Hi everybody, I'm Justin with americanmuscle.com.
And welcome to my best of video for the lowering spring category available for your 2005 to
2009 Mustang.
Now, the purpose of these best of videos is to help you guys narrow down your choices
a little bit when you're looking for a lowered S197.
Maybe you're after a mild drop or maybe you're looking for a wild drop or maybe you're just
after a competition specific spring like road racing or drag racing.
Whatever the case we're gonna help you narrow that down here today based off of customer
popularity, in addition to my own personal feedback, as well, when it comes to selecting
the right spring for your ride.
But why lower that early S197 in the first place?
Well, plain and simple, the factory ride height sucks.
It just does not look good and, usually, it's one of the first things owners fix through
the aftermarket.
Now, eliminating that factory wheel gap will definitely help your appearance, but that
lower center of gravity will also help improve your handling and your performance, as well.
A set of springs is definitely gonna be the easiest and cheapest way to do this.
However, you can always look into options like air ride or coilovers, both of which
will give you some adjustability, but both of which will be considerably more expensive
than the springs we're talking about here today.
So, how do you know what spring is right for you and your Mustang?
Well, if you've been shopping around you've probably discovered a lot of options out there.
Everything from a mild drop all the way down to the wild drops that will give the car a
slam look for a more modified appearance and everything in between.
So, without further ado, what do you say we get into my mild pick here for the '05 to
'09 springs.
Let's start things off by taking a closer look at my choice for a mild drop and for
that, I look at the most popular lowering springs on the site for the S197, the SR Performance
Lowering Springs.
Now, the SR option is gonna be for those '05 to '09 owners out there who want to take advantage
of only a slightly lower ride height, but at the same time, don't wanna have to worry
about scraping on every driveway or speed bump in town.
The SR Springs are gonna lower the car one and a half inches both front and rear, which
in my opinion will be the perfect draw for the '05 to '09 Mustangs because it's just
enough to get rid of that factory wheel gap, but at the same time maintain the slightest
bit of rake.
Meaning your front end will be slightly lower than the rear, I think it's the perfect muscle
car stance and looks right at home on the S197.
The SR Springs also feature, what is called, a progressive spring rate and that basically
means that the spring is gonna progressively firm up the harder it is compressed, which
is another common trait you'll see with most of the springs in the category.
Progressive springs are gonna be a little bit better suited for the daily drivers out
there, at least in my opinion, thanks to that lighter initial spring rate, which will help
make things a little bit more comfy while on the road and not so jarring.
In fact, you are gonna be looking at a 230-pound front spring and a 200-pound rear spring,
respectively.
I actually have a good bit of experience with the SR Performance Lowering Springs as it
was when my first modifications I did to my 2014 GT and had no complaints whatsoever.
The car rode real good, it wasn't too bouncy, and honestly, I got a lot of compliments on
how the car sat.
And honestly, if you do want more feedback, check out the product page here at AM and
the 100 plus five-star reviews on the SR Performance Springs in addition to the customer submitted
images.
Great way to figure out how your own ride might sit with these things installed.
Again, not the flashiest spring out there, but they get the job done and for not a lot
of dough.
But what if you crave a little bit more?
You absolutely love that slam look and wanna get as low as possible with the spring.
Well, for that, I recommend the Eibach Sportlines.
Now, anytime anyone asked me about what spring will give them the lowest ride height, I immediately
default to the Eibach Sportlines because it continues to be one of the most aggressive
springs for a number of different generations and was an easy choice for my wild spring
in this video.
But breaking down the drop a little bit more here is what you can expect: 1.3 inches up
front, which is actually less than our SR Performance Spring, but a whopping 2 inches
in the rear which is gonna get that car down low and get rid of some of the rake that is
present in factory form.
Now basically, this is gonna make for a more leveled appearance both front to back, which
some people might like, others might prefer that nose down look of the SR Performance
Springs.
Either way, it's definitely one of the bigger drops in the category.
Just like the SR Performance Springs, the Sportlines also feature that progressive spring
rate and, more specifically, are going to include a 184-pound front spring, and a rear
spring ranging from 103-pounds to 207-pounds, to be exact.
The Sportlines also have an overwhelmingly positive rating here at AM with well over
100 plus five-star reviews, and a ton of customer submitted images.
So again, feel free to check out the product peach to help you decide if these springs
are gonna deliver the look you're going for.
But what if you're looking for more than just good looks and better handling on that daily
driver?
What happens when you're serious about racing your Mustang, whether in a straight line or
on a road course?
Well, luckily for you guys, there are manufacturers out there who have something to improve your
performance whether drag racing or otherwise.
Now, if straight line racing is your thing you might wanna check out the BMR Drag Springs,
my choice for top drag spring on the site and a favorite with a lot of S197 owners out
there.
BMR definitely knows their thing when it comes to Mustangs and suspension, and have been
making cars handle better and 60-foot better for many years.
The drag Springs do feature a linear 200-pounds spring rate along with a 1.5-inch drop on
all four corners, making for a nice look of course, but more importantly, a spring that
will help you leave the line consistently once installed.
Now, a pair of these things up with an adjustable shock in the rear, like the Viking or Strange,
and you'll be lowering those 60-foot times before you know it.
But what if simply going straight just isn't your thing?
You prefer the twists and turns of a road course or a back road to the straight line
of a drag strip.
Well, for that I would look towards one of the most popular springs on the site for road
course or handling performance and that would be the Steeda Sports Springs.
As far as drop well, you're looking at just over an inch for the rear end exactly an inch
up front with spring rates of 200-pounds for the front and 175-pounds for the rear.
So, yes, you are going a little bit lower with these springs, but that's not the main
focus.
Instead, Steeda focus is in on producing a very predictable spring thanks to using what
is called a linear or standard spring rate just like our BMR drag Springs.
And this is gonna be a little bit different from our first two options, the SR Performance
Spring and the Eibach Lowering Spring which both utilize that progressive or varying spring
rate.
Now, with the linear rate, you're gonna be getting the same spring rate no matter how
hard the spring is compressed, which will, again, make for a very predictable experience
while on the drag strip, or in this case, on the road course when pushing the car hard
in turns.
Now, they might not be as comfortable while daily driving, because you're not gonna have
that softer initial spring rate to work with like a progressive spring, but that doesn't
mean you can't install these on your daily.
In fact, many of our customers have, with great results.
Now, I do wanna point out that no matter what spring choice you end up going with they will
all pretty much install the same way, using the lift jack or jack stands an assortment
of sockets and wrenches and, finally, a spring compressor.
Now, spring installs on the S197 chassis really isn't all that bad and traditionally I do
call it a two out of three wrenches on the difficulty scale, and maybe a few hours to
complete from start to finish, depending on your set up and just how fast you like to
work.
Finally, I always like recommending getting your alignment checked out and corrected after
a spring installation.
Now, depending on how low you go you might need to include things like caster camber
plates or camber bolts if your factory components can no longer get you back into spec.
You also might wanna consider going with an adjustable Panhard bar to help you center
that rear axle back under the car for those lower spring drops in the rear.
Either way, your local alignment shop should be able to advise you on some of this if you
have any more questions.
Well, guys, that's gonna wrap us up here for my "best of" video for the spring category
available for your 2005 to 2009 Mustang.
Now, keep in mind these are just a handful of many different spring options you're gonna
find on the site, so if you're still on the fence after this video, I encourage you to
check out some of our other options here at AM.
Thanks for watching and, for all things Mustang, keep it right here at americanmuscle.com.
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