I’m Justin from AmericanMuscle.com, and this is our handling bolt-on build-up for
all ’99-‘04 Mustang GTs.
The goal with this build is pretty simple, we’re looking to take some basic suspension
components, install them on our 2000 GT here, in an effort to make it handle a lot better
than it does now in stock form.
Now, individually, installed each of these parts will make a slight difference in your
car’s handling.
However, when installed together, like we’re going to do today, they should make a substantial
difference in our cars’ handling and should make our GT handle like it’s on rails.
First up on the list to install is this black strut tower brace that we have laid into place,
just so we can see how it’s going to sit.
Now this is a very popular first step for making your car handle a little bit better,
and it’s going to be pretty easy on your wallet as well.
Now basically, this is going to firm up the front end and reduce chassis flex and body
roll.
I have to admit, that black powder coated finish is going to look pretty cool under
the hood as well.
The next mod we’re going to go with for our handling pack is a set of these QA1 Caster
Camber Plates.
These are going to be very valuable for getting our GT’s alignment back in spec after we
lower the car.
A properly set up alignment will not only help your cars handling, but it’s also going
to save your tires from premature wear.
Speaking of lowering the car, what suspension build would be complete without a set of lowering
springs.
We’re going to install a set of these SR Performance lowering springs which will lower
our GT roughly an inch and a half or so on all four corners.
Not only will this help our ride handle a lot better thanks to that lower center of
gravity, but it’s also going to help our appearance as well by getting rid of that
ugly wheel gap.
Last and certainly not least are these front and rear sway bars from Eibach, sway bars
are one of the biggest factors to reduce body roll and are a great tool for fine tuning
your suspension.
From the factory most Mustangs have the tendency to plow or push through turns, this is referred
to as under steer.
By installing a larger rear sway bar and tweaking the front, you’re actually going to eliminate
that under steer and introduce a little bit of over steer, which means the rear of the
car is going to come through the turns much quicker, and actually make the car a little
bit more fun to drive.
So those are the parts we have in store for our GT here today, now let’s get everything
installed so I can get our GT out of the ‘shop and onto the streets, and see the difference
this handling pack makes.
Alright so I just got our 2000 GT out of the ‘shop and onto the street here, and it took
me all of 5 seconds the realize what a difference this handling pack makes to our ride.
Gone is the kind of floaty, disconnected feeling that our Mustang used to have, and it actually
now feels like a sports car, it feels like it should - much more firm, much more planted,
even going straight, obviously through the turns it’s a lot better as well.
The car just feels like it wants to respond to your actions a lot more, making it feel
like you’re actually part of the car, which is great, and you can just slide turn to turn,
going straight here like I said, the car just reacts well to whatever you want to do to
it.
We have a nice right hander coming up, let’s see how the car reacts with our new mods installed.
All right, so much better, the car is just so firm and so planted going through those
turns, that can definitely be attributed to those sway bars working with that SR Performance
strut tower brace to really reduce our body roll and our chassis flex.
I got a nice left hander coming up as well.
Oh yeah, you can totally come into a turn now with much more speed and much more confidence
going through the turns.
The nice thing about the springs too, obviously they lower the car making it look a lot better
and handle a lot better, but it’s also better for acceleration and our braking.
The car doesn’t want to nose down now when you’re hard on the brakes coming into a
turn, making it feel a lot more solid.
Those QA1 Caster Camber plates are probably not going to make the biggest difference in
your everyday drive however it was able to get our car back into spec after we lowered
it about an inch and a half, just so we didn’t chew up our tires and made for a lot better
handling.
So there you have it, this handling pack really made a world of difference on our GT and really
made our car a lot more fun to drive.
Be sure to check out some of our other ’99-’04 bolt-on build ups where we work on our appearance,
help get our GT off the line, and give it some more power.