Need help with suspension

[jumpincactus]

Here is a quote I have recieved and would like to hear from some of you fella's that have had similar work done and tell me if the prices and labor are fair for what I'm having done. Also any input if the IRS bushing kit will quell the wheel hop I'm getting. thanx for your input

Any input as to those of you that have done similar mods to suspension how much of a difference in made in handling. Is it worth the cash???

 

[Terminator03]

Looks decent to me. Go for it. That will make a huge difference.

 

[jumpincactus]

ttt

 

[KWladyka]

I suggest you also get the differential bushings replaced. I least with my car that was all I needed to stop the hop. I know you can get some (perhaps all) of that hardware cheaper if you buy it yourself. I do my own work so I don't know about the labor costs.

 

[RedfireVenom]

It looks like you are paying 264 dollars for Pro 5.0 Shifter including install. $70 is way to much for install. Install can take a professional about 15-20 minutes. You are being charge for a full hour. You can buy the shifter for about $175 and buy some silcone sealer for about 3 dollars and do it yourself in 30 minutes. It may seem intimidating, but it's very easy. As easy as removing a couple of bolts and then putting them back in. Save yourself $100.

 

[ROADWARRIORSVT]

$70.00/hr. is a fair price for labor.

 

[RedfireVenom]

Yes, $70 is a good price for labor. You shouldn't get charged a full hour for something that takes 20 minutes though. Otherwise I say that it looks good. I spent about 1800 on the suspension on my 1995 Mustang GT and the difference was night and day. The handling was definitly better on my 95 compared to my 03.

 

[KHsonic03]

Sounds about right, except for that shifter. Do it yourself, it's easy. One question, though. How are they installing the KB strut tower with the MM cc plates. That is a custom job that requires welding and/or drilling. The KB STB only works with their CC plates unless you modify it. All suspension mods are worth the cash on this car. It's a pig.

 

[toofast4u]

This is what I would recommend. Don't do the strut tower brace, bump steer kit, and rear steer kit. The strut tower brace is worthless and will provide little if any difference in how the car handles. The bump steer kit is only necessary if you are substantially lowering your cars ride height, but if you are or still want to do it then at least use the MM bump steer kit which is part number MMTR-4. The KB rear steer kit does nothing for the 03 Cobra as we have revised knuckles and mounting location which is exactly what the rear steer kit was for on pre-03 Cobras. I would add the KB or Steeda #4 pinion bushings, they are not made by them so that makes me feel a little better, and replace your stock shocks with Bilstein 00R spec shocks. You might want to add a Metco driveshaft loop while you are at it if you haven't already. What spring rate are you planning on doing as that will have a dramatic affect on how your car will respond to these modifications?

 

[jumpincactus]

Well toofast this is my problem. I do not know squat about suspension mods. and I am at the mercy of the shop. thats why I am trying to figure the best way to go.
This is what I am looking for. I want to increase handling for light occasinal track events. I do not drag race per se. Less I see a Vette or some other smart a** that wants to play. I will most do open road type driving. It is and will be my daily driver. I had back surgery and I need to stay with a certain level of comfort as my back is and will be toast for the rest of my life. I just want what cash I spend to be spent wisely and give me another level or two up from the stock performance. I am open to your suggestions. I do not have a clue about spring rates I'm lost dude.

 

[cito]

Alright, if you get rid of the Strut tower brace, rear steer kit, and bumpsteer kit and do the 5.0 shifter yourself, you will have about $807 dollars less invested.

Take that cash and invest it into a set of adjustable struts and shocks of your choice or specially-valved Bilsteins from Maximum Motorsports. If you do adjustable Koni's, then you can make them softer for the street and you save another $80 on machining. Sell the stock Bilstein's on ebay for $150 or so.

Everything else looks great.....

 

[Cobra-R]

I would see if I could find a friend or someone either help you with the work, or pay them to do it for you. I agee with the advice given above, but I would sure have a hard time paying someone for 6hrs to install coil overs, plus an hour for the c/c plates, then another $120 for the alignment......ouch!!!!
If I was close to you, I would help ya, we could have it done in no time.

Brian

 

[cito]

I was going to comment about the alignment, but I am assuming that they are a decent shop and know how to do it. With other shops, you can give them the settings, but you are at their mercy.

I also assumed that he is a guy with a bad back and doesn't have the physical ability to do the job aside from the shifter.

I don't know about the coilover and plates in terms of time. I've never done them.

He could get the parts cheaper elsewhere, but he is not having to pay for the shipping which is a plus.

 

[toofast4u]

I would suggest to do the MM Caster/Camber plates and coil-overs with 350 front and 550 rear springs keeping the stock struts and go with 00R shocks. Have the MM full length subframes, 4-point k-member brace, end-links, swaybar bushings, and IRS bushing installed. Don't change the struts there is no reason at that spring rate and adjustable ones are not needed or worth it. This will give you near stock ride quality and NVH with substantially improved handling. Buy the Pro 5.0 or Tri-Ax shifter someplace else and install it yourself honestly it will only take like 30-minutes and save you a lot.

Here is a parts list from MM.
Coil-Over Pkg COP-1 $369.00
Caster/Camber Plates MMCC9994 $199.95
Swaybar Bushing 6-1136-BL $14.95
Swaybar Endlinks 19-408-BL $19.95
IRS Suspension Bushings MMIRSU-1 $49.95
Coil-Over Pkg COP-4 $429.00
Shock BE5-2959-W0 $215.90
K-Member Brace MMKB4-4 $99.00
Full Length Subframe Connectors MMFL-3PC $149.00
Total for Parts 1,546.70

Also you might want to add KB differential bushings which are like $20 or $30.

I wouldn't expect it to take any longer the 16 hours to install all of this. I can do coil-overs in my driveway in less then 5 hours.

 

[Bingo13]

I would add the following to the MM list just to complete the front end- ;-)

MM ES-4.3144G Front Control Arm Bushings

MM 6-703-BL Urethane Steering Rack Bushings

 

[toofast4u]

Bingo I would actually be more inclined to go with the aluminum steering rack bushings MMST-3. I have them on mine and they are fine. As far as the bushings go I would guess they would want two hours labor to install them it might be better to do the tubular LCAs with urethane bushings, but that introduces other issues. Did you do just the bushings and did it make a difference? The problem with this is labor is not cheap and for everything they want at least 1 hour.

 

[Bingo13]

Toofast4U,

I did just the FCA bushings and it made a noticeable difference for me with the other listed changes. At the time I had not made up my mind about the K-Member choice so I went this route with the four point brace, in fact except for the weight savings I would stick with this setup on the street.
I would normally recommend the aluminum steering rack bushings but he had not used them before so I went the urethane route.
Actually, the stock bushings are decent this year but I noticed a slight difference with the urethane along with the long term benefits of less wear. The aluminum bushings I installed in the Saleen introduced some noise but the steering improvements were well worth the change.

:thumbsup:

 

[maoun]

i have the griggs sever duty control arms, coil overs with koni 2ways....mm sfc's and cc plates.....griggs delrin bushings.....mm irs bushings....griggs k-member and sway-bar relocation...griggs lower steering shaft and bump-steer

m.