Front LCA bushing replacement & LCA differences

Topic: Front LCA bushing replacement & LCA differences (Read 5311 times) previous topic - next topic

Front LCA bushing replacement & LCA differences

January 25, 2015, 02:06:24 AM

I'm looking to get my front control arms bushings since its the last piece that hasnt been replaced on my 87 TC and i'm stilling getting a slight front end clunk, I already have some moog bushings, just been putting it off as long as possible
I was also contemplating just swapping out the entire control arm with the earlier 83-86 tbird/fox arms
From what I've gathered the earlier arms are 1.25" shorter than the 87/88 arms and that might benefit me since i want to suck in my wheels a bit

Heres my front end setup:
17x9 fr500 wheels wrapped in 255/40/17 nitto tires
fox kyb struts with mevotech stock style strut mounts
95 mustang spindles, balljoints, tie rods
04 cobra brakes
stock springs with 5/8 coil cut out

The wheels fill up the wheel well pretty good but they stick out a bit more than I'd like, heres a couple of pics along with what the rear looks like

So first of all what the best way of replacing the LCA bushings? drilling them out, burning them, pressing them out.
The bushings i have are complete with the shells so i assume they have to be pressed in somehow but i will get some poly bushings if it means i dont have to take them somewhere to be installed, just have to smash them into the existing shells.
I dont have access to a press and everyone in town wants an arm and a leg just to install these so i'd rather do it myself if possible

second, with that much offset, can i install the earlier arms with out any ill effects, the tires rub on full compressing even with the fenders rolled. Will the shorter arms be too short? This car is my daily so I still drive it but i have to be careful getting into driveways and stuff like that and I want to fix it right so i can drive my car more comfortably.
Additional Info: There is about 1" of space between the tire and strut if that matters, as of right now the car aligns perfectly, if i install the shorter arms the wheel will get sucked into the car with the ball joint as the pivot/fulcrum point; will this bring upon too much positive camber that camber/caster plates will be needed?

You guys get all that lol, hopefully you guys can help me out a bit.

Everybody likes pics so here's a couple of earlier tonight

Front LCA bushing replacement & LCA differences

Reply #1 – January 25, 2015, 09:19:58 PM

I did mine 2 or 3 years ago. I took the arms off, tossed them into the wood stove for an hour or so...used pliers and a metal dustpan to set 'em out on the concrete floor.

Pressing the new bushing into the shells was easy...use a little soapy water. Pressing the shells and new bushings into the arms though...that sucked. And I had a press. Actually ended up bending my driver side c/a, had to pull one off of my white Tbird to redo it. And if you blast them and paint them...wait till after the bushings are installed before paint..otherwise you'll just skin the paint up lol.

Front LCA bushing replacement & LCA differences

Reply #2 – January 26, 2015, 11:13:37 PM

I took a propane torch and heated the bushings up until the rubber fell out. Then I took a BFH and a cold steel chisel and collapsed the shells and they fell out. From there I took them to a shop and they pressed the new ones in for me at $10 per control arm. They would have charged me twice that to remove and press in. I figured for $20 its worth them doing it.

I stay away from the urethane bushings as I did this once and the ride sucked big time. Every crack in the road was felt even the ones filled with tar. I removed them the next weekend and put in rubber bushings.

Darren

Front LCA bushing replacement & LCA differences

Reply #3 – January 26, 2015, 11:29:37 PM

Cool deal thanks for the info
I'll try removing the bushings and finding somebody to install them and see where I'm at after that
Is it possible to get creaking from the kmember if it's loose?
The previous owner was really good about taking care of this car but Idk if the bushings were replaced , they honestly don't look bad enough to cause the creaking that I'm getting from the pass front side on bumps whether I'm going slow or fast
The CA bushings are the last piece to be replaced in that area

Front LCA bushing replacement & LCA differences

Reply #4 – January 26, 2015, 11:43:10 PM

I guess it could but I think you are on the right track with the LCA bushings.

Darren

Front LCA bushing replacement & LCA differences

Reply #5 – January 27, 2015, 01:33:23 AM

I too put poly in mine...unless you're doing a track only car, or are a , i also recommend NOT to use poly bushings lol.

It made my Sport ride like a tractor, and any decent little bump at even part throttle caused torque steer...several contributing causes to that, but that ed car was twitchy.

Front LCA bushing replacement & LCA differences

Reply #6 – January 27, 2015, 02:33:43 PM

I've got 03-04 Cobra bushings in my car. They are some kind of rubber/poly hybrid. Stiffer than stock bushings but softer than poly. They ride quite nice.

Front LCA bushing replacement & LCA differences

Reply #7 – January 28, 2015, 12:05:30 PM

X2 on the Cobra bushings if you are using the 87-88 or SN95 lower control arms. There is a difference between the rear bushing of the front lower control arms between the 87-88 / SN95 units and the Fox units. The front bushing is the same but the rear is considered a "heavy duty" bushing by the parts stores and carries a different part number both when sold separately or when sold in bushing kits per side. According to the parts stores there is no difference between the Cobra bushings and the GT bushings but Ford could have changed the materials and now they all just call for that one. This would be similar to the standard versus convertible engine mount in the Fox Mustangs as they are all now based on the convertible design.

If anyone can figure out what the difference on the rear bushing is that would be a nice bit of information to know.

Darren

Front LCA bushing replacement & LCA differences

Reply #8 – January 28, 2015, 03:57:01 PM

I got the bushings attached to a brand new set of 03-04 Cobra front control arms. They are unviable now new from Ford. I bought them back in 2009 when FRPP sold the arms through their catalog. I still have those control arms on my car.

