LRS rear control arms.....

Bottomlesspit

I started the longest tech thread in the known uni
Founding Member
Jan 1, 1999
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Del Rio, TX
Hi guys.
I am finally going to try and get serious about working on this 92GT. I have sat on it for over a year ever since trading out my nice Explorer for my son to take to college. This stang is hurting in so many ways......

I definitely need some new upper and lower rear control arms. The bushings are all shot. I cannot go hog wild on parts like I did on my 93vert...college bills for 2 kids are killing us.

I see LRS has upper and lower arm kits for a darn decent price. Has anyone used them?
They offer them in boxed and tubular configurations. I'm not sure what the difference would be once installed. Any suggestions or comments about this?
I had megabite jr's on my 93, but that's too high $ for this one.
I need to replace all 4 and the LRS kit seems ok.
BTW...I have 3.73 gears and almost no traction! New tires and it will still spin right on through 3rd gear. Slippery devil

Thaniks guys for any help. It's good to be back!
Ken
 
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This is what I was afraid of, nobody knows anything about them.
They look a lot like ones sold by Blue Oval on Ebay. I remember reading something a couple years ago that wasn't good about the Blue Oval folks/products. I can't remember exactly what it was, just something that got my attention.
I guess I can always try them and let you all know?!
If anyone knows anything about these buggers, please feel free to share your wisdom!
THanks,
Ken
79-98 CONTROL ARM KIT, BOXED, REAR, UPPER & LOWER, BLACK MUSTANG
 
I'm sure they're not much different than any other boxed control arms, only a few companies make poly bushings for them, so you know those are solid. Might wanna just call and see how thick the steel is they use, other than that....go for it. You could always just box in your own control arms and put poly bushings in them too if you're wanting to go budget, that's what I plan on doing for my 87 I just bought
 
You really don't want poly bushings in the upper arms. They are too stiff. There needs to be some slight "pitch" of the rear axle when you get on the power to soften the blow of the tires to the pavement. Without it, you could induce snap oversteer.

I've talked to the guys at MM and they told me this info. So i chose to use the steeda upper HD arms which are factory arms with rubber bushings (SN95 style which are stiffer than Fox but not too stiff like poly) , boxed and zinced.

Steeda Heavy Duty Upper Rear Control Arms - '79-'04 Ford Mustang

They come with poly bushings for the axle housing, but i didn't use them and instead bought new Ford OEM rubber bushings( Ford Racing M-4050-B ).
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=FMS-M-4050-B&view=16383&N=700+

The poly bushings are "energy suspension" bushings, but i'll prob just Ebay them. Feeling them in your hands, they are just way too stiff.


For the LCA's you can use poly of spherical if you'd like. I'm going with Max Motorsports EXtreme Duty adjustable LCA's but not everyone wants to spend $450 for LCA's.
 
Thanks to all of you for your answers and info sharing. Rebadged BBK stuff wouldn't be too bad.
I loved my Megabite jrs on my previous surge demon vert, along with the Steeda upper arms. I just can't swing as much money into this car as I had in the vert. This car is in need of a LOT more care than my beautiful vert needed. This whole car looks like it was pieced together from the junkyard...inside and out.

I DO NEED help in the rear, however. The arm bushings are totally gone. Everytime I start or stop I hear loud pops, creaks, clanks. IT is definitely the arms. I have next to NO traction. I am slipping and sliding/fishtailing around almost all turns. This is with new tires too!

IF the LRS stuff won't be good for helping with traction, then I might have to wait and save up more money for something like the MB jrs.
I am running a fairly strong motor with 3:73 rearend and 5 speed manual Tranny.
Are these straight type of control arms with poly bushings good for helping with traction or are they mainly for firming up control/sway type issues?

I appreciate all the help here. I haven't been active with these mustangs for about 8yrs, so some of my knowledge has slipped a bit.
Luckily I was smart enough to save a lot of my books and notes from when we were working on the original "surge demon" I had.
Thanks guys,
Ken

I just checked the BBK site and they don't have any arms near the price that LRS is posting. The arms do look about the same, but you get all 4 arms for what just the 2 lower cost at BBK. Hummm?
 
Have you checked your torque boxes? When you said you hear a lot of creeking popping and cracking it made me think your torque boxes might be torn up too. I had Granitelli weightjacker LCAs on my 94 GT and my straight-line traction improved noticeably.