Will 1 inch lowering springs actually lower the Fastback?

After doing the Shelby Mod, it was time to finish lowering the front of the car. In this video I install a set of Scott Drake front lowering springs. They claim to drop the car by 1 inch, will it actually work?
The car is a 1966 Mustang Fastback with a factory V8 and C4 transmission.
Shot with GoPro Hero 8 with the Media Mod, edited on Davinci Resolve 17.
Credit for the music in the video:
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Epidemic Sound
Try it today! www.epidemicsound.com/referra...
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#Mustang
#1966
#Fastback

[@LNhp1mz]

Always enjoy watching your show. Keep up the good work!

[@AndyKruseChannel]

Thanks, will do!

[@stephandekker2991]

Well done. Keep the videos coming. Inspiring stuff.

[@AndyKruseChannel]

Thanks, will do!

[@carsthatlast441]

You do really great videos. Thanks! Beautiful car btw

[@AndyKruseChannel]

I appreciate that!

[@randypascarella]

Love it! Great work!

[@AndyKruseChannel]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@johnbergstrom5147]

Fun to watch. Stance is so key to these cars. I recommend letting new springs settle before final trimming. Mike Maier Designs has a great video on coil trimming and how it is best to measure at the rockers. I measured rocker and fenders like you did. You can fine tune each corner and correct for side to side differences. Rear springs will influence diagonals sometimes too. I usually set up the rear first, then sneak up on coil cuts to get it dead on. I like a 1/4" rake or lower in the front slightly. Often cuts are different L&R to dial it in. Lots of in and outs with coils, but when the stance is perfect, so worth it. Great looking Fastback.

[@AndyKruseChannel]

Thanks! It has been a bit since I did this video and now would be a good time to revisit the front springs. The Driver's side is definitely lower than the Passenger, so trimming the passenger spring a small amount might be the thing to do. As you mention, sneak up on it with small cuts to get it perfect.

[@MPMEnt]

Thanks for the vids!

[@AndyKruseChannel]

Glad you like them!

[@keepingupwiththejones2933]

Man that blue on white really pops. ❤🔥🔥❤🔥❤This paint job looks way more glossy than your previous Mustang

[@AndyKruseChannel]

Appreciate that!

[@rossw6926]

another great/useful video Andy. I cut a half turn on a stock spring and turned them into junk...it lowered the nose over 2' and made them unusable.

[@AndyKruseChannel]

Thanks! The drop from a specific cut will be affected by the spring rate. Also, your stock springs were likely tired and needed to be replaced anyways. Also, even if the car was only dropped a little, the lower spring rate would have had the car bottom-out sooner as the springs aren't up to the task with the shorter travel distance. You're better off with new springs in the long run. :)

[@rossw6926]

@@AndyKruseChannel Oh this was about 20 years ago when I first got my fastback. Old stock springs are garbage and always worth the few bucks to replace. doing coilers on my current 66 project and ill bet you end up there if you keep her long enough.

[@sde37]

Looks good. need new shocks and coils on the front of my 66. this made me ponder lowering

[@AndyKruseChannel]

Thanks! For $100, you'd be able to answer that question. I was surprised I could get lowering springs for so cheap, and so far they've been great!

[@pksvkpk4801]

Surprised you didn't replace the shocks .... I did quarter cuts...drive a bit then decide... also didn't need to use compression to install after cutting ...great video.

[@AndyKruseChannel]

Thanks! The previous owner replaced those shocks a few months before I bought the car, so there was no need to replace them again. Doing quarter cuts is a better way to sneak up on how the car will sit, if people have the patients to do what you said, I'd recommend they do that. :)

[@dannydinwin]

now that it's had time to settle, how do you feel the front of the car came out? how does it ride those springs? I'm thinking of picking up a set and not cutting a coil to get a little more height up front than I currently have. Any issues with your 16" wheels contacting the suspension at all or tire rub? Thanks for all of the videos! I feel like i've basically followed along with what you're doing to your cars with my own. They have been really helpful videos. thanks again.

[@AndyKruseChannel]

Unfortunately I haven't been able to drive the car much these past few months, too much snow and crap weather. In fact, I've only put 42 miles on the car since I bought it, so even with those miles I haven't had much seat time. For my limited exposure, the car drives better than when I bought it, but it's hard to point to the best improvement as I did quite a lot in a short time and had essentially zero drive time between mods. I think the left rear is slightly rubbing, but I think it's due to a quarter panel repair (done in the past) that is causing the rubbing, I'll get into to soon., Because the original springs have sagged over the past 50 years, a new set of 1 inch lowering springs will put you roughly at the same height. The nice thing is if you find you want to go lower after the install you can always cut them. :)

[@glm777]

Just right on the front Andy!

[@AndyKruseChannel]

Thanks!

[@pksvkpk4801]

Shock tower removed would have been a great choice also..wish I did that before replacing my suspension

[@AndyKruseChannel]

Not sure which part you are referring to. The shock tower caps were removed during install. The shock tower cover that's in the wheel well was not as I was able to do all the work without removing them.

[@SmackeysGarage]

Looks really good with the front lowered! Have you driven it to see if there is any interference or rubbing when going over bumps?

[@AndyKruseChannel]

Thanks! No rubbing, but I did slightly roll the fenders after I did the video. I think this tire size and the 4" BS squeaks by without needing to roll the fenders.

[@gen1c8rs88]

@@AndyKruseChannel What tire size do you have and what is the wheel width. Would a 16x8 wheel with 4.5 inch backspacing with a 225/50r16 tire fit or would the fender lips have to be trimmed to 1 inch wide.

