So I've been alerted by the 88 that it is time for new control arm bushings. It was on my list of things to do but it just got bumped to the front of the list. Here's why:
I was driving the car yesterday and I noticed a shimmy/shake in the steering wheel at about 65-75 mph. Above or below that it was fine-ish but I could still feel some shimmy at 80 mph. I swapped tires from front to back but felt no difference. I figured that it has to be a suspension issue. In the last 3 years the car has had new: struts, strut mounts, steering rack, inner and outer tie rods, roters, calipers, brake hoses, and pads. All these components have less than 3,000 miles on them. The only components left that have 21 years and 130,000 miles on them are the front ball joints and the lower control arm bushings. So I jack up the front of the car. I loaded up the driver's front ball joint and wiggled the bottom of the wheel. No movement and the wear indicator is still fine. I then grab the wheel at 3 and 9 and wiggle. It moves back and forth more than normal. I look at the control arm and watch as it moves back and forth with the wheel:hick:. Turns out the wear has gone beyond the pop I got from it on occasion when braking. I look and sure enough the rubber is worn around the inner bushing sleve alowing it to wiggle at speed.
So now that I have to replace the control arm bushings I'm going to replace the ball joints too (might as well;)). I'm going to use all MOOG parts but the bushings look to be a royal PITA. I don't mind doing the ball joints but I really don't want to do the control arm bushings. I have a mechanic friend (who's shop I used for the engine swapp) who said if I get the balljoints and control arm bushings he could change them for $200. Does that sound like a deal?
Also do I need to have an alignment done after replacing the control arm bushings and ball joints? I figure as long as the tie rod is not moved it *should* be fine correct?
Man I would just give the dude $200 ;)...I like working on my car when its fun stuff, but jobs like that just piss me off!!
I swapped the strut mounts,ball joints,lower a-frames,and had to have an alignment.You really need to do that once everything is swapped.I used SN-95 lower a-frames I got from Chuck.Swapping the pair of a-frames (already had great bushings in them) is a lot easier than swapping the bushings.The a-frames are actually pretty easy to do swap,and we did the ball joints in Autozone....actually,they did it for me.....free installation.LOL.
I don't have any spare lower control arms so I have to re-use the ones on the car :hick:.
Is it really going to need an alignment? I thought that basically alignment adjustments were made with the tie rods so if they are not disturbed (I know they have to be removed from the spindle but I mean as long as they aren't turned) it *should* be fine. If it does then hell it's only $60 to get an alignment. I had the car aligned after all the other stuff was replaced so this is just one more alignment.
I would probably just get new front control arms. Probably the 03-04 cobra ones. They are cheap but i forget how much.
I
should have another set of SN-95 LCA's sans ball joints.
Alignment is done at the tie rods,and the strut mounts as well.But when parts are really old,you may be surprised how much the bushings and other parts effect the alignment.
Get the a-frames from Chuck if he has them.It'll be worth the effort,and you need new ball joints anyway.I did all the work on mine in about 3 hours taking my time(strut mounts,springs,a frames).
Well I have the T-bird ball joints (MOOG) but not the bushings yet. I can get a brand new set of FRPP 03-04 Cobra control arms (M-3705-D) from the speed parts guy by me for $180. I figure I could just get those, pop out the Cobra ball joints, and pop in the MOOG T-bird ones. IIRC I can't use the Cobra ball joints unless I grind the spindle down, which is silly since I already have the T-bird specific ball joints ;)
I'll probably just get the car aligned. It can't hurt :D It should be a fun 4th of July weekend for me swapping out the control arms.
Oww ahh a pic :hick:. It's hard to get good lighting under the car when it's on jack stands but I did my best. This is the front bushing on the driver's side control arm. As you can see the ruber part seems to have separated from the *bolt tube* on the inside and sticks out past the bushing. The top of the bushing touches the control arm mount where as the bottom of the bushing does not. It looks like it's angled from top to bottom. That might explain the clunk when braking and vibrating over 70 mph :rollin:
I did the control are bushings, search threads under suspention tech then jcassity.
It took a long time to find out my noise was not the control arms.
getting an alignment is best because the car may have been aligned in the past with worn parts. adding new stuff might effect your steering to the left or right.
I notice that the sterring column connection at the rack/pinion is fool proof and can be installed only one way. Now when I put on all new front end parts, my sterring wheel is pen 15ed slightly to the left. I need an alignment. This was not happening prior to the control arm bushing install. I also have new tires,, best get an alignment as well and the tires rotated.
Oh I read your thread. That made me not want to do the bushings;). I know my problem is the arms as I can wiggle the arm and get it to make the pop noise. What did your noise end up being?
I'm picking up a set tomorrow.:D Now I just gotta change out the ball joints and I'll be good to go.
What, if any are the differences in our arms / 87-93 mustang and the cobra arms? Are the cobra arms shorter like the 87-93 ones? I guess what i am asking is, what is the benefit of the cobra arms???
