AJE K member and some questions

[hollywoodstang]

What's up guys

The K member just arrived today and have some questions. the K member looks like quality piece, the questions is at the engine mounts, I think this is going to be rough, It's almost like a solid engine mounts with poly bushings, So i am getting rid of the current factory style engine mounts right?

I ordered the RR version so it have 2 extra bracing in the front, This was not really necessary but i ordered it this way for peace of mind.

I took many photos so you guys can review this newer style AJE K-member. Looks strong, Let me know what you all think

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Thanks

 

[revhead347]

Looks like a quality piece. Yes, the factory mounts are completely replaced with that setup. However, if you say there is a poly bushing there (it's impossible to tell with the pictures), then it's not a true solid motor mount. To be honest, it doesn't really matter. I've ridden in many Mustangs with solid mounts, and the vibration is no where near as bad as people make it out to be. It honestly doesn't look that bad. It's best to take the engine out anyway when removing the K-member. Looks like you just lower the engine back down where those mounts are, line up the bolts, and screw it down. Shouldn't be too bad.

Kurt

 

[4Jenna]

My AJE is 5-6 yrs old, but it looks different where the stock mount slide into the kmember. NJot sure if this a RR provision or not.

-Chris

 

[BlackVert]

i have one of those, about a year old. really nice piece. i am happy with it

 

[ProKiller]

from what i've seen, you get most of your vibrations from the tranny mount. keep that stock and you should be okay.

 

[hollywoodstang]

Looks like a quality piece. Yes, the factory mounts are completely replaced with that setup. However, if you say there is a poly bushing there (it's impossible to tell with the pictures), then it's not a true solid motor mount. To be honest, it doesn't really matter. I've ridden in many Mustangs with solid mounts, and the vibration is no where near as bad as people make it out to be. It honestly doesn't look that bad. It's best to take the engine out anyway when removing the K-member. Looks like you just lower the engine back down where those mounts are, line up the bolts, and screw it down. Shouldn't be too bad.

Kurt

I was going to unbolt the stock k-member with the engine supported and bolt this one in, Is it harder to put in this way?

 

[revhead347]

I was going to unbolt the stock k-member with the engine supported and bolt this one in, Is it harder to put in this way?

It's not impossible, but it's a PITA. You will have to have the engine supported with a hoist on the top. You could hold it up with a jack and block on the oil pan, but it will be hard to work around. Something to consider when you are putting in a K-member; sometimes the front end of the car will flex down, when you have the body on jackstands because of the weight. That causes the bolt holes to not line up. It will make you think the K-member is poor quality, and doesn't fit right, when in reality it is just body flex. In order to correct for this, you need to put a floor jack under the core support, and lightly lift the front of the car up to get the bolt holes to line up. I do concede that the flexing problem is more pronounced on the Foxbody. That means, you have jackstands holding up the body, an engine hoist holding up the engine, and a jack under the core support. That's a lot of stuff to work around. That's why I recommend pulling the engine.

Kurt

 

[hollywoodstang]

It's not impossible, but it's a PITA. You will have to have the engine supported with a hoist on the top. You could hold it up with a jack and block on the oil pan, but it will be hard to work around. Something to consider when you are putting in a K-member; sometimes the front end of the car will flex down, when you have the body on jackstands because of the weight. That causes the bolt holes to not line up. It will make you think the K-member is poor quality, and doesn't fit right, when in reality it is just body flex. In order to correct for this, you need to put a floor jack under the core support, and lightly lift the front of the car up to get the bolt holes to line up. I do concede that the flexing problem is more pronounced on the Foxbody. That means, you have jackstands holding up the body, an engine hoist holding up the engine, and a jack under the core support. That's a lot of stuff to work around. That's why I recommend pulling the engine.

Kurt

Urgh~ you make perfect sense!

Thanks for the advice

 

[turbogt]

They make those engine supports that span the engine bay and sit on the strut towers that you can rent from autozone... Thats how i'd do it..

