cop on my back

Man Dustin, you must have been very suprised / shocked. I was really hoping this was an isolated incident with me, maybe not. I am curious what kind of "duty" your LCA's have been put through and for how long. Did you not notice the rear end steering with very little throttle?

dustindu4

Mine have been on for about 6 months and maybe 10k miles max. Haven't been to the track much so they haven't been beat on in that way.

ttbit

How much grease are you guys using? Steeda told me "one" pump from the gun is probably enough. Waiting for grease to squirt out the ends means you probably damaged the bushings. They said that was old school thinking and especially with poly bushings, you do not want to over-grease them. He said they may remove the fittings from some their products to prevent people from doing this. I wish I would have known this before I put enough grease in my upper link to distort the bushing!!! I loosened the bolt and the grease oozed out to allow the bushing to look normal, but who knows!

FireFighterHill

Im thinking maybe we should do a good grease job before even installing them?

ttbit

You are supposed to grease the outsides a little. It is easier to do them while unbolted, for sure.

cop on my back

I pumped them before installing to the point where they were "purged" with grease and then one more pump once installed.

FireFighterHill

Isnt that what some other members were saying is Bad to do to them?

ttbit

Steeda told me that if I did that with their upper link that I probably split an inner bushing. Of course, I did do this.

I have an appointment with my dealer tomorrow morning. It seems that nobody is hearing some of the noises I am in my car, so I am having them check it out to see if I have posi clutch or some other issues. I can't wait to see what they say about my upper link being installed.

FireFighterHill

The only thing is HOW ARE WE SUPPOSSED TO KNOW WHEN WE HAVE ENOUGH GREASE IN THEM? Does anyone know a procedure for checking that does no damage?

ttbit

I am only going to add more if it starts to squeak. If you buy Steeda, ask them what they think. They have always been friendly to me on the phone. Same with BMR, if you buy their product.

cop on my back

I received the 4 bushings and 4 metal sleeves today. There are actually 8 bushings because there are 2 on each end, not 1 as I had thought. I will be contacting BMR to find out what kind of grease I should be using and how much.
Stand by for an update soon.

cop on my back

Okay, here is an update. I installed all new bushings and sleeves. The bushings are super easy to replace, it is a no-brainer. Both bushings were wrecked as you can see in one of the pictures. Also pictured is the spot where the inner sleeve was coming into contact with the LCA itself. It wore the paint off. It looks like it deformed the steel in the picture, but it didn't, just the paint is gone. You can see all the new bushings and sleeves in the one picture, they push in from each side.

I also found the driver's side bushings were on their way out too, one was starting to split. All the damage was on the front part of the LCA where it connects to the body. Those bushings have slightly smaller shoulders, I wonder if that had something to do with the failures.

So this problem is fixed for now, if it does it again I will get the better LCA's with the hyme joints on the ends.

sis27

Which LCA's have hyme joints on the ends?

FireFighterHill

The racing versions have the hyme joints

http://www.bmrfabrication.com/05Must...tLCA-small.jpg

the bottom one has hyme joints on both sides

ttbit

Good info and pics. That looked pretty bad.

Thanks!

kampendmk

I have a problem with mine to .pm bmr they are sending me new ones

neil07gt

I was wondering what's the disadvantage of lca's with heime joints (rod ends)? Is it extra noise? If so, is it very noticeable?

FireFighterHill

I just got the adjustable street version LCA's TCA021. Let me tell you they are beefy deffinetly alot stronger then the Stock ones. Havent gotten a chance to put them on yet. Probably wont be able to for a month as I have alot on my schedule work and school.

mot250

Yes more noise is possible but how much more noise I do not know. Also, how much more noise are you willing to put up with? I am concidering aftermarket control arms but have not made up my mind yet on which ones.

The grease for poly bushings is only to reduce the squeaking so you only need a little bit.

What did everyone torque the BMR LCAs to? Did you use the Ford Stock spec of 129 ft. lbs.? Or does BMR recommend a different torque spec? Also, for those that experienced the problem bushings, did you torque the arms with the rear of the car loaded (car jacked up but with stands under the axle so there was weight on the axle) or unloaded (car jacked up and the stands on the frame members with the axle hanging down)?

FireFighterHill

according to bmr you are not suppossed to tighten the bolts till the weight of the rearend is being supported by the axle. or else you will preload the bushings. And that not doing so will lead to premature wear. So I plan to jack it up get them installed put the wheels back on. Set it down on my rhino ramps and torque them to 129ft lbs.