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Suspension Question-Back to stock


woodman
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I just bought a 2008 GT500 and it has been lowered. I want to bring the car back to stock height (no I am not crazy). I don't like the look of the back of the car when it is lowered. Also, I would like to drive the car over a speed bump without tearing up the bottom of the car. Anyway, I believe the car has Eibach springs. I plan on replacing with stock springs and plan on replacing shocks and struts given the car is 10 years old. My question is what else is needed to bring the car back to stock height? The car does have an aftermarket drive shaft. Will that need to be replaced?

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The driveshaft should be fine, in fact a good 1 piece driveshaft is far more desirable than the stock 2 piece one.

You need to change the rear springs back to stock, plus you may have to correct the pinion angle depending on what the previous owner has done.

Check and see if there is an adjustable rear upper control arm and/or adjustable rear lower control arms.

Check the car for rear lower control arm lowering brackets as well, if it has them they can be removed if they are the bolt on style.

If it has weld one ones, you can just put the lower control arms back into the factory setting/hole.

If you are not sure what you have, post some good clear photos of what is on the car now.

There should be plenty of good oem springs out there left over from people who have lowered their cars.

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Thanks so much for the advise. I have to be honest, I don't know much about cars but am trying to learn. I understand about the pinion angle kinda. I believe the car does have those lowering brackets and some other rear suspension parts such as a panhard bar and some sort of adjustable bars that run from those lowering brackets to the underbody of the car. I am not sure about the upper and lower control arms. I will try and get some pics this weekend and post them for you to see.

 

I am also debating on using a coil over kit instead of the stock set up because from what I read, I can adjust the height of the car from stock height to 1-3 inches lowered. I have no intension of road course racing the car, mainly street driving.

 

Anyway, thanks again for responding. I will post pics when I get them so you can see what is on the car.

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Sounds like you do have rear lca lowering brackets as well as adjustable rear lower control arms then, a few well taken photos will clear that up.

Adjustable lower control arms are not bad, although some of the joint options available might create for more vibration, I prefer the red poly joint BMR type stuff myself.

You definitely don't want the stock lower control arms on the car, they are not up to the task of handling the hp and torque your car puts out.

An adjustable panhard bar is a good thing to have, I would hang onto that as well as the 1 pc driveshaft if I were in your position.

If the lowering brackets are welded on, probably best to leave them alone, if they are bolt on then you have the option of removing them.

Another economical option for rear springs is the Maximum Motorsports H&R Mustang Sport Rear Springs, 2007-2014 GT500, rear pair only $124.98

http://www.maximummotorsports.com/HR-Mustang-Sport-Springs-2007-14-GT500-P1353.aspx

I used to run FRPP lowering springs (back only) but found them to be a bit too low and stiff a ride.

Switching to the H&R springs made a big difference, and they work well on the street and the drag strip.

Don't forget you can always sell off your takeoff parts, and help pay for the ones you really want.

Not sure if it is a concern on not, but the coil over shocks may limit the amount of tire size that you can squeeze into the back.

I am running 285 x 18" drag radials now, but have had as large as 325 x 15" drag radials in there with no issues (upper bump stop brackets have been removed/relocated).

Edited by msb64
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Thanks everyone for the advise. Attached are pics from underneath the car. Again I don't know much about cars so sorry if the pics are not what you needed or if there are to many.

One thing I noticed is there appears to be some sort of after market adjustible bracket right above the rear gear because it has the same red bushings as the rest of the aftermarket stuff.

 

Again, the goal here is to raise up the car to either stock or just below stock height and I just need to know what is involved and what I need to purchase to make that happen.

 

Thanks again for your responses, it is a big help for a car dumby like me.post-47922-0-24170900-1500747956_thumb.jpgpost-47922-0-46215600-1500747976_thumb.jpgpost-47922-0-19639300-1500747995_thumb.jpgpost-47922-0-86104800-1500748016_thumb.jpgpost-47922-0-77371100-1500748035_thumb.jpgpost-47922-0-11681400-1500748053_thumb.jpg

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No worries, we all have to start someplace.

You definitely have the Lower Control Arm relocation (lowering) brackets on the rear end, they appear to be bolt on and can be removed once the car is close to stock height.

From the little I can see of your panhard bar, it also has the red poly bushings and if it is adjustable would be a keeper.

The driveshaft is a Dynotech aluminum driveshaft, a good unit that was installed on early Super Snake models, I am running the same driveshaft myself with zero issues.

The last photo is of your Upper Control Arm, from what I can see it has red poly bushings, a grease fitting and is adjustable, possibly a BMR unit.

I can also see that someone has installed a heavy duty Upper Control Arm Bracket that is thicker and tig welded, unlike the thin stock stamped steel unit.

Those are all good quality parts and well worth hanging onto.

I can only see the rear end portion of the Lower Control Arms, and they appear to be adjustable heim joints.

Check the Lower Control Arm ends where they meet the body, you have not posted a photo of that yet.

If they have red poly joints you should be ok, if they are also heim ends, you might want to consider changing the LCAs out if you find excessive vibration.

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Should also mention if you take anything apart on the back end, get yourself some Prothane Super Grease to lubricate the joints.

You can get it in small packets or 14oz tubes.

https://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/ptp-19-1750/overview/

https://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/ptp-19-1751/overview/

It is super sticky, won't easily wash out and keeps the back end nice and quiet, its the only stuff I use for suspensions now.

My upper control arm and lower control arms all have grease fittings, so I set up a prothane tube in a dedicated grease gun so that I can add a bit of grease at the beginning of each season.

 

 

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Ok, please see pics 7,8 and 9. Pic 7 is the panhard bar which appears to be adjustable. Pic 8 is a better pic of the lower control arm to show where it connects to the body of the car. It has the red bushings as you mentioned. Pic 9 I have no idea what it is but it is mounted to the body of the car right above the rear gear in the center of the axle.

 

One other thing I forgot to mention, in the front of the car, there are the maximum Motorsports caster camber plates.

 

Based on what has been said to date and with the new pics I have posted, would I be able to leave the panhard bar and lower control arms, remove the lowering brackets and use the adjustable upper control arms and just purchase springs and struts for the front and springs and shocks for the rear to bring the car back to stock height or close to it?

 

post-47922-0-44404200-1500773254_thumb.jpg

post-47922-0-32513400-1500773271_thumb.jpg

post-47922-0-10248700-1500773671_thumb.jpg

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Pic 7 is your panhard bar, that is a double adjustable model which means that you can adjust it while it is still on the car, that is a good piece.

Pic 8 shows poly joints at the front end of your LCAs, which is a good blend of performance and streetability, also a good piece.

Pic 9 (same as Pic 6) is your adjustable Upper Control Arm attached to a heavy duty Upper Control Arm Bracket, both are good pieces as well.

I would keep all of those pieces on the car (including driveshaft), and remove the bolt-on lowering brackets, you can sell those off (approx $120 for new ones).

Once you get the springs you want on the front and back of the car, you might want to have someone check/adjust the rear pinion angle.

That is usually done on a 4 post lift with the car sitting on all tires (suspension loaded).

Not sure about the possiblity of removing the caster camber plates as I have never dealt with those before, maybe someone can help with that.

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