Question on lowered 96 Cobra, rear is too stiff

[Spiney]

Against my wife's wishes I lowered our clean 47K mile 96 Cobra coupe. I asked a lot of questions before hand because I wanted to lower it but not have an extremely rough ride.

To save money I bought gently used parts off the forums and some new. I used H&R progressive springs for a 1.5" drop. And Bilstein struts and shocks from a 2003 Terminator with about 6K miles on them. A used set of MM CC Plates, new isolators, and a new set of Golden West Suspension FL SFC's.

The cornering is an awesome upgrade. It really cuts the corners. The front suspension seems ok but the rear appears extremely stiff. We have bad roads here in PA, especially after this last winter. The ride on even the turnpike is tiring with a jolt at every expansion joint.

Is this normal when you lower? What effects the ride the most, the springs or the shocks?
If it's the shocks perhaps I could make it better buy purchasing adjustable shocks?

Any ideas? My wife drives the car a lot. She loves it, and loves to drive it fast for relaxation. But after a mini rally this past weekend she just kept telling me I ruined it and she wants the old ride back. I don't want that 4x4 look back. I look forward to any advice you can give me. I didn't install the parts, 4 back operations keeps me from any heavy wrenching. Could the installer have installed something wrong?

Thanks in advance,

Spiney-Dave

 

[Noreast]

Are you running stock rear shocks?.... edit thought it only said struts from a termi sorry. Some kits come with a smaller pinion snub ... Maybe the stock one is too big for the amount you are lowered and it bottoms out on it? Just a thought.

 

[cobrarob2345]

eibach pro kit done deal nice ride acceptable ride height changed mine completely had h&rs and the eibachs made it more cushy and able to go over speed bumps, kind of. I sacrifice some handling for the ride comfort around these crappy roads in mass.

 

[1996MysticSnake]

FYI the turnpike sucks, just drove down it the other day and my god its like a torture test. The car was bouncing all over the place and it was extremely annoying. That being said my car rides pretty stiff, vogtland springs, 03 cobra shocks, FL SFC, upper and lower control arms and its not that bad on normal roads.

I doubt anything is installed wrong, you might want to get that smaller pinion snubber but you would definitely know and feel the car hitting that.

 

[Rosco]

The terminator rear bilstiens are valved differently for the IRS. This could cause the harsh ride you speak of.

 

[laddanator]

Honestly, it doesn't matter what you do when you lower one. I have eibach sports with every possible expensive after market part to make lowered cars ride better and I still feel every bump. It's a rough ride, no matter what you do. In this situations, you have to sacrifice something if you don't like the 4x4 look.

 

[blacksheep-1]

Put it back the way it was and make her happy..best advice ever

 

[AZSN95SNAKE]

The only springs I've found to not bee so harsh are the Ford B springs. Less of a drop but no 4x4 and pretty cheap on price. HR SS springs are pretty stiff, whoever says they are not is lying.

Also, the springs you bought come with a pinion snubber, cut a half inch off and put it on. It should feel better if it was originally riding it like mine was.

 

[laddanator]

Put it back the way it was and make her happy..best advice ever

Yup!

The only springs I've found to not bee so harsh are the Ford B springs. Less of a drop but no 4x4 and pretty cheap on price. HR SS springs are pretty stiff, whoever says they are not is lying.

Also, the springs you bought come with a pinion snubber, cut a half inch off and put it on. It should feel better if it was originally riding it like mine was.

I kills me when folks post on here that they lowered their vehicle and it made the ride quality better. I just don't believe that. I been messing with these cars for years and I've lowered many and every single one rides like a horse and buggy! LOL

 

[cali5.0Lcobra]

Coil over are the answer .. Many choices of spring rates and if you go with a set koni adjustable you tune it for whatever you want to do with it .. Street or track

 

[cobrarob2345]

Im telling you eibach pro kit. Had the same thing wih the h and rs. They were so harsh. The eibach pro kit i cant say enough good things about. They are comfortable compared to the back breaker of any sports series springs. H and r and eibach. Never dealt with steedas so i cant say for them

 

[laddanator]

Im telling you eibach pro kit. Had the same thing wih the h and rs. They were so harsh. The eibach pro kit i cant say enough good things about. They are comfortable compared to the back breaker of any sports series springs. H and r and eibach. Never dealt with steedas so i cant say for them

I agree eibach is a better spring, but the car will still ride rough.

 

[cobrarob2345]

Night and day though with the pro kit compared to the h&r ss I love low rides but mine were roughhhh with those, eibachs pro kit is a good compromise i think. Half decent ride quality with no 4x4 look

 

[Mr.Bolt-on]

I'm running stock springs with aftermarket tokico blue shocks. Rides great. I was racing a lowered SN95 about a month ago and I realized that car was bouncing all over the road when I was walking it.

 

[scarlett98]

The irs shocks are stiffer then our sra adversaries....

 

[DVJ38]

You put shocks made for IRS in a car with a solid axle. That is your problem. Guaranteed.

Those springs are like 3X stiffer than the springs in our cars.

 

[AZSN95SNAKE]

Yup!



I kills me when folks post on here that they lowered their vehicle and it made the ride quality better. I just don't believe that. I been messing with these cars for years and I've lowered many and every single one rides like a horse and buggy! LOL

Same here. The car handles much better after lowering with the right springs and suspension components but in no way does the ride quality increase. But you can't have both, unlike the newer cars with much better technology.

 

[RPM4DAZ]

What people are trying to say is, the IRS Cobra have a different motion ratio in their suspension design than the standard rear axle cars. Therefore, the shock valving is a bit different because of it. If you want the best ride for a sport spring set up get a set of K/W dampers or talk to Maximum Motorsports for a set of their specific valved rear Bilsteins. Also the lower ride height sets the rear end higher in the chassis. A shorter rear bump stop change is a mandatory requirement. Hitting bottom in a turn can cause some funny handling and unpredictable responses when driving hard. Something you may want to try is getting lower control arm drop brackets. It may help both the ride a bit and help on both traction and handling. I believe some of the drop brackets actually lower the shock mount too. That will give you a longer installed height on the damper allowing better control and les of a chance at bottoming of the damper...

 

[STAMPEDE3]

Agreed that the pro-kit is probably about the closest ride to stock as far as lowering springs.
Also agree that I've never lowered a mustang and had it ride better than before. People who say this probably had worn out stock parts so bad that anything would improve it.

 

[2DXTRM]

All those complaining about harsh rides with lowering springs, how many are being paired up with a good set of struts and shocks? Im not talking about H&R SS with a set of cheap KYB ExcelG/GR2. Something along the lines of Bilstein, Eibach, Koni etc.