TWO-HOUR TECH

Installing Control Freak S197 Tubular Suspension Components

Installing the strut tower brace is the easiest thing in the world. Just remove the two inner bolts on each strut tower and slip the brace over them.

Improving your new Mustang doesn’t have to be an arduous affair. You’re supposed to enjoy working on your car, RATHER than dreading getting off work because you “have” to wrench on the Ford. With that attitude in mind, we recently spoke with Al Kamhi, of Control Freak suspensions, to get his advice on what enthusiasts could do to further the concept of upgrading a Mustang in just an hour or two. But there’s a catch: the upgrade had to make a real difference in the car’s performance.

Kamhi responded by sending us a variety of Control Freak products for the S197 platform. These parts included a tubular-steel strut tower brace that installs in under 5 minutes, yet reinforces the Mustang’s body structure to prevent unwanted torsional twist (flex) that will literally pull your tires out of alignment, thus reducing traction. This installation would hardly be exhausting, so the company also sent along an adjustable Panhard bar and matching lower control arms.
Adjustable arms aren’t new for the S197, but what we really like about the Control Freak design is that both the arms and the Panhard bar feature adjustable turnbuckles that make tuning them a snap. Just loosen the jam nuts on each component, then twist the turnbuckle to alter the part length, and retighten the jam nut—it couldn’t be easier.
The adjustability built into the Panhard bar makes it easy to re-center the axle under a lowered car (lowering springs will pull the axle to one side, underneath the vehicle), while the control arms allow the user to change pinion angle in order to pick up a bit more traction at the track.
Since no one on the staff presently owns an S197, we went to G&S Custom Fabrication & Suspension, where Greg Blaydes found us a good candidate—a new Mustang GT. As expected, the installation was as simple as Control Freak said it would be—the car was back on the ground in no time, and everything fit with no problems. You should be able to do this same work at home in under two hours, and when you do, drive the car after you’ve completed the installation; you’ll be glad you did—it makes that much difference. So, if it’s time you enjoyed working on your car again, and you want to make a difference with time well spent, here’s a great and worthwhile place to start.