How to soften my ride?

[Doc76]

Hello all.
Any words of wisdom how to soften the Mk4 up a bit without breaking the bank?
She rides like a chuck wagon with the FFR supplied Koni coil overs. I’m sure it’s great for the track, not so much on western Canadian roads.
I’m on 17’s and don’t want to change them. Also running ~24-26psi in the tires. I don’t want it much softer, but it is a tad on the rough side.
Preferably just changing the springs and not the whole coil over assy.

Any advice would be appreciated:)

[PNWTim]

I am not an expert by any means but I would start with adjusting the rebound to the lowest setting. I would think you can probably buy new springs in a softer rate. I also read a few people have changed their seats which dramatically improved their ride. After that you are probably looking at fully adjustable coilovers from QA1, Bilstein, Ridetech or Ohlins to name a few.

[Railroad]

Buy one of the better tire pressure gauges and run 2 or 3 pounds less than what you have.
Or just lower. IMO you are on the high side of the best setting. I have 18" wheels.

[Al_C]

I have two suggestions: first, as Railroad recommended, lower your tire pressure. 26 is pretty high. What do you have for seats? Some can be rather hard. The big and tall FFR seats have less cushioning, for example. Why not add some extra padding on the seat? That would absorb some of the harshness from the road.

[gbranham]

10# of air per 1000lbs of vehicle weight. So, maybe 22-23PSI.

[Jeff Kleiner]

As has been stated check that the rebound on the Red Konis is set to full soft and set tire pressure to 22 psi. If you still don't like it you can go to softer springs but just remember that if you do so you'll have more roll and less grip.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=220217&d=1602112607

;)

Jeff

220217

[BEAR-AvHistory]

Have the as delivered 3 link suspension with the Koni shocks set soft. 17" tires running 22/23lbs with no issues. Car is used almost daily.

[PNWTim]

As has been stated check that the rebound on the Red Konis is set to full soft and set tire pressure to 22 psi. If you still don't like it you can go to softer springs but just remember that if you do so you'll have more roll and less grip.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=220217&d=1602112607



;)

Jeff

220217

I think #16 has 1/4" sway bars. Good thing it doesn't weigh 5600 lbs...

[Doc76]

I have two suggestions: first, as Railroad recommended, lower your tire pressure. 26 is pretty high. What do you have for seats? Some can be rather hard. The big and tall FFR seats have less cushioning, for example. Why not add some extra padding on the seat? That would absorb some of the harshness from the road.

I’ll start with lowering the tire pressure. I’m sitting in the big and tall seats. For sure not much padding there. I’ll look at that!

[i.e.427]

I'm going to go with tire pressure first as well. I run 18 lbs. for the rears with a 315 and 19lbs up front with a 245 both on 17" wheels (this is on my own car). Don't forget, tire construction will play a part in this as well. So depending on which brand and treadwear the tires are, may dictate how "jarring" the ride is. For customer cars, I always start them at 20-22 lbs. and tell the customer how to adjust for wear patterns on the tires. Most customers end up dropping them down a pound or two, months after delivery.

Frank

[CraigS]

Assuming you have the 350# rear springs, after changing TP to 20-22, sticking a layer or 2 of 1" foam on the seat as a test, go to 250# rear springs. Ages ago in MkI, II days, 250s were pretty much the standard (although w/ different shocks) and some tried 200s.

[OSU Cowboy]

Doc76 - are you running 3-link? If yes - do this. Lower the tire pressure. I've always ran 22psi. That by itself may not get you there. At 5000 miles, my wife and I were getting beat up. I spoke with Mark Reynolds at Breeze and was prepared to go all in with light springs and QA1 shocks along with his Heim-jointed lower rear control arms. At the time, he was out of the QA1 shocks, so I backed up a bit and purchased his read control arms - relatively easy to change out and cost was around $200 for the pair.

WOW - what a difference those made in ride quality. I've got 25000 miles on the car now, and not considering lighter springs or different shocks (running Koni's).

David

[mrmustang]

Hello all.
Any words of wisdom how to soften the Mk4 up a bit without breaking the bank?
She rides like a chuck wagon with the FFR supplied Koni coil overs. I’m sure it’s great for the track, not so much on western Canadian roads.
I’m on 17’s and don’t want to change them. Also running ~24-26psi in the tires. I don’t want it much softer, but it is a tad on the rough side.
Preferably just changing the springs and not the whole coil over assy.

Any advice would be appreciated:)

Let's start with the basics:
What tires do you have?
What size are they?
What are the date codes on them?
Front spring rates?
Rear spring rates?

Happy to assist if I can, but I'd prefer to see the information from my questions above before making any subsequent suggestions such as spring rates, or further adjustments to the Koni's (are they adjustable?). Quite frankly, surprised nobody else asked for this additional information before I did.

Bill S.

[BEAR-AvHistory]

I'm going to go with tire pressure first as well. I run 18 lbs. for the rears with a 315 and 19lbs up front with a 245 both on 17" wheels (this is on my own car). Don't forget, tire construction will play a part in this as well. So depending on which brand and treadwear the tires are, may dictate how "jarring" the ride is. For customer cars, I always start them at 20-22 lbs. and tell the customer how to adjust for wear patterns on the tires. Most customers end up dropping them down a pound or two, months after delivery.

