Jump to content
TEAM SHELBY FORUM

Suspension back to factory specs


JHawk
 Share

Recommended Posts

Our 2013 GT500 was purchased with the Cobra Jet lowering springs installed - front and back. While it looked "cool" by some folks' standards, it was just not very practical. I found it somewhat stressful driving on roadways that ranged from very smooth to rutted asphalt, etc. Speed bumps and transitions from street and entryways/driveways was always a concern. After  two bottoming out episodes I decided that I had had enough. We had our dealership reinstall the factory coil springs, and replace the chin spoiler, which had been scraped and actually cracked, and the front and back end aligned properly. This car only has 11,182 miles on her, and it was better for her to be returned to the stock ride height. Picked her up last night and I couldn't be happier. I do not feel the car was in proper alignment while wearing the Cobra Jet springs. You could tell by how it drove. After a 4-wheel alignment, what a difference. I just gave the Cobra Jet springs to my tech guy. I never want to see those springs again. I came away realizing that messing with the suspension geometry on these cars is just not a good idea for the longevity of them. While lowering can be done properly with new control arms, pan hard bars, etc., it just is not worth it. Enjoyed the drive home; stopped at a BP station and fed her 93 octane fuel, and all is right with our GT500 now.

P.S. With the Cobra jet springs installed, the entire car was lowered 2 inches.

Edited by JHawk
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, JHawk said:

Our 2013 GT500 was purchased with the Cobra Jet lowering springs installed - front and back. While it looked "cool" by some folks' standards, it was just not very practical. I found it somewhat stressful driving on roadways that ranged from very smooth to rutted asphalt, etc. Speed bumps and transitions from street and entryways/driveways was always a concern. After  two bottoming out episodes I decided that I had had enough. We had our dealership reinstall the factory coil springs, and replace the chin spoiler, which had been scraped and actually cracked, and the front and back end aligned properly. This car only has 11,182 miles on her, and it was better for her to be returned to the stock ride height. Picked her up last night and I couldn't be happier. I do not feel the car was in proper alignment while wearing the Cobra Jet springs. You could tell by how it drove. After a 4-wheel alignment, what a difference. I just gave the Cobra Jet springs to my tech guy. I never want to see those springs again. I came away realizing that messing with the suspension geometry on these cars is just not a good idea for the longevity of them. While lowering can be done properly with new control arms, pan hard bars, etc., it just is not worth it. Enjoyed the drive home; stopped at a BP station and fed her 93 octane fuel, and all is right with our GT500 now.

P.S. With the Cobra jet springs installed, the entire car was lowered 2 inches.

Those springs were not designed to be used on the street. The original owner had no clue what he was doing by installing those springs UNLESS he was building a drag strip car.

What other mods did the previous owner make?

Steven

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 minutes ago, SAI-Steven said:

Those springs were not designed to be used on the street. The original owner had no clue what he was doing by installing those springs UNLESS he was building a drag strip car.

What other mods did the previous owner make?

Steven

Just a pair of electronic - switch controlled, exhaust baffles to let it breathe completely or to close it down to make it quieter. All that I can tell. I hope that the 11,182 miles were not gained one quarter mile at a time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, JHawk said:

Just a pair of electronic - switch controlled, exhaust baffles to let it breathe completely or to close it down to make it quieter. All that I can tell. I hope that the 11,182 miles were not gained one quarter mile at a time.

If the previous owner was ambitious enough to have the springs changed and cut-outs added I would probably suggest taking a look at the computer tune to see if its been changed.

Most likely it wasn't a regular drag strip participant, I'm guessing the previous owner was not educated in the mods he was making.

Steven

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎9‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 3:27 PM, SAI-Steven said:

If the previous owner was ambitious enough to have the springs changed and cut-outs added I would probably suggest taking a look at the computer tune to see if its been changed.

Most likely it wasn't a regular drag strip participant, I'm guessing the previous owner was not educated in the mods he was making.

Steven

Also to add...................In many cases modded car owners have a "back to stock sale", I see it all the time on some of the other GT500 forums. The owner mods the car during ownership, and when it comes time to sell, the modded parts are removed since in most cases they do not add to the value in comparison to selling them to other owners, and the stock parts are reinstalled. With items like coil springs and an exhaust system re-do (which are not easily "back to stocked"), those items stay in place for the sale. The other bolt-on items that were previously installed are sold separately. Many/most times, the car being sold is also valued more with it being stock or very close to stock. <<<Just a mention since this is somewhat common.........

Usually, the bolt heads and nuts are the clue. If parts have been changed, the bolt heads and nuts will usually have indications of sockets or wrenches especially when the bolts/nuts have been on and off a multiple times.

R

Edited by Robert M
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Without reading everything yes the Cobra Jet Drag Racing suspension is going to be horrible for daily driving or even weekend driving, however the factory suspension on those year Shelby's with the 5.8 is not exactly very good either due to the weight of the 5.8 engines so I would invest into a real good set of Coil-Overs like Pedders, Ridetech, H&R, Eibach Pro R1, then the next level of KW, Penske, JRi, then if your bank account is deep then the best in my opinion are JRZ and Ohlins

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks everyone. Since we picked her up from Bob Allen Ford I have driven a couple times this past weekend. It drives so much better and handles so much better. I have reached out to the dealership to see if I can get anymore history on the car. Eventually I will get information. Fingers crossed that she hasn't been abused too much. I really like the car. For how we will use and drive the car, the factory suspension appears to be just fine. Our bank account is just fine, but bugging the wife to do something extra, after buying the car from the dealership outright, likely wouldn't fly. Gotta keep the peace around the old homestead, so to speak.

Edited by JHawk
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...
...