Rear control arms

[Mustang5L5]

I'm hearing good things from folks here about Max Motorsport and UPR. I noticed that the Upper at MM is pretty much just a new Ford CA, but the lowers are different, the UPR ones do not have grease fittings (that I can see from the site) even though the desc of them indicates they do. I reached out to UPR support but have not heard back. Anyone know if they do have fittings?

Regarding Grease fittings, there is a lot of conversation about keeping these well greased. What about CAs from BBK or BMR, they show them with fittings. Should I be concerned about them having fittings? ( I seem to have used the word fittings a lot in this post...

I wouldn’t lose too much sleep over grease fittings. I haven’t greased my MM arms in years and they are still silent.


For a daily driver car, I’d run these

Sport series Mustang Rear Lower Control Arms, 1979-1998

For a daily driver/part time racer I’d run these

Heavy Duty Control Arms

www.maximummotorsports.com

 

[Olivethefet]

The MM UCA removal tool is great. I used mine for the first time last night to remove one of the bushings. Thing is I've used it or parts of it combined with other stuff several times to do other things. IMO it's a great tool to have around if you plan on tinkering with your car much.

There is a guy in the classifieds selling one for $30 and free shipping.

 

[junkyardwarrior]

Always use rubber upper control arm bushings, never poly. Particularly on a street car. Basically the harder the bushing, the more likely it is to "bind", also more likely to rip the torque boxes out. On a street car, definitely poly at the hardest for the lower control arms. Even better, rubber but combined with a good panhard bar. I bought a used MM PHB for my '93 coupe 4 cylinder and the difference is, quite frankly, akin to daylight & dark!

Also, the latest rubber bushings are a little harder durometer than the original fox body stuff and last longer. Poly is advertised to last like forever but that's not always the case. It may not be as likely to crack like rubber is but over time, it'll develop squeaks, etc. Remember-the rubber bushings that came factory have lasted this long....in my case about 300,000 miles. That's pretty darn good if you ask me. And as said, poly bushings are going to transmit more NVH to the cabin, which might or might not be a consideration. It is for me. I'm real picky but I put a few miles on my car on a daily basis (usually 150-160 mi/day).

Just replacing the bushings alone (front LCA and all the rears) makes a HUGE difference in how the car drives, and that's without making ANY other changes.

 

[Red50Fox]

Thanks for the info. ... and they have greae fittings. What about uppers, just run the new uppers from MM, or something like the BBK https://www.americanmuscle.com/bbk-upper-controlarm-7904.html ones that appear to bea a "boxed" verion of stock?

 

[Red50Fox]

Sorry junkyardwarrior, our posts overlapped. Thanks for the info

 

[Mustang5L5]

I run the stock style arms with rubber bushings per MMs recommendation

 

[Red50Fox]

Ok, then. I now have direction. Thanks everyone for the info.

 

[revhead347]

That tools been around for a while now. When I did my rear axle back in 2009, I changed those bushings and used the tool. I thought it was pretty easy to use

I don't think I have done them since 2009. Possibly one set since then. I did my first set in 1996.

Kurt

 

[revhead347]

Always use rubber upper control arm bushings, never poly. Particularly on a street car. Basically the harder the bushing, the more likely it is to "bind", also more likely to rip the torque boxes out.

I have poly uppers on both ends on a street car. They don't bind, and they have been there for 20 years. Torque boxes have no damage either. The car rides a little hard, but no where near as hard as my Focus. It's all a matter of perspective.

Kurt

 

[Rt jam]

Here is the lesson you need to know and make your own decision.

Drive from the road to a ramp up into a driveway on a 45 degree angle. So basically 1 tire at a time. Like when the sidewalk is 6" higher than the road.

Now stop the car with 3 tires on the road and 1 on the sidewalk. Notice 1 front wheel compressing suspension, 1 extending. Now look at the back axle. One tire is up, one is down. This is axle articulation. When a solid axle tilts, so does the control arm. If the bushing is stiff the mount is forced to twist and that ladies and gentlemen is what breaks mounts, not power.

Maximum Motorsports and heimed arms recognize this problem.

 

[revhead347]

Here is the lesson you need to know and make your own decision.

Drive from the road to a ramp up into a driveway on a 45 degree angle. So basically 1 tire at a time. Like when the sidewalk is 6" higher than the road.

Now stop the car with 3 tires on the road and 1 on the sidewalk. Notice 1 front wheel compressing suspension, 1 extending. Now look at the back axle. One tire is up, one is down. This is axle articulation. When a solid axle tilts, so does the control arm. If the bushing is stiff the mount is forced to twist and that ladies and gentlemen is what breaks mounts, not power.

Maximum Motorsports and heimed arms recognize this problem.

