Back in the game and need some control arms and springs!

[boxinabag]

OK guys,

We moved to Shaw AFB, South Carolina, situated, I have no job, but the unemployment and her military check are covering us comfortably for now until a GS job on base opens for me. So, it is time to get this car running smoooooooth, because I can not afford catastrophic failure right now.

So here is what is going on, when I am driving there is occasional squeeking on the passenger side front, sometimes some popping while turning and it gets really squeeky pulling into a driveway or over a bump or something.

I talked to my buddy (who's wife also got stationed here a month before us, he was a foreman mechanic at a dealer) who thinks it is a ball joint. So form my understanding these ball joints are sealed and it is just easier and worth it to get the control arms. So I was thinking these:

MM 96-04 Front Control Arms Forward-offset (Urethane) [MMFCA-10] : Lethal Performance, Performance parts for Ford Mustangs

But I am not sure what the difference between forward offset and non-offset (I haven't asked my friend yet either btw). This car is mostly a DD car, so I want something smooth and quiet, I am under the impression the urethane is good for quiet and the delrin are a bit noisy.

So are those good to use? Do you think that noise may be something else?

The other thing is, my car is too damn low, and I am sick of it. I am sick of scraping my longtubes, and scraping my mufflers. I think the previous owner of the car cut the springs, and cut them a lot. It rides like hell, and the mufflers are about 2.5 inches from the ground, every bump i go over causes a heart attack.

I was thinking the H&R Race springs, but I want something that will also be strong enough to allow grip when it is needed. But I also do not want this car low anymore, stock height would be great, but about an inch lower than stock would be perfect.

H&R 03-04 Cobra Race Spring Set [51659-88] : Lethal Performance, Performance parts for Ford Mustangs

What do you guys suggest?

Once that is all done, it is off to Greenville, SC to have Rick get this thing dyno tuned, sick of this email tune from BAMA.

 

[jrgoffin]

OK guys,

We moved to Shaw AFB, South Carolina, situated, I have no job, but the unemployment and her military check are covering us comfortably for now until a GS job on base opens for me. So, it is time to get this car running smoooooooth, because I can not afford catastrophic failure right now.

So here is what is going on, when I am driving there is occasional squeeking on the passenger side front, sometimes some popping while turning and it gets really squeeky pulling into a driveway or over a bump or something.

I talked to my buddy (who's wife also got stationed here a month before us, he was a foreman mechanic at a dealer) who thinks it is a ball joint. So form my understanding these ball joints are sealed and it is just easier and worth it to get the control arms. So I was thinking these:

MM 96-04 Front Control Arms Forward-offset (Urethane) [MMFCA-10] : Lethal Performance, Performance parts for Ford Mustangs

But I am not sure what the difference between forward offset and non-offset (I haven't asked my friend yet either btw). This car is mostly a DD car, so I want something smooth and quiet, I am under the impression the urethane is good for quiet and the delrin are a bit noisy.

So are those good to use? Do you think that noise may be something else?

The other thing is, my car is too damn low, and I am sick of it. I am sick of scraping my longtubes, and scraping my mufflers. I think the previous owner of the car cut the springs, and cut them a lot. It rides like hell, and the mufflers are about 2.5 inches from the ground, every bump i go over causes a heart attack.

I was thinking the H&R Race springs, but I want something that will also be strong enough to allow grip when it is needed. But I also do not want this car low anymore, stock height would be great, but about an inch lower than stock would be perfect.

H&R 03-04 Cobra Race Spring Set [51659-88] : Lethal Performance, Performance parts for Ford Mustangs

What do you guys suggest?

Once that is all done, it is off to Greenville, SC to have Rick get this thing dyno tuned, sick of this email tune from BAMA.

Shaw - cool - spent a summer there many years ago when I was an AFROTC cadet!

If you need ball joints, but prefer to just swap the arms, get the FRPP arms, M-3075-D (although I'm not even sure they are still available). Those MM arms you listed are only for coil-overs - notice there is no spring seat in them. Worst case, ball joints are not that difficult to replace.

As for springs, the H&R Race springs get rave reviews here and will not drop the car to ridiculously low levels. If you like the stock ride on the OEM 600 #/in coupe springs, there are always plenty of take-off sets in the market.

 

[boxinabag]

Thanks for the reply! Shaw is alright, very unorganized at finance... seems to be this way at most bases, lost our paperwork...twice! *facepalm* :bash:

Thanks for the advice man, I did not even notice that at first about the MM ones. I was under the impression the ball joints a PITA to replace and no worth it, if not than I will just replace those instead of the entire arm.

I bought the H&R Springs and the Tokico HP struts, i dont need adjustable and cant really afford the extra $200 right now haha. Thanks for your help!
.

 

[jrgoffin]

It's not just Shaw, it's the entire Air Force!

Glad you got it worked out. Assuming you have a coupe, the Bilstein shocks & struts are a better choice. I'd keep your original set and send the Tokico's back - that will save you a little bit more $$$ too!

 

[boxinabag]

I believe it! It is really shocking to see that the air force runs the way they do actually :-/

I actually got under the car and it turns out I have bilstein shocks in the rear, cant tell whats up front, one looks black and one looks yellow (like a roush strut). Tried a bounce test and all seem to be pretty stiff, so I am not even going to worry about the struts right now, I may end up just waiting until finances are better and just get the best I can for the struts. So for now I am just ordering the springs, isolators, and ball joints (rock auto, $80 for both, better than $300 for the whole a-arm)

 

[cobracide]

It's not just Shaw, it's the entire Air Force!

Glad you got it worked out. Assuming you have a coupe, the Bilstein shocks & struts are a better choice. I'd keep your original set and send the Tokico's back - that will save you a little bit more $$$ too!

