I'd juste like to know if there's anything really busted on your car or it feels like all oem parts and from wich state your live because rust can make the rear adjustable control arm ... I broke both on my car but I was running sticky tires on a warm evening having fun with the brakes .
That's one I installed and they are cheaper , made by Bilstein and designed to hold down a car as heavy as your mustang from swaying too much
http://www.urotuning.com/Sway-Bar-Link-Front-Right-B5-A4-S4-Passat-p/8d0411318d_febi.htm
One of my buddy that owns his garage helped me replacing a balljoint and he really struggled compared to usuall cars , look at the look kit and was surprised of the overkill but it works good . My car needs a sway bar kit that way it shouldn't need any stiffer shock to be a bit more predictable and stiffer.
Sway bar kit and pretty much what could buy for the car but a lot is useless, like fender bars , but a good strut bar makes a difference .
http://www.ultraracing.my/catalog/index.php?id_category=422&controller=category
. That,s the same ones I installed and with a set of urethane sway bar bushings it should help . If you take a link kit and bracket off one side the sway bar will move like it's barely hanging in there and not hitting metal so you don't hear metal clunks .
Sway bar bushings
Front 20-22 ... not sure
rear are 14mm
http://www.energysuspensionparts.com/Universal-Sway-Bar-Bushings.asp
The greasable is the best option and it's the same price . But the front won't work because the bracket itself is incorporated to the front control arm bracket and that's why I suggest to replace the control arms at the same time .
They are great upgrade in steering feel as it gives more response to the wheel and more precision , because I know we are talking ages in between the GT500 handling and your freebie corolla .
Brakes
For sure you have to upgrade your brakes pads at least and rototrs are pretty cheap (30-40$) for brembo discs . I really like my pads wich are made in montreal they are Carbon Kevlar wich feels like the Hawk HPS .
It's like OEM when cold but as it gets warmer the bite is more than enough to lock the tires anytime your want just to make the car safer .
A cheap upgrade would be the 96 V6 camry master cylinder wich uses a 25mm bore compared to the 19mm Corolla and gives you a really firmer pedal with added pressure instead of distance on the brake pedal . That was my favorite upgrade so far. You have to make a brakeline but in an afternoon it's no stress . You might as well grab the brake booster out of the camry it's way larger and as you know there's no replacement for displacement :wink:
Front control arms uses the same bushings as the 2003 corolla or 9th gen. I've taken a front bushing out of my control arm to install it on a friend 9th gen and it is the same and for aftermarket part they have the best option
Option1: whiteline
http://www.whitelinesuspensionparts.com/proddetail.asp?prod=W53275
http://www.whitelinesuspensionparts.com/proddetail.asp?prod=W51724
Take off the control arms off the car , bring it to a machinist so everything is pressed in carefully and I doubt it would char more than 20$ . You only need the rear bushing to get pressed in properly the front bushing is really easy to DIY you just need a vise .
The rear bushing with the metal outer ring is pretty much the same design as the Audi TT one that is an upgrade for stiffness without squeaking from usual bushings. They are harder to put back on . The right suspension arm is easy to replace but the left one is more of a job . If the car is Auto you need to take off the air box , ride side motormount to jack up the tranny to access to the front bolt but it's fairly easy . The tiny brace in between the 14mm stud of the sway bar is good to replace just like the one for the rear subframe wich is made of thin metal .
Option 2 : Buy a regular suspension arm with bushings and balljoint and fill the rear bushing (the vertical one) with urethane and let it cure for a 4-5 days. It saved a bushing for me , I replaced the one that was filled 6 months after the one blew apart and it was still fine . That design is just weak so a good MOOG control arm with greasable balljoint et lifetime warranty should be good .
Traction rod is not the exact word but you have some on your mustang it's a metal bar with a parallel mounting to the lenght of the car attached to the rear hub to prevent back and forth movement . These look good and and aren't expensive.
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=3453591&cc=1432910
The rear trailing arm upgdrade is : Part# DORMAN 905-806
The thing is you have to take it apart wich is easy and kinda necessary to unlock the nuts. Unscrew the arm while marking positions , you have to grind out the stopper wich is a minimum length limitation so you don't screw any safety feature . Use anti seize on thread adjust by the eye to drive it to the alignement shop . All these littles things should do a big difference in a day .
