[Shotimes] ATTN: George Fourchy (THE SUSPENSION SPECIALIST)

[George Fourchy]

On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 01:32:13 -0500, Frank Costa wrote:

>Frank here in jersey.....Still love the car...
>
>I had a couple questions on suspension....

Hey Frank!!  Wasssup!!  ;-)

>I have 4 eibachs and 4 konis at my disposale....but i remember when i had them
>installed on my red sho the rear still seemed too low for me..
>Is their anyway to raise the rear?

The rear is easily raiseable without changing any parts.  You just loosen the pinch
bolts (remove them, actually, so that the tab will slide out) and slide the knuckles
down the struts a bit, moving them the amount you want to raise it.....just like we
lower the fronts.  You will have the tab that the pinch bolt goes through up a bit,
and out of the pinch.  But that's OK...the knuckle is held in alignment by the
tension strut in the front, and the lower control arms in the center.  And if the
pinch bolt is clean and oiled, and you torque it to the proper value, that strut
WILL NOT rotate.   If your stock springs are soft or old, though, you might want to
replace them with Cargo Coils, or NAPA rear springs for a Taurus LX.  I don't know
about Cargo Coils, but NAPA has come out with two different choices, and LXs are
heavier, so I choose them.

>What setup do you prefer?
>I was thinking of Moog Cargo coils in the back and Konis and eibachs in the
>front....Does this sound good?

Sure!  I don't care for Eibach springs, because of my long ago experience with them
on a Mustang, but SHO folks seem to like them.  I just lower the strut in the front
knuckle 1/2 inch or whatever I can get away with, and use good stock springs.  I
have a set of NAPA front springs, but haven't tried them yet.  It's about 3 months
yet before I can start tearing into SHOs every day....still gotta get this back yard
done, and clean out sheds and garages. 

>Basically, i want to lower the front as much as possible and raise the rear a
>couple inches...

If you use Eibachs in the front, they will add a bit of an angle to the CV joints in
the axles....IF there will be a problem in the drivetrain, it will be created here. 
If you lower the struts in the knuckles, just so the retaining bolts miss the rubber
boots for the outer joints, you won't add any flex to the CV joints.  (You only have
about half an inch at the most....and Koni bolts might take some of that away.) 
These two dimensions combined with the raised rear should give you a nice rake.  
Make sure you try it in some high speed hard corners afterwards....the rake will
change the handling, especially in the rear....it will be lighter, and easier to
whip out.  After you get the hang of that, you can REALLY have some fun with the
car, especially on a dirt road!!  BTDT!!  ;-)
>
>THANKS AGAIN!

Anytime, Sir!!

George