Mustang Mach 1 Suspension Upgrade New Sway Bar

Mustang Mach 1 Suspension Upgrade - Prepare To Be Handled

With the caster/camber plates loosely installed, Chichisola installed the new struts. Tokico Performance Products sent us a set of its D-Spec adjustable shocks and struts. The D-Specs offer a wide range of adjustability between the full soft and full firm settings. An adjustable slide valve controls a unique variable aperture bypass, which allows compression and rebound to be adjusted simultaneously. "Tokico shocks and struts are designed specifically for each vehicle," explains David Chow, sales manager for Tokico Performance Products. "The D-Specs are designed for domestic applications, offer infinite adjustability, and are engineered and tested for the highest level of performance in a heavier vehicle." Being designed for a combination of drag racing, autocross, road racing, and street use, the D-Specs are the perfect choice for project Shake 'N Bake.

Once the struts were in place, the next addition to our suspension was a new set of lowering springs. Steeda Sport Springs lower the ride height 1 to 1 1/4-inch less than stock. The front springs come with a spring rate of 650 lb/in while the progressive rear springs have a spring rate of 200/250 lb/in. The stock coils check in at 600 lb/in up front and 200 lb/in the rear. The added spring rate helps control body roll and keep the vehicle level through hard cornering.

As our front suspension started to take shape, Chichisola bolted in the new front sway bar. Steeda's tubular front sway bar (PN 555-1094) is a 1.375-inch-diameter bar designed to compliment the heavier front springs and reduce body roll on the track and street.

After buttoning up the front suspension, Chichisola shifted his attention to the rear of our Mach 1. The first pieces to go would be our stock control arms. With the upper control arms removed, Chichisola began installing the Steeda HD upper control arms. These are designed for lowered cars, Chichisola tells us. The mounting holes on the rearend side are moved a quarter-inch forward to improve pinion angle.

Next, the lower control arms and rear springs were removed, along with the stock rear sway bar. The new springs and Steeda aluminum lower control arms soon took up residence where the stock pieces once sat. The Steeda aluminum lower control arms are engineered to work well in many forms of motorsports. These were the perfect candidates for Shake 'N Bake, since it sees many different track environments and a lot of street time.

With the new control arms and springs in place, Chichisola bolted the stock rear sway bar back into place and began measuring for the Steeda adjustable rear sway bar. This supplemental sway bar comes with spring-loaded end links to fine-tune the rear suspension to keep the car balanced. The best part is if you change or add other suspension components, with just a few turns of a wrench, the rear suspension can be dialed in for your individual driving style.

Once all of our new suspension components were in place and the car was back on four wheels, it was time to take care of the alignment. Chichisola rolled Shake 'N Bake onto the Hunter DSP400 alignment rack to get wheels pointed in the right direction. Being that we plan on running some autocross events and open track days, the crew at Steeda set our alignment on the aggressive side for the street. Although this is going to cause slight premature tire wear, the alignment will definitely help in the handling department.

With our suspension installation finished, it was time see what our Mach's capabilities. In our last installment, we ran Shake 'N Bake on the skid pad and slalom at Gainesville Raceway for our Nitto tire test. With the new suspension ready to go, we bolted the NT01s back on and headed out to the skid pad.