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Maximum Motorsports’ rugged, new K-member for 2005-2014 Mustangs
By Steve Turner
Photos courtesy of Maximum Motorsports
Most often enthusiasts swap in a tubular K-member to shed weight. Sometimes they do so to facilitate an engine swap. Well, thanks to the suspension specialists at Maximum Motorsports, you might just have a few new reasons to consider its K-member for 2005 to 2014 Mustangs.
This 42.5-pound beauty is not built for drag racing it is built to improve the handling of your S197, but not in the way you might expect.
“When it comes to the K-member, we feel that improved geometry and strength/stiffness are head and shoulders above all other considerations. For the S197 K-member we put not increasing NVH at the secondary level. Reducing weight comes last because it is nearly impossible to reduce weight without also reducing strength and stiffness,†says the company. “Since the K-member supports the entire front suspension while also holding up the engine, we feel that simply in the interest of safety we need to maintain a particular level of strength.â€
In fact, the hallmark of Maximum’s latest work of suspension art is something you might associate with a roll bar or subframe connectors—chassis rigidity. That’s right, the Maximum Motorsports K-member for 2005-2015 Mustangs (PN Mm5KM-7; $789) is said to be stronger and stiffer than stock K-member, so it deflects 30-percent less under hard cornering and braking. This makes for a more stable alignment and more predictable handling.
Besides its robust construction, it’s not surprising that the Maximum S197 K-member also restores proper suspension geometry on lowered Mustangs. Its roll center height is optimized for a Mustang lowered to the level allowed by NASA American Iron rules. If you need to lower your car even more, you can add the optional Extreme Lowering Kit which includes a spacer and bolt-through bumpsteer kit so you can relocate the upper control arms to the second set of mounting holes, which are 1 3/8 inches higher than stock.
The Maximum K is compatible with stock control arms, stock motor mounts, and electric or hydraulic steering racks. If you want an idea of how this unit installs, you can take a look at the instructions right here.