Frank

I do this with white shoe polish.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazine.com-vbulletin/850x566/80-front_c3239f5c4ccbc71c3090250ea392112ded07a80e.jpg

Light in the middle too much air, Light on the outer tread not enough air. Then extra hard turn heavy run, edges warn adjust with a bit more air.

[bobl]

This question has been asked and answered numerous times, but here again is what I did with my 3 link. Due to having a pacemaker the harsh ride was unacceptable. I went to softer rear springs, breeze trailing arms, foam under the seat and drag radials on the rear at about 18 -20 psi. They have softer side walls so you get a better ride, plus better traction. Just don't do any hard cornering, which I don't anyway. My pacemaker very seldom triggers now.

Bob

[Doc76]

Doc76 - are you running 3-link? If yes - do this. Lower the tire pressure. I've always ran 22psi. That by itself may not get you there. At 5000 miles, my wife and I were getting beat up. I spoke with Mark Reynolds at Breeze and was prepared to go all in with light springs and QA1 shocks along with his Heim-jointed lower rear control arms. At the time, he was out of the QA1 shocks, so I backed up a bit and purchased his read control arms - relatively easy to change out and cost was around $200 for the pair.

WOW - what a difference those made in ride quality. I've got 25000 miles on the car now, and not considering lighter springs or different shocks (running Koni's).

David
Hello David
Yes 3-link.
In checking the pressure with a good digital gauge I was at 23.1psi. I’ll drop it to 22 and see about adding better seat padding before making more changes

Thanks guys.

[Jrmotorsports55]

I'm going to jump in here to get opinions before posting a new thread. I have a MK2 on the lighter side (basic build with alum heads/flywheel/etc), and just installed the FFR coilovers (red Konis with 500/350 springs) and set the Konis as full soft up front and one click stiffer from full soft in rear. I run 23 PSI all the way around. In OH so the roads are not that good. After a few drives the ride is a little jarring, but not terrible, but I also noticed on concrete roads with a lot of individual sections with expansion joints it is very pogo-like, like the springs are not dampened enough. Wondering if one click in the front will fix this, but then increase harshness. Can probably drop PSI from 23 to 21 to help with harshness. Am I possibly over-sprung for weight? Anyone have similar experiences and how did you remedy?

[CraigS]

I wouldn't recommend this on 15s but 17s or 18s, try lower tire pressure. Remember 255 or 275 front and 315 rear are common sizes for Mustangs. Cars that weigh 3000 to 3500#s. So how do they ride on a 2300# car? The ages old 1# TP for each 100# car weight is a guideline but it is not etched in stone. I remember first hearing it in the 70s when we all ran autocrosses on the latest hot 70 series tires w/ 5-8# more than the cars recommended TPs. I like Bear's chalk technique but again, it is also a guideline. It has more to do w/ max traction off the line or max tire mileage than it does w/ comfort. I like i.e.427s 18fr and 19rr comment. I'd try that in a heartbeat if I were looking for a better ride. The experiment is free. What if you like that ride, what could be the downsides? If this were a daily driver looking to get 30-40,000 miles out tires, we can be sure the outside edges of the tread would wear quickly. But on an FFR? Heck, for most owners, even if they are getting 20,000 miles from their FFR tires, that would give them 4-5-6 years of life. So IMHO, tire mileage is a non-concern. One other downside could be in max cornering. Bear's comment, 'Then extra hard turn heavy run, edges warn, adjust with a bit more air.' is spot on. If it turns out one does a lot of hard cornering in their FFR and sees outer edge wear, then bump TP by 2#. I am an avid autocrosser and spent 15 yrs w/ my MkII FFR. The last 4-5 years running Hoosier A6-A7s. Admittedly these are different from standard street tires but I ran them at i.e.427s 18f and 19r pressures. And in spring and fall w/ lower temps causing lower grip, I started at 16 and 17. I then let the heat of subsequent runs build pressures to my 18-19. These days I autocross a 19 Stingray. My standard TPs are the factory recommended 30f and 30r. Last month I got new tires. Last Sunday I asked around to others driving similar cars at the AX. My friend in a C5 Zo6 who was something like 5th fastest of 80+ cars said you may not want to go my route but I will tell you what I run as a reference point- 26f and 27r. I dropped to 28 fr and rr and my times dropped too. I am not saying that 18/19 is the end all be all in FFR TPs. I just typed all this so others have my experiences to add into their equations.

[Jrmotorsports55]

Thanks, I'll start with lower pressures and go from there. Free is best option, lol. I'm running 17s, so that may be a big help.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Also free, aside from an hour or so of your time, would be to set the rebound on the rear shocks back to the softest setting. With it cranked up a notch as you mentioned yours are it will slow the spring's return which on recurring bumps ("washboard" road situation) would prevent the spring and shock from returning to their baseline setting before being compressed further. We only crank the adjustment up when going to higher rated springs which with their increased energy will overcome the slowed rebound.

Jeff

[Jrmotorsports55]

Ok, appreciate the tip. I’ll try that as well.