Good idea, if you want to get even better - get the MM valved Sport Bilstein shock/struts. They work well with the Steeda Sports and HR Race.

 

[jrgoffin]

I actually got under the car and it turns out I have bilstein shocks in the rear, cant tell whats up front, one looks black and one looks yellow (like a roush strut). Tried a bounce test and all seem to be pretty stiff, so I am not even going to worry about the struts right now, I may end up just waiting until finances are better and just get the best I can for the struts. So for now I am just ordering the springs, isolators, and ball joints (rock auto, $80 for both, better than $300 for the whole a-arm)

The struts may look black if you are looking at the factory boot - it is a big plastic tube (black, by the way). If you peek from under the bumper at the spindle, you should see the strut housing. Then again, maybe one was changed out before you got the car. In any case, I would stay with the Bilsteins (again, assuming you have a coupe) - they would be fine with the new springs.

 

[boxinabag]

The struts may look black if you are looking at the factory boot - it is a big plastic tube (black, by the way). If you peek from under the bumper at the spindle, you should see the strut housing. Then again, maybe one was changed out before you got the car. In any case, I would stay with the Bilsteins (again, assuming you have a coupe) - they would be fine with the new springs.

I actually have a vert

I am going to figure out this out this weekend I guess, the front seem to be strong with no other problems, so I am not too concerned, but if they are stock or if they are different I will just replace both with a top brand.

 

[jrgoffin]

In any case, if you went with the H&R springs, you'll need new struts and shocks from a coupe at the very least. They come up on the market all the time. Personally, I'd stick with Bilstein!!

 

[boxinabag]

AHG CRAP!

I just realized that I ordered the springs for the Coupe and not the convertible, any one know i there is a significant difference?

 

[jrgoffin]

If you are talking the H&R Race springs still, part #51659.88, they are the same springs for the coupe or convertible.

The spring rates, just as an FYI, are:

F: 760-850 #/in
R: 770 #/in

Now you just need struts and shocks to go along with them. If you have a decent amount of miles on your car, replacing the isolators while the springs are out is also a good idea. Then you'll need an alignment...

 

[boxinabag]

Yeah I have the isolators ordered as well. I checked today and it looks like the fronts are Bilstein as well! The one that was black was just dirty as a mofo lmao. So it looks like I may be in the clear!

 

[Jimmysidecarr]

jrgoffin has got you dialed right in with excellent and valid advise.

Stay on that track.

If you have a low speed creaking when you steer, you may want to replace your rack bushings with non-offset MM aluminum bushings, instead of pulling the stockers out and greasing them once a year.

I like the H&R race plus keeping the stock Bilsteins suggestion, even if the vert version might be slightly under damped for the H&Rs. I would keep them anyway until it is determined that they are actually causing some kind of problem.

 

[boxinabag]

Update time!

SO we made some progress today, my buddy came and helped me out (has $25,000 in Matco and Snap On tools, ex head mechanic) and we hd a few laughs today. First laugh was that we found out there are in deed two different struts on this car.. the stock Bilstein, and some crap brand where the head is a flathead.... how the hell am I supposed to get that off? Well I dunno but we will be tackling it another day... I officially hate the ghetto moron that had my car before me.

Anyways, we began pulling the fronts out and they were Eibach springs... and they were really thin, so we replaced them with the H&R springs and used both isolators (i dont want it low, and I like it comfy). The H&Rs brought it up 2 full inches!!!!! WTF WAS ON THE CAR TO BEGIN WITH?! So I found out...

These were... Eibach Pro Kit Springs at AmericanMuscle.com - Free Shipping!

This moron put GT springs on this thing! I will kill him if I see him one day.

So we grabbed some lunch and started on the rear... holy crap... we managed to get one spring in on the back, the H&R was way bigger and it was a squeeze like no other, using two pry bars and foot to push it in place. After about 20 minutes of jacking with it.. BANG... it was in, yay. Sadly by that time it was too late and we had to call it a night, tomorrow morning we are going to finish the other side.

Also, the ball joints appear to be fine, so we are thinking that the crappy strut was getting bottomed out and we will see how it drives for now, if I dont like it, im going to order two new bilsteins and put them in, but for now the budget just cant handle it.

Any tricks of the trade for getting those back bastards in? Cause it does SUCK!

 

[jrgoffin]

The only way to do the IRS springs is to lower the cradle by unbolting the rearmost two bolts and swinging it down (there are instructions on americanmuscle.com if you search for the H&R springs). The springs will fall right out and go back in much easier. I'ts a bit more tedious since you need to remove the exhaust, unhook the calipers and tie-rods, then ease it down with a floor jack. Prying on springs is a bad idea!

 

[boxinabag]

That was significantly easier!

It is day and night difference from the old to the new, no more popping either! but I do need to get it aligned. It brought it up 2 inches!!... the car probably had a 2.5 inch drop, which is why one of the tie rod links was bent in the front, and needed to be bent back slightly. I hate slap it together jobs so this makes me feel much better. Now all I need is new struts and an amazon tune... hopefully soon lol.

 

[boxinabag]

OK, I got the car aligned today, however it is still making a popping noise. I am thinking that the ball joint is bad (it didnt look bad when we had everything out so we let them be), or the link may need to be replaced (it was slightly bent from being too low). Any ideas?

jrgoffin has got you dialed right in with excellent and valid advise.

Stay on that track.

If you have a low speed creaking when you steer, you may want to replace your rack bushings with non-offset MM aluminum bushings, instead of pulling the stockers out and greasing them once a year.

I like the H&R race plus keeping the stock Bilsteins suggestion, even if the vert version might be slightly under damped for the H&Rs. I would keep them anyway until it is determined that they are actually causing some kind of problem.

It seems to be doing it at all speeds now, no more creaking just a pop noise.