 

[hollywoodstang]

They make those engine supports that span the engine bay and sit on the strut towers that you can rent from autozone... Thats how i'd do it..

what is it called? Do you have part # so i can tell them? or ask them about it?

Thanks

 

[revhead347]

what is it called? Do you have part # so i can tell them? or ask them about it?

Thanks

Some chains and a 2x4 would work too.

Kurt

 

[hollywoodstang]

Update~

oKay~ K-member is installed with engine in the car, K-member, The A-Arms all went in fine perfect but everything else went totally wrong,

1, I had to use longer steering shaft, 99-04 ones because it's longer, My stocker was short about 1" inch fully extended.(No biggie, it was easy to find), Probably will get solid shaft since everyone recommends them...

2, I was doing the oil pan at the same time as i was doing the k-member swap(thought this was good idea) BUT canton took their sweet ass time of 4 weeks to modify my oil pan to fit 94-95 cars, That was all good~(i was nice about it), BUT they forgot to send me the oil dipstick fitting so i had to call them back and they sent me another one...(this took another 4 days, again i was nice about it, but i was starting to grind my teeth on the phone with canton)

3, Thanks to canton, I had to make myself more useful for that 5 weeks, Since K-member only took freaking 1 full day to install(Urgh~), So i took out my tranny and changed the clutch, changed the retainer, housing seal, rear main seal etc etc, and redid the rear-end including the auburn diff and axles, gears, changed the dented up H-Pipe to new one, blah blah blah, Almost new car at this point...

4, When everything was said and done, my steering rack took a dump(same day when everything was done, including the oil pan ),...I got to drive it for 20 miles before it spilled all the fluid everywhere, I think my pump is bad as well...now the car is parked again(yay!~)

5, After checking the rack, i found out that i am bump-steering like a s.o.b as well, (Jesus Christ~!!, when does this end...?) I had the bumpsteer kit already but the tapered style is not enough, i will have to get the bolt through style because this give more adjustment according to MM and AJE. (Whatever...another $150 out the window...)

I will post up some pictures of the completed piece today, and By the way, JIM(what a nice guy ) at AJE was really helpful on this K-Member swap, i think i called him about 6-7 times during the install of this thing since i wasn't sure about many things, He also owns 94-95 mustang(s) and have very good idea about these cars so Just an FYI.

Another $10K in parts and i think i will be done with this car, LMAO

 

[BlackVert]

so it is one of those that drops the engine i guess? i had a similar problem when my first one was put in for the 410 ... the steering shaft was all of a sudden too short. it makes sense when you think about why, but we completely missed it until it happened to us.

 

[ProKiller]

at least you got the hard stuff taken care of. rack/pinion is easy compared to a k-member swap. good job on what you've done so far.

 

[hollywoodstang]

Okay~

Here are some photos of the K member and the rack, The car is sitting on the leveled ground, am I bump-steering that bad? I honestly don't know~,

The arms and the tie rods are almost leveled, you think i still need the bolt through bumpsteer kit? or i can get away with it like this?

The current bumpsteer kit is laready maxed out, Suspension experts opinion is need, thanks

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Some random angle pictures(tried to show the canton modified pan)
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[hollywoodstang]

anyone?

 

[hollywoodstang]

bump

 

[MysteryMachine]

AJE makes their K members so you can swap engines by just changing the mounts. That's why its setup like that. I was looking at one of their K members too. I emailed them and then never returned my email.

What bump steer kit do you have? I have a UPR one

 

[hollywoodstang]

I have baer kit, I might need the bolt through style kit instead...

What does engine mounts got to do with bumpersteer problem?

Let me know

 

[MysteryMachine]

I have baer kit, I might need the bolt through style kit instead...

What does engine mounts got to do with bumpersteer problem?

Let me know

The mount has nothing to do with bump steer. I was just explaining why the mounts are bolted on like that. If you wanted to you could remove the mount you have buy a set for a 460 and drop in a BB without having to change to a different k member. That's why I was considering a AJE