Suspension rebuild parts recommendations for a street car?

[Willybill32]

Anyone have any experience with these control arms? They are listed on rockauto for 85 dollars and claim to be OEM replacements.

DORMAN 524010

More Information for DORMAN 524010

I looked at those when I did mine, but decided to just do the ball joints and bushings. I did the Moog ball joints, as I felt they were better. I got all that stuff from RockAuto. Here's a link for control arm bushings: https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog...8,1133840,suspension,control+arm+bushing,7532

 

[Ryuk]

You are definitely not in coil over territory. A good matched suspension set is the way to go. Reusing anything that is 25+ years old is jumping over dollars to pick up pennies. I'd change all the rubber. The sway bars are hard steel, and don't wear out. You just change the sway bar links on the end. The rear suspension is pretty reasonable for the mechanically inclined. The front suspension is not beginner level stuff. The factory springs have to be pried out, and have a tendancy to shoot across the room. It would be foolish to replace the ball joints on the front control arms without changing the bushings. I have a press here, and I do this stuff all the time, but I wouldn't recommend it to someone who is just "mechanically inclined."

Kurt

A safety trick for the older Mustangs was to put a chain through the coils secured to something else to prevent the fly across the room. Having said that and having seen a spring actually fly across a room, it scares me enough to pay someone else to do it after seeing how much force there is there.

 

[nards444]

I love LMR, but one thing is on somethings specially the mechanical side they are atrocious. I have routinely found parts that were considerably less for the same thing or another part that would work.
So once you build what you want you can find many of these things at Napa or autozone for much cheaper

 

[Mustang5L5]

I love LMR, but one thing is on somethings specially the mechanical side they are atrocious. I have routinely found parts that were considerably less for the same thing or another part that would work.
So once you build what you want you can find many of these things at Napa or autozone for much cheaper

LMR is selling many of the same parts you can buy at the local parts store for a considerable mark-up.

 

[revhead347]

Anyone have any experience with these control arms? They are listed on rockauto for 85 dollars and claim to be OEM replacements.

DORMAN 524010

More Information for DORMAN 524010

I have never specifically used those, but Dorman is a brand I trust. If it's in your price range, then go for it. Pressing bushings and ball joints in and out is a pain in the ass. I believe this rental spring compressor from Autozone will help you out.

https://www.autozone.com/loan-a-tools/loaner-coil-spring-compressor/oemtools-coil-spring-compressor/555573_0_0

The spring compressors that go on the outside of the spring will not work, because there is no room to install them.

I'd go for a more simple suspension setup. Factory rubber bushings definitely give you a better ride. Maximum Motorsports is pretty hardcore stuff. Anything with a spherical bushing anywhere is going to give you a harsh ride.

Skip the Strange Engineering stuff as well. If you go to their website, it's nothing but drag cars. Strange builds hardcore drag racing parts that perform extremely well in that environment, but require a lot of maintenance. Strange equipment will not ride well on the street, and their struts and shocks are notorious for leaking requiring rebuild. I have the high end Tokico stuff in my car, but the best shocks and struts I ever ran across for the street were the reasonably priced KYBs from Summit.

Kurt