87-88 T-birds and Cougars use the same arms as 94-04 Mustangs. The only difference is that the 87-88 T-birds/Cougars have different ball joints than the 94-04 Mustang. The arm stamping and bushings interchange but the ball joints don't. To use the the FRPP 03-04 Cobra control arms on a 87-88 T-bird/Cougar all you have to do is swap in the T-bird/Cougar ball joints and they bolt right in.
The 87-93 Mustang and 83-86 T-bird/Cougar use the same control arms. No mods needed to bolt 87-93 Mustang arms to 83-86 T-birds/Cougars.
http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?t=16294&page=6
I'll check the k member bolts too while I'm under there.
Well I got the stuff. Should be tearing into it Monday the 6th at a friends garage. He has air tools and I do not. Getting the control arm bolts off with air tools looks to be much, much easier ;) So the last of the 21 year old parts in the front end will be changed. My list is:
FRPP 03-04 Cobra control arms
MOOG ball joints, since the ones in the Cobra arms don't work with the stock spindle
New Timken inner and outer wheel bearings to replace the 21 year old ones.
Sounds like it's going to be a fun Monday :D
That car should drive like it's brand new when you're finished. I can't wait to hear the results.
Wow when I did this. I just took the LCA's off took them to the shop them pressed the old bushings out and put the new ones in. $20 and about 30min all was good. If the local shop I went to can do it I can do it and so could you. They just used that C-clamp ball joint press with a spacer for the gap in between the two sides. After they were done. I was thinking WTF is wrong with me I could have done that! Sometimes its all about what you have it built up in your mind compared to what it really is
Stuckman
The car rides great right now so I can only guess how good it's going to ride with the new control arms:D. Hell it rides better than my friends brand new Civic.
I know I could get the bushings pressed out but now I'll have nice, new, shiney black powdercoated control arms :D
Ok I got the arms in (it was a PITA to get the springs back in:hick:) and the car rides about 100% better. Here's the kicker: I was able to use the 03-04 Cobra ball joints with the stock 10" brake spindles. I just put everything on for the hell of it and tightened down the lock nut. I got 1.5-2 threads over the top of the lock nut on each side and everything seated down fine. So I'm going to drive it around for a week or two and check the tightness of the ball joint nuts after every drive. If it stays tight I might not have to use the T-bird spec ball joints I bought. If not it's easy enough to swap out ball joints. The only thing that worries me is even though the lock nut is engaged I don't like the fact that these ball joints don't use cotter pins. Maybe I'm just crazy but the cotter pins seem like a good idea ;)
The Nylock nuts work good ;0) Keep an eye out on i bu you should be all set...
After driving it for a few days the nuts are still as tight as they should be. I've even hit a few pot holes :mad: (accidentally of course) and all is well.
You know being that these arms have 1/2" deeper spring pockets it looks like the front of my T-bird may have dropped a bit. I didn't do a before and after measurement but it looks like it sits 1/4"-1/2" lower in the front.
1/2 inch deeper pocket *should* put you roughly an inch lower since the springs are roughly centered in the control arm....1/2 inch drop in the center equals 1 inch drop at the wheel if everything is centered.....
The nylock nuts are still holding but they scare the bejesus out of me. They have 1-1.5 threads out over there top of the blue part but I'm still worried they are going to back out. Could I drill a hole through the nut and ball joint stud and insert a cotter pin "just in case"? If it had a pin there is no way it could back out. Or should I just swap out the ball joints (I still have the T-bird spec ones)? It's holding together fine but after doing some searching I think I've freaked myself out about having the thing fail......
The SN-95 cars used the nyloc nuts. They're not going to loosen up on you as long as the threads are fully engaged in the nylon.
How much of the thread has to be above the nylon for the nut to be fully engaged? I have about 1-1.5 threads above the blue nylon part and the nuts are pretty much even with the top of the ball joint stud. Is that enough?
If you see any thread above the nylon, they ain't gonna move. Those are the same design used on aircraft. Ever fly anywhere worrying about whether every nut had a cotter pin in it?
FAA std is to have 1 full thread (not including thread chamfer) above the top of the nut. Aviation Mil-std is to have 2 threads (including chamfer) above the top of the nut.
Well then I guess the nylock is engaged. I just wanted to know how many threads had to be above the nylon part. Thanks.
Your also supposed to be careful when you tourque them and replace them when ever they are removed. At least that is what my dad always told me when I threw them on my skateboard way back in the day. My dad also works on rockets so it may not apply.
From what I know they are a one time use thing. Nylocks are able to be used up to 3 times according to the manufacture but most industry practice is to replace them if they are removed.
Here's just an off the wall question but it *might* solve the SN95 ball joint and 11" Fox spindle problem. I got the SN95 ball joint to work with the 10" spindle and so did 04 harleydavidson IIRC. Cougar 5.0 had to grind down the 11" spindle to get the lock nut to work. Now couldn't you buy a nylock nut that is the same grade and strength as the nylock nut for SN95 ball joints but 1/8" thinner? Then you wouldn't have to grind down the spindle with 11" brake spindles. Then again I'm not an engineer and that could cause a horrible failure :hick: