Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums

So I found out why my car bounces like a  on the highway and hits hard on the pot holes. About 5 months ago I had cut some SN95's front springs and also put in some lightly used Fox Body Tokico's. I also had MM CC plates from the previous owner. Got everything aligned and it was okay for a lil while. A few months ago it rode worse kinda felt like it was all over the road and I attributed that to not having a Bump Steer Kit. I get the thing on a lift yesterday and noticed my pass side strut is soaked in oil and also a slightly tweaked pushed up CC plate as well. So I want to fix it the right way for safety reasons obviously but I also want to know why the plate actually bent up so I can try to prevent it. I know I hit a few ugly pot holes in the past so maybe that's all it takes.

-So im thinking of buying actual lowering springs for a SN-95 but how much of a drop, for a v-6 or v-8, and at what rate ? (progressive or specific)

-I cant really afford Konis so any suggestions for a cheaper alternative for front struts?? And also should I get SN95's or Fox body struts..im pretty sure the length is the difference between the two.

1988 T.C.

I would contact mm those plates should not bend

I did just email them about buying a single replacement plate and did mention that it bent. Im not the type of complain unless its a total piece of  and frankly im blaming either having cut springs or the terrible roads here. I was thinking about it and in a stock suspension setup when you fully compress the tire into the wheel well what stops it? The spring or strut?

FROM MM's site
Caster/Camber Plate Warranty
Maximum Motorsports provides a warranty on all MM Caster/Camber Plates against spherical bearing failure and plate bending. This warranty applies only to the original retail purchaser of genuine MM Caster/Camber Plates purchased after January 1, 2003; it does not apply to damage sustained in a crash. If the spherical bearing fails or the plate bends we will provide a replacement component for free.

To bad my car came with the MM CC plates and they never gave me any receipt for em so I have no clue when they were purchased.

Just thinking out loud here, but because the strut had no pressure in it and allowed it to bottom out very rapidly is why the plate bent. I could be wrong but I think in most cases the strut limits the travel, some struts will have a rubber bump stop at the top for just this reason. Normally they compress at a rate that the c/c plate or strut tower can handle.

Use the SN 95 frt struts, I am pretty sure they have more travel than earlier mustang struts.

The only reason I was thinking they wouldn't work was because with the fact that the car is lowered it would cause issues with the strut bottoming out. Mainly because I thought the fox shocks were shorter than the SN95's. I think if end up getting sn95's ill get some monro struts or something cheap along those lines in case they blow out quickly for whatever.

those plates are designed for coil overs which puts all the weight of the front end on the plates

I really don't see how they would bend . But things happen

Dont underestimate the really deep shi*ty potholes here in CT lol. If you combine that with low pro 17's and a blown strut im guessing its a possibility lol.

Yea I could imagine

My dad bent a strut hitting a pot hole

Check out this guy lol

Holy $hit

That's way worse than I imagined

Your telling me..just saw it but who knows how long its been like that. Might explain why this thing is all over the road sometimes lol. After I fix everything im gonna get the bump steer kit as well.

I would sent that pic to mm just to see what they say

They gotta have a comment lol

I did a little while ago to see what they recommend I replace..who knows maybe they'll toss me a bone. Either way ill report back.

Yea you never know

Thats quite the bend. I was hoping the powder coat would of held up better i'm looking at a set I wonder how the chrome ones last

Yeah I cant really vouch too much for them since they were on the car when I bought it. But the guys at MM responded with this..
"I would say the only real salvageable piece might be the bearing plate/spherical bearing. The top plate that is bent can actually be hammered out back to a flat piece again, and be reused. We designed them that way so a racer could do a field repair. Have you determined if the bearing is bad or not? Due to the nature of that hit, I would replace the bottom plate and all of the hardware if everything else is in good shape."

I might try to bend it out not sure yet..I gotta ask my buddy who does alot of fab work if he wants to take a wack at it. Once I fix the plate im gonna order some cheap struts maybe SN-95s this time and see how they hold out. Also thinking I should get actual SN-95 lowering springs instead of cut ones.

I was actually thinking about you might be able to hammer it out

I just did it to set of aluminum plates ...... But we're not that bad

install them upside down and go find the same pot hole ;).

Lmao

I loled at that one!!

As it turns out I didn't install the required bump stops that normally comes with thier kits as they weren't on there from the previous owner. I'm thinking I should just order an entire set after I figure out what struts run. Between the rubber bump stops and the washers I know it's right.

Ever think about a bump stop on the lower A FRAME??????????????????? Something to think about. remember when the car bottoms out it does so on the CC Plates. This in my view is NG when a car is lowered. And in my view the CC plate can not take that kind of pounding. So one has to think about all the variables when modifying a suspension system. And i have found some really slick ways to build front and rear suspensions that work really well. So just for kicks think about a lower A frame rebound bumpers. Also when a car is lowered you need a spring with loads of RATE. Reason being it will have a tendency of bottoming on those plates and as you found out bent them. OR design a set of plates below the cc units to exorb the shock from the  rebound pucks that are stock. I have fixed many a set of upper spring towers that were pounded out and ripped. Those towers are not that strong. good luck.

Bottom rebound insulators work the best and i use CHEVELLE ones from GM. What i do is measure the travel and fab the bushings to bottom out way before the CC plates come in contact with the stock or modified strut ones, Once again if those struts bottom out on those CC Plated they will bend. We do a lot of these for the mustang guys.

Note you are lucky the plates bent. Because the way it is bottoming out next thing will be ripping the tower mounts. Like i said i have repaired numerous strut towers on these cars.

Bellow is a modified upper strut mount on the MIDNIGHTER. I fabbed a 1/8 inch plate under the strut tower connected to the K FRAME inner rail then plated the front and rear sides of the inner wheel well. This makes a real good place to transfer the shock when bottoming out. other than a lower A frame rebound setup this takes a lot of fabbing. remember lowering a car has it"s consequences if not dun properly!! just saying




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