2005 Ford Mustang Steeda Suspension - The New Style

From a hardware perspective, installing the new Steeda aluminum lower control arms is just like any other-get 'em in and tighten them down solidly. An inner bushing and an outer washer keep the arm from binding in its brackets.

The rear seat is removed to access a Third link bolt.

Here's the Third link bolt coming out of its hiding spot under the rear seat. Surprisingly, this is one of the most accessible of the bolts involved with the Third link, as the rest are accessed from under the car, and sort of buried above the differential.

Steeda's Third link is a bit stiffer than stock, and it's adjustable for length. The length adjustment allows changing pinion angle to compensate for changes due to a lower ride height or need to increase rear bite.

Like the Panhard rod, the easy way to set up the Third link is to adjust it to match the stock part's length. That'll give a good starting point, from which the length can be changed in the car as part of the dialing-in process.

Installing the Third link is difficult to photograph because it's buried atop the rear axle. But it uses the same hardware as the stock Third link so, procedurally, it's just like swapping out a stock link.

At the opposite end of the installation spectrum is the rear sway bar. It hangs right out in the open, again using the stock mounting points. After all the other rear-axle work has been finished, the rear sway bar can be installed and cinched down. Our installation uses the optional Steeda chassis links for a more rigid, responsive sway-bar installation.

At the front of the chassis, our subject car was already sporting Steeda's control-arm relocation kit. It's a four-hour installation by itself and is best accomplished by some tack welding and large hole drilling, so it's a pro job.

Part of installing the adjustable camber kit is egging out the strut-to-spindle holes in the strut. This can be quickly done freehand with a die grinder.

Key to Steeda's adjustable camber kit is a series of offset bushings. Here's a whole set of such bushings, which fit into the billet-aluminum plate on the strut. It requires some disassembly to affect a camber change, but beats the stock arrangement of no camber adjustment whatsoever.

With the coil spring mounted concentrically with the strut, the only way to service the new Mustang struts is with a pro-type spring compressor. There's tremendous energy stored in the spring, so don't try to monkey motion your way around this pro job at home.

Sway bar swapping is easy enough - simple nut-and-bolt connections at the chassis and sway-bar end links are all that's holding it in.

Steeda's front sway bar gives about a 25 percent increase in roll stiffness over the stock bar. That'll show up mainly as tighter, more responsive steering in daily use, along with reduced understeer when pushing hard.