Hey guys, Justin with americanmuscle.com here, and in this video I'm going to show you what
parts are needed to lower your '05 to '14 Mustang, along with some parts we recommend
when doing the job.
Lowering your Mustang is something just about every owner considers at one point or another
for a few different reasons.
Not only does that lower stance look better and more aggressive, compared to the factory
4 by 4 stance, but it also helps different areas of your car's performance, such as your
cornering, braking, and hard launches.
The actual process of lowering your Mustang only requires one mod, and that is a set of
lowering springs, but there are a few parts we recommend doing along with those springs,
and I'll explain why in a minute.
Now, for the purposes of this video, I do happen to have my 2014 GT here in the shop
with me today.
You guys might've caught this car before in a few different videos, and if you haven't,
well, you can always catch yourselves up by clicking the link below and checking out our
YouTube channel.
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Facebook channel, well, then cruise on over to our YouTube channel, American Muscle Videos,
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As I mentioned earlier, when it comes to determining your ride height, your Mustang springs are
the main component.
Just like many other aftermarket parts available for your Mustang, there are a ton of different
options out there.
The main factor that will separate one spring from another or one brand to another, besides
spring rate, is the actual amount they will lower your ride.
Some springs barely lower your car whatsoever, while other options will actually slam your
car to the ground.
It's really just up to you to decide how you want your stance to be.
A set of springs I actually recommend and ones that I've actually used here on my own
ride are the SR Performance lowering springs here.
These are a great option for many Mustang owners for a few different reasons, the first
of which being cost.
Even though they don't carry some big flashy brand name, the SR springs do offer many of
the same performance benefits as those more expensive springs in addition to the same
build quality but, again, for a fraction of the price.
Another reason why myself and many other Mustang owners do really enjoy these springs is the
drop.
The SR springs do lower your car one and a half inches on all four corners, which is
enough to get rid of some of that ugly wheel gap, but at the same time the car isn't going
to be slammed to the ground where speed bumps and driveways are always going to be a hassle.
We do have over 100 customer submitted images of these springs available on our site.
If you want to get a good idea of how these springs might look on your own S197, just
click the link below if you haven't already.
By keeping the drop an even 1.5 inches on all four corners, the car itself will still
maintain the slightest bit of rake, meaning the front of the car itself will be slightly
lower than the rear.
Now, in my opinion, this is the iconic muscle car stance.
It just looks really good on these cars.
But, if that's not exactly the look you're going for, there are spring options out there
that will lower the rear slightly more, giving you more of an even drop all around.
Again, that's totally up to you to decide what kind of drop you're after.
All right, so that covers springs, the most basic component when it comes to lowering
your Mustang.
Now, let's get into a few parts that may not be necessary when lowering your ride but are
definitely recommended for a few different reasons, starting with the shocks and struts,
otherwise known as dampers.
Now, can you put aftermarket lowering springs on your factory shocks and struts?
Absolutely.
In fact, many people do decide to go this way for one reason or another, but mostly
just to save a few bucks.
Is there anything wrong with this?
Well, here's the deal.
Your factory shocks and struts aren't really necessarily designed to work with the lower
ride height and the firmer spring rate of the aftermarket springs, so this can basically
cause accelerated wear and tear on those parts and eventual failure of those factory shocks
and struts.
So, to improve your ride quality in addition to increasing your performance when lowering
your ride, we do recommend going with a set of aftermarket shocks or struts like the Koni
STR.Ts here.
Again, these are another part I installed on my '14 GT with no complaints whatsoever.
In fact, the STR.T SR Performance combo seems to be a very popular yet very affordable combo
here on the site and will perform extremely well under normal driving conditions, in addition
to when pushing to the limit.
If you'd like to hear what other STR.T owners are saying about the performance of these
shocks and struts, then I do encourage you to click the link below.
The guys over at Koni did design the STR.Ts to handle the added stresses of the lower
ride height and that firmer spring rate, giving you a ride that's firm and sporty without
being harsh, while at the same time drastically improving your handling characteristics.
Now, as somebody who drives this setup every day of the week, I can tell you with 100%
certainty that the car feels more firm and planted in turns and doesn't feel floaty or
soft like it did with the factory dampers.
Another thing I really do enjoy about the Konis is that they're one of the only aftermarket
options out there designed specifically for the '11 to '14 cars.
Before, if you had an '11 to '14 Coyote or V6 Mustang and you wanted to upgrade your
front struts, well then you had to use an '05 to '10 strut along with a GT 500 upper
strut mount.
Not the case here with the Konis, a great option for those of you out there looking
to save a few bucks and reuse your factory strut mounts.
That leads me to the third and final part I'll be talking about here in this video,
caster camber plates, again, a part that may not be needed per se when it comes to lowering
your car, but definitely a part that's recommended, and let me explain why.
The caster camber plates I have with me today are from J&M, the same ones I used on my 2014
GT with great results.
As the name suggests, these parts are to correct the camber on your ride whenever you lower
it.
The actual term camber refers to the vertical angle of the wheel and tire.
If your wheel is straight up and down, you technically have zero camber.
But, as you lower your Mustang, the tops of those wheels and tires tend to angle in towards
the engine bay, and at that point you have negative camber.
The lower you go, the more you do have to worry about this and its ill effects on your
handling and tire wear, if not set up properly.
Now, believe it or not, a little negative camber can actually be beneficial when handling,
allowing for a greater portion of the contact patch to be utilized in hard turns, helping
to eliminate some of the under steering capabilities or characteristics that these cars are notorious
for.
But, again, there is a fine line between too much and not enough.
A lot of times, however, the factory suspension does not allow for enough adjustment to get
everything back into spec, especially if your Mustang is slammed, and that's where a set
of caster camber plates come into play, like the J&Ms; here.
Now, one thing I really do enjoy about the J&Ms; in particular is the amount of total
adjustment.
The J&Ms; do allow for up to 2.5 degrees of total camber adjustment and 0.7 degrees of
total caster adjustment.
This does give you the ability to really dial in those optimal settings improving your handling
and will allow you to save your tires thanks to a proper alignment.
As far as the install goes, guys, you're going to want to leave yourself at least a half
a day in the shop or garage to get everything installed, the springs, shocks, struts, caster
camber plates.
Now, of course, it will help to have a decent set of tools on hand in addition to a jack
or jack stands, or a lift if you're lucky, in addition to a spring compressor.
This is one of those times, guys, where I'm telling you, if you don't feel confident in
tackling this job, do not hesitate to reach out to your local shop.
I'm sure they'd be happy to help you out.
Also, since we are altering the ride height and messing with your suspension, just make
sure you go to your local alignment shop to get everything checked out, especially after
installing those caster camber plates, just to make sure everything is dialed in correctly.
Well, guys, that's going to do it for lowering your '05 to '14 Mustang.
Now, I just touched on some of the basics here today, so if you do have any more questions
about the products I talked about or about the actual process of lowering your Mustang,
do not hesitate to reach out to our full team of Mustang experts.
They are all highly trained, very knowledgeable, and they're always standing by ready to give
you a hand.
Guys, thanks for watching, and for all things Mustang, keep it right here at americanmuscle.com.