[@AndyKruseChannel]

@@gen1c8rs88 Tires are Falken Azenis 225/50/16 on 16x7 wheels with 4" BS. In the scenario you described, those wheels are actually 9" wide (always add one inch for true width) and the backspacing is in the exact middle of the wheel. Since you're using the same tire size as I am (different brands have very slightly different widths, but that conversation is for another time) and the tire is located in the same position as mine (the wheel is centered over the hub), it should fit the same. The wider wheel will "stretch" the tire outward a little, but that's only at the point where the tire mounts to the wheel, not the shoulder-edge of the tire where it touches the road and possibly the fender. In my setup my tires do not touch the fenders. I have since slightly rolled the lip of the fender, but was only in anticipation of future modifications. The other factor you need to consider is the vehicle height. I have done the Shelby Mod and lowered the car with 1" lowering springs and then cut an additional half coil (as seen in the video above) and there is no rubbing. If your car was lower or if you have a softer sprint rate, rubbing could occur, but I am not positive.

[@lucasmarkland2863]

Perfect stance in the front. Is that the original front suspension besides the coils? I’m trying to decide if I should put in a new front everything or use my original with new bushings etc. Any advice on it? It’ll just be a weekend cruiser

[@AndyKruseChannel]

The only mods to the front suspension are the new springs, new shocks, and the Shelby Mod. I haven't done anything yet with the Control Arm, Tie Rods, and the Strut Rods, or the bushings in any of that. It would be good to go in there and service them, I just have other parts I want to upgrade first. :)

[@wolfthornhawkridge5705]

That’s going to look really good when you address the rear leaf springs.

[@AndyKruseChannel]

I hope so!! :)

[@joekirk1021]

Looks great love the stance. I used the same springs on my 65. I think I will some off of them to get it lower. Thanks for the video.

[@AndyKruseChannel]

No problem 👍

[@wolfthornhawkridge5705]

That’s going to have a nice stance once you modify the rear.

[@AndyKruseChannel]

Truth

[@jasonporrazzo3573]

How was the ride before and after cutting the coil? I was going to install the 620 springs, but changed my mind to the GT spring (520 I think) after reading about the harsh ride of the 620 1” lowering springs. Cutting off a 1/3 turn of those must have made it even harsher.

[@AndyKruseChannel]

The ride is harsher, but it was expected as I was increasing the spring rate with these new springs over the tired stock units. Also, I have a shorter side walled tire on the car, compared to stock, so it increases the harshness of the ride. However, I was ok with this as I was going after the handling ability of the car instead of comfort and cruising. These are linear springs, so cutting part of the a coil out does not change the spring rate. It does, however, shorten the travel amount of the spring and therefore the shock before bottoming out. I added two flat washers under the top bolts of the shocks to give me a pinch more travel. I don't think I've ever bottomed these shocks out, but it's a cheap addition to get a touch more travel, just in case. :)

[@jasonporrazzo3573]

@@AndyKruseChannel thanks Andy, keep up the great videos! I have used yours as refence for several of my own projects. (Rear main). After doing this have you noticed any ball joint binding? Just drilled the holes for my Shelby drop this weekend and am trying to decide to drill the new ball joints for the negative wedge kit or not.

[@AndyKruseChannel]

@@jasonporrazzo3573 Thanks! I have not had any issues with the ball joints, but that wedge thing has crossed my mind. However, I'll likely upgrade the upper and lower control arms to new aftermarket units before I get around to seriously looking into modifying the stock units. :)

[@mjj6870]

I am going to put disc brakes on the front of my mustang,1966 coupe, it still has only 1 bowl on the brake bowl, so should I change that frist before I put the disk on the front?

[@AndyKruseChannel]

I'd do both at the same time. This is mostly because you have to bleed the system for the new brakes and for the dual bowl master cylinder. If you install them at the same time, you only have to bleed them once. If you're not able to get the dual bowl MC now, it won't hurt performance or brake pedal feel if you have to stick with the single bowl MC. The main reason for upgrading the MC is for safety. The dual bowl splits the brakes from front and rear into separate systems. If you lose one system for whatever reason, the other one still works. In a single bowl setup everything is on one system.

[@chevroletbelair1]

i think that its gonna lower even more when it setlles over a few weeks. when i put new springs on a car after a few weeks it lowers a bit more when it setlles.

[@AndyKruseChannel]

You're probably right. :)

[@jethroclampett966]

Really need those rubber insulators or it’s gonna be metal on metal rubbing and noisy. You’ll probably have to add them later.

[@AndyKruseChannel]

Yes, agreed. Thankfully those isolators are cheap.

[@swooshdave]

Do you have a link to the spring compressor you used?

[@AndyKruseChannel]

I bought it off ebay, so no. But, the brand is called OEM Tools, and the part number is 27035. Lots of places sell that tool. :)

[@robertyoung3281]

It's a knock-off of a snap-on. @@AndyKruseChannel

[@DieselRC]

What size tires are you you running?

[@AndyKruseChannel]

Falken Azenis 225/50/16

[@DieselRC]

@@AndyKruseChannel I’m running 17x8 all the way around 225-45 in the front 235x45 in the rear

[@prabhrajrakhra7446]

Will lowering your car 1 inch risk any scraping when going over bumps

[@AndyKruseChannel]

It hasn’t for me, but that is dependent on where you take the car. There are some parts of town I avoid because of pot holes and steep sidewalks, but I don’t scrape where I go.

[@francisdouglas3908]

The Shelby mod on the inner front fender........!

[@AndyKruseChannel]

Sorry Boss, I'm not sure I understand what you're saying.