Front LCA bushing replacement & LCA differences

Reply #9 – January 30, 2015, 03:08:22 PM

I wouldn't go with the shorter A-arms as you'll get way too much positive camber. The 95 spindles already give more positive camber over the stock spindles and if you install the shorter arms, you probably won't be able to align it even with CC plates.
I did two sets of arms by drilling holes around the rubber and knocking them out with a hammer. Then used a big punch and hammer to collapse the shells. I made a tool out of pipe to put inside the a-arm. It's simply half the pipe like a cresent moon. This keeps you from crushing the a-arm together. Then I pressed in the new ones in my big bench vise. Used another piece of pipe on one side of the bushing. Also had to put a pipe on the vise handle as it took some muscle to get them in. They wouldn't fit in my Harber Freight press.

Front LCA bushing replacement & LCA differences

Reply #10 – January 30, 2015, 05:19:17 PM

Quote from: Bungy;443684

I wouldn't go with the shorter A-arms..

Good advice, but '94-'04 control arms are the same dimension as '86-'88 Tbird/Cougar.

Fox, no, they ARE shorter.

Front LCA bushing replacement & LCA differences

Reply #11 – January 30, 2015, 05:48:17 PM

I'm not 100% but I believe the 83-86 Thunderbird/Cougar front control arms are the same as the 79-93 Fox Mustang dimensions with the exception of the SVO cars and the 87-88 Thunderbird/Cougar front control arms are the the same as the SN95 Mustang (94-04) dimensions. I checked the bushing part numbers and the 80-86 are the Moog K8289 and the 87-88 are the Moog K8495.

http://www.coolcats.net/modifying/controlarms.html

Darren

Front LCA bushing replacement & LCA differences

Reply #12 – January 30, 2015, 07:35:16 PM

Cool...I was going off of the '86 ThunderCats having the '87-8 style mounts, so in my mind the c/a's were same, however, having never had or been that intimate with an '86, it's not first hand knowledge. I apologize if my info is invalid. :)

Either way, OP's car is an '87, so the '86 in particular info is irrelevant to him

Since the '03-'04 bushings are no longer made....any alternatives that aren't "shake your ass" like Energy?

Front LCA bushing replacement & LCA differences

Reply #13 – February 03, 2015, 05:30:38 AM

I did the earlier front control arms on my 87 TC using the same SN95 spindles/brakes like the OP is talking about wanting to do. It's been a long time ago, but from what I remember when doing the install was that yes, quite a bit of positive camber was going to be there if some other changes were not made.

The earlier control arms being shorter does end up pulling wider (like 9" or so) wheels inboard so they dont stick out past the fenders but the problem is the upper strut mount location has not changed, its still same as it was stock. So now you'd have the top of the tire tilted outward relative to the bottom or positive camber which is obviously no good.

I had Maximum Motorsports Tbird caster/camber plates ready to install but even after install and adjusting the plates for as much negative camber as they'd do, I still had a small amount of positive camber remaining. So I temporarily removed the plates, got out the shop vac and fired up the die grinder with carbide cutter bit installed and elongated the factory adjustment slots and the center hole on top of the strut towers. Got it smoothed, primed and painted the work, then reinstalled the MM plates. Now had as much negative camber as I would ever need for alignment and wheel/tire was sitting entirely inside fenders.

Think my front setup at the time was:
87 TC with stock Kmember
84 Tbird control arms with Sn95 balljoints and new bushings installed.
Stock TC swaybar with Energy bushings and endlinks
Koni adjustable struts with Max Motorsports Tbird caster/camber plates.
Eibach lowering springs for Sn95
Sn95 brakes/spindles/Cobra master cylinder and booster/ Steeda flex brake hoses
18x9.5 Steeda Ultralites with Nitto 295/35/18 tires all around

Front LCA bushing replacement & LCA differences

Reply #14 – February 03, 2015, 10:03:52 AM

Quote from: Vintage;443844

I did the earlier front control arms on my 87 TC using the same SN95 spindles/brakes like the OP is talking about wanting to do. It's been a long time ago, but from what I remember when doing the install was that yes, quite a bit of positive camber was going to be there if some other changes were not made.

The earlier control arms being shorter does end up pulling wider (like 9" or so) wheels inboard so they dont stick out past the fenders but the problem is the upper strut mount location has not changed, its still same as it was stock. So now you'd have the top of the tire tilted outward relative to the bottom or positive camber which is obviously no good.

I had Maximum Motorsports Tbird caster/camber plates ready to install but even after install and adjusting the plates for as much negative camber as they'd do, I still had a small amount of positive camber remaining. So I temporarily removed the plates, got out the shop vac and fired up the die grinder with carbide cutter bit installed and elongated the factory adjustment slots and the center hole on top of the strut towers. Got it smoothed, primed and painted the work, then reinstalled the MM plates. Now had as much negative camber as I would ever need for alignment and wheel/tire was sitting entirely inside fenders.

Think my front setup at the time was:
87 TC with stock Kmember
84 Tbird control arms with Sn95 balljoints and new bushings installed.
Stock TC swaybar with Energy bushings and endlinks
Koni adjustable struts with Max Motorsports Tbird caster/camber plates.
Eibach lowering springs for Sn95
Sn95 brakes/spindles/Cobra master cylinder and booster/ Steeda flex brake hoses
18x9.5 Steeda Ultralites with Nitto 295/35/18 tires all around

Ok yea that's what I was thinking
Looks like you had a nice setup , you wouldn't happen to have a couple pictures would you