to choose what they may want to comment about if not everything/all questions.

This cars duties include a 2 minute drive to work on nice days, very spirited driving on GTG's/weekends, and now that I am a PCA member, possibly some DE's. I have been well versed in Mustang suspensions over the years, and am used to a car that is stiff, but streetable (i.e. poly bushings/Koni's, springs, etc).
I am also stuck in the middle of a dillema in that the vehicle is low miles, and don't want to go too drastic incase the vehicle needs to be returned to stock(ish) trim at any point, and this is what my decisions are based on in this post.

1) Sway bars. Mine are just the stock 86 units, have not measured, and have not been able to find actual diameters listed anywhere but I think they are 25.5 front? Rear - unknown to me. Not sure i want to use the Weltmeister peices, so maybe after the rest of the suspension is addressed, come back and re-read this one and make a decision.

2) Front struts. I was very close to just spending the $2100 on the full coilover conversion and camber plate set-up from Paragon, and retaining the torsion bars. But have since started leaning to the Koni conversion. I have all the equipment and tools to do this with no issues, and I like the idea of having the Koni yellows as I have used them in the past. Any pro's/con's with using the coil-over kit on these and shaving the spring perches? And is a 300lb spring good enough? 2.25" or 2.5"?

3) Rear shocks. Not one to mix-and-match, so Koni Sports are a good match for the above mentioned set-up? I believe my choice of rear sway bar will of corse have an impact on rear shock choice/direction?

4) Misc. Strut mounts - will be replaced for sure, very noisy now, with the Monoball mounts. Strut tower brace - still undecided for now. Camber plates - same, undecided. Lower control arms - Rebuild is already on my list of first things to do this winter. Suspension Bushings - looking for advice on this one!

I found a bunch of people's replies on other posts, and they all said, my car has this, and my car has that. Those are great, and I welcome any proven combonations on vehicles that are seeing simalar usage as mine. But I am also looking for input on these specific combos/parts that i am thinking about using, or better alternatives.

Thanks for any and all help in advance!

 

300# springs is the 'general consensus' when it comes to 'street cars' who want a stiff setup. I feel this is probably true for people who drive their cars exclusively every day. Personally I run 350# springs & 30mm bars, and find this very streetable (most passengers can't even tell the difference from stock). I would advise you go with 29mm bars in the rear to make the car a little more stable, mine's only so stiff in the rear to help rotate the car at autocross.

for shocks... I've got the paragon koni coilover kit in the front and adjustable yellow's in the rear. I'm still playing with adjustments, so I can't quite say if I'm fond of them yet, but I can say that they may be a bit too 'weak' for my application. I find my self running very close to the upper end of adjustment on them. They're probably better suited for a 300#/29mm setup.

I can't really help with sway bars, as I've gone from stock n/a bars to full adjustable... which is not the way you're looking (nor would I recommend).

 

What's your budget?

 

Well, lets just say i was gonna drop $2100+ in one shot. So budget is not a huge concern.

 

Doug-

Just went the upgrade route this year after 10yrs ownership, majority of my car's use is weekend drives and the ocasional trip to DE. What you need to do is define what you like about the car's handling or what you want to change.

For me, I liked the way it behaved on both the street and the track, just wished for a bit (OK alot) less roll at the track. I had already invested in the larger 968 MO30 swaybars a while back so I went at the rest of the suspension; wanted to do this on a bit of a budget too.

Since I already liked the behavior of the car, I figured I would keep the relative spring rates front and rear, new dampers and that would be it. I essentially went up in spring rate by ~100% in order to reduce my roll by 50% or so. I ended up going with the Paragon set up (adjustable ride height kit) in front matched to the "hacksaw" Konis and 350lb springs (2.5" dia) and a 30mm rear T-bar with the Koni yellows in back. Both these dampers work well and are adjustable and valved to accept the range of spring I chose.

