Just for clarification for everyone, the J&M or Steeda or MM caster/camber plates ARE strut mount replacements, they have a circular bushing in there that allows the top of the strut to rotate when you turn the wheels. The stock units are usually the source of popping after a spring or strut change out cause they're cheap and have roller bearings that separate a bit when you pull them off the stock struts. Getting new ones or the slightly stiffer GT500 mounts can be a solution, or the CC plates mentioned above usually help as well. You can still have occasional binding with any of the mounts and get some popping noises here and there, though, depending on suspension articulation and steering angle.

When you replace the struts you take the sway bar endlinks off the old one and put them on the new. When I did this, had a lot of difficulty getting the nut to re-torque. Tried the air gun for a while, just got a hot part as it kept spinning. The problem is the backside of it is also a circular bushing and doesn't stay put, so it just rotates around for ever. The solution is using a 8mm socket on the end of that sway bar end link bolt, and stopping the rotation of the nut using an 18mm box-end wrench on the nut itself. Can then be torqued to the factory spec 85ftlbs.

Found this out the hard way as I didn't bother to mess with it initially, did my HDPE day (see pics here: https://themustangsource.com/showthread.php?t=477427 !!), and started hearing a clunking sound toward the end of my 3rd 30minute session. That nut was about 8 threads from coming off completely, so glad I stopped when I did. Tightened it up that night, no more clunking (except that crappy 3rd upper link in the back, replacement going in on Saturday!).

Hope that helps.

 

Same thing on my 05, the end links were loose. I thought it was my struts/mounts, took it to ford and they just tightened the end links and that was it.