Choosing the right damper
The valving of your struts and shocks should be matched to the spring rates of your Mustang. This will ensure the best ride quality, as well as the best performance. We recommend choosing the spring rates first, based on the intended use of your car, and then selecting the matching strut and shock combination.
While Bilstein, Tokico, Koni, Eibach, and H&R provide a wide variety of quality dampers that meet the needs of Mustang owners, we found that many of our customers have special requirements. For those situations, MM engineers worked closely with Bilstein to create new high performance valving. Our efforts have resulted in the creation of several new series of MM-valved dampers: the MM Sport dampers, and two different series of MM Race dampers, for both solid-axle and IRS equipped Mustangs.
The MM Sport series and Race series struts have our own proprietary housings. These strut housings feature much stronger mounting ears to prevent the failures associated with other strut mounting ear designs. This makes the MM Sport and Race series dampers ideal for aggressively driven track cars fitted with wide R-compound tires and racing brake pads.
The MM Sport series perfectly complements the existing Bilstein HD series. The MM Sport dampers are designed for coil-over spring rates that are too high for the HD series to control, yet softer than the spring rates used with the MM Race series. As the MM Sport dampers were also designed to provide good ride quality, they are the perfect choice for a dual-purpose Mustang that sees aggressive street driving and occasional open tracking.
The MM Race series are available with two different valving configurations, to match different ranges of spring rates. The MM strut housings for the Race series were designed to provide an increase in bump travel over standard strut designs. This is a significant benefit for the extreme amount of lowering typical of road race Mustangs. The MM Race series dampers are not recommended for street use, as their valving was designed solely for optimum performance with high spring rates.
All suspension parts on any track-driven Mustang, including struts, should be regularly inspected. If you are interested in upgrading your previously purchased MM-valved struts, or Bilstein HD struts, to the proprietary Maximum Motorsports strut housing with its reinforced mounting ears, please contact an MM Tech Associate.
How does all of this development and testing help you? It provides you with choices. You can now choose exactly the spring rates you need for your application, and be assured that there is a suitable damper to match.