The strut mounts on my car were fine so I re-used them and I also had a KLA strut brace from before. Love the way the car is now, definitely a bit rougher on the street, but not jarring and this was without turning the dampers down any. On the track, it is behaving exactly as I wanted so I really could not be more pleased.

Good Luck and have fun with your decision!

 

I run a a similar setup... 400# fronts and 30mm rear bar. The konis work fine with these springs. Ive got an OEM front sway bar (23mm hollow I think) and a 20mm rear bar and with a good alignment the car is great!! Its stiff, but not unbearable on the street. I have aluminum bucket seats that arent the most comfortable and I had no problems making a 9 hour trip to Road Atlanta.

 

Your stock swaybars on the '86 951 are 24mm and 18mm. Try to find a 26.8mm for the front, that is a nice match to the 18 and 19mm rear bars. Everyone basically touched on the spring, torsion bar and strut/shock setup so i wont get into that. I wouldnt bother to do camber plates unless you really are planning on getting into the track thing. If you dont plan to ever touch the adjustment settings theres no point in buying them. The KLA monoballs are a very nice choice and are cheaper than the OEM ones.

 

Be careful not to shop on price alone however. The more you spend typically means just the more you can adjust. If you're not likely to be looking for that last 1/2 second at the track, then I would suggest going with a 'cheaper' setup. A fully adjustable $10k suspension could very easily be much worse than a $1500 out-of-the-box setup, if the $10k setup is not adjusted right.

Also considering you're looking for mostly street and DE, a predictable, reproduceable setup is often MUCH more useful. It's impossible to learn much at a DE if your car handles differently every session. You also don't want to find out on a public road that your last adjustment suddenly makes the rear very loose when you hit a rough spot.

 

So far some great info! At least I have a final answer to my sway bar dillema. I never mentioned the torsion bars, but many of you did. So I take it the OE ones were pretty soft then. I guess one more thing for the eraser board in the garage.... Will prob take me until x-mas to pick a damn spring rate.

Since I run a shop, setting the align is no issue for me to do a few times a year before and after an event, and I was able to get -2.0 deg out of my existing eccentrics on the front struts, but of course this is with weak springs too, so I'm sure that will change with the new parts to around -1.5 and would like to make sure I have enough adjustment avail. so the camber plates are still on the list.

Would still like to know a little bit about the full coil-overs offered at Paragon if anyone has them.
Thanks!

 

If you are looking at paragon kits, they offer a spec racer package with a 10 percent discount for the entire package of camber plates, strut brace, weltmeister front/rear sway bars, 30mm torsion bars, Koni shocks, struts, and front coilovers/springs for the front. When I bought my package, it cost me about $2200 but I got everything in one shot.

 

I run bilstein w/factory progressive rate springs, 30/19 sways,26mm torsion.Pure spherical bearings(Racer edge) Koni's in my opinion is a very slow responding shock. I would recommend firehawk set-up ( ParagonProducts or shox.com).On an 86 turbo that was Porsche/bilsteins race set-up(still streetable).Later with larger offset went to escort series,still to date very fast set-up without spending 4 grand for just shocks! Instead of 30/19 sways would consider Tarrett adjustable sways.
I think if your going to build your suspension research every possiblity,make a decision w/your driving style. what works for everyone else may not be for you.I've rebuilt my suspension 3 times to make it perfect.Spent (wasted) alot of money along the way.Take everyones opinion,filter it,analize with facts.Then build your own suspension. Good luck.
twin tube shocks take 4mm movement to start to respond.Monotube shocks are immediate.

 

Hence, the article a few months ago of Koni vs. Bilstein. I have already gathered my info, now you guys are helping me with real life scenarios. I can get the HD Bilsteins at a good price through my supplier at work, and were an option from the start as well.

These choices are not nearly as easy as the ones for the engine. The choice of what wastegate, injectors etc is easy compared to all the suspension options.

 

Anyone running the rear Bilstien HD's with any luck? A better responding shock than the Koni Sports?