I get all that. I understand these things. Here is the problem, those two companies are making race car parts to kill it at the track. You have to make reasonable accomodations for what works on the street, works for you budget, etc. Yes, there are really expensive parts out there that are better in almost theory only. I never heard of spherical control arm bushing until I had poly ones on my car for 10 years already. This whole "binding" thing is a bunch of nonsense. Grease the bushing, and it won't bind.

I simply can not give a recommendation to a newbie to put race car spherical bushings on their street car, when I know damn well a decent set of poly bushings will more than make them happy, won't wear out in 6 months, and won't fracture their L5 driving over crappy roads. Let's take a minute to get back to reality here.

Kurt

 

[Rt jam]

You don't get all that because the problem is not binding. It is the twisting. Picture the body is level, axle tilts, rear poly bushing tilts, lower control arm tilts, front poly bushing tilts, lastly the mount tilts but since the body is level something has to give and it's the mount.

Maximum Motorsports lower control arms do not use a full width bushing. Only a thin section in the middle and soft sections on each outer edge. This allows to tilt but unlike a heim, will not transmit noise or vibration.

Not sure what you consider over budget but $250 will solve this problem and they have grease zerks.

 

[ThinBlue502]

I have J&M upper and lower control arms with the “Poly Ball” bushings. Sort of like a cross between poly and spherical. I also have poly axle bushings too. (GASP!) There is no binding. There is no snap oversteer. I don’t track my car, but it sees more spirited street driving than most peoples cars, I would imagine. I hung the back end out really far a couple days ago, nice predictable angle of attack, throttled out, zero issues.

I do want a panhard bar setup real bad, though.

Edit: also, the MM bushing tool is worth its weight in gold.

 

[revhead347]

I have J&M upper and lower control arms with the “Poly Ball” bushings. Sort of like a cross between poly and spherical. I also have poly axle bushings too. (GASP!) There is no binding. There is no snap oversteer. I don’t track my car, but it sees more spirited street driving than most peoples cars, I would imagine. I hung the back end out really far a couple days ago, nice predictable angle of attack, throttled out, zero issues.

I do want a panhard bar setup real bad, though.

Edit: also, the MM bushing tool is worth its weight in gold.

I have the Steeda sway bar (they call it that, it's really a yaw bar). It makes a big difference. It can take the car from it's natural really bad understeer all the way into oversteer. Trouble is that it sometimes doesn't clear an axle girdle. Worth looking into. Cheaper and easier to install than a panhard bar.

Kurt

 

[Olivethefet]

I particularly like the fact that there is what looks like a tactical Sig in the first pic!

Yeah, that MM tool is awesome.

 

[ThinBlue502]

I particularly like the fact that there is what looks like a tactical Sig in the first pic!

Yeah, that MM tool is awesome.

Good eye, sir. There’s a special place in my heart for my p226s. I carry one as my service pistol and another as my off duty.

And to post something semi-relevant to this thread, I really just want IRS. Time and money, lack of both.

 

[Olivethefet]

It's the take down lever that gives it away.

 

[Blown88GT]

I have the Steeda sway bar (they call it that, it's really a yaw bar). It makes a big difference. It can take the car from it's natural really bad understeer all the way into oversteer. Trouble is that it sometimes doesn't clear an axle girdle. Worth looking into. Cheaper and easier to install than a panhard bar.

Kurt

1979-1993 Mustang Sway Bars | Steeda

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

On the red car, I just burned the bushings out of the shell with a propane torch. It was easy, but made a smoldering, gooey mess on the driveway. Once those old bushing shells are exposed to the business end of a propane torch, the bushing inside can just be pushed out with a stick. Cleaning the remaining funk out is done with a wire brush, and more applied heat. The fix for the “ thin flimsy factory control arm” has been documented many times over, well before there ever was a Chinese replacement set, and if you have access to a mig welder can be done for next to nothing. Only requiring some 1/8” strap welded across the open bottom of the channel in a couple of places. After that, some cleanup, and paint, and either rubber, or poly bushings just push back in with out the need for a press.
bottom line, it was a fraction of the cost, but took a lot to make it happen.

 

[revhead347]

On the red car, I just burned the bushings out of the shell with a propane torch. It was easy, but made a smoldering, gooey mess on the driveway. Once those old bushing shells are exposed to the business end of a propane torch, the bushing inside can just be pushed out with a stick. Cleaning the remaining funk out is done with a wire brush, and more applied heat. The fix for the “ thin flimsy factory control arm” has been documented many times over, well before there ever was a Chinese replacement set, and if you have access to a mig welder can be done for next to nothing. Only requiring some 1/8” strap welded across the open bottom of the channel in a couple of places. After that, some cleanup, and paint, and either rubber, or poly bushings just push back in with out the need for a press.
bottom line, it was a fraction of the cost, but took a lot to make it happen.

You need to borrow one of your wife's baking pans to save your driveway.

Kurt