Hello everyone. This past Sunday, I installed the following BMR components: LCA's, adj. UCA, and adj. panhard bar w/brace. I've detected a noise coming from the area of the UCA. I say that because I only hear it on rough/bumpy roads and never on smooth roads. I also hear it when accelerating but never decelerating. Could it be because it doesn't have some sort of pinion snubber like the stock piece does? I was planning on hearing additional noise with these parts but I'm not sure what is considered normal and what should not be there at all.

Any thoughts? Your help is greatly appreciated.

Jon

 

I have the BMR adj. LCA/lowering brackets, adj. UCA/mount, adj. panhard rod and brace and mine's silent so far? It was interesting to note, that when I removed the stock one, it was obvious from the wear inside it that it had been moving on the bolt :-o That was after only 1000 miles!

My all BMR setup is actually much quieter than the stock setup!!

Did you torque the UCA before installing (ie. attaching the UCA to the mount). It's tricky to do when it's in the car. Check the torque settings too.

 

more than likely its your sway bolts. they are known for coming loose. Trust me when i say the sound is deceiving. Check that out first, its a known issue when messing with your suspension.

 

Check all the related bolts to factory torque specification. If you have resused the lock nuts, get the green locktight and apply to the threads next to the nut. This type of locktight is designed to wick into the thread nut assy. If you went for solid bushes there is no hope, it will be noisey.

 

Jon- don't have any good advice for ya, but I'm sure you'll get it pinpointed and corrected. Congrats on the install!

 

Hello, I just had the same problem fixed 2 days ago.

Check the bolts beetween the UCA and the Chassis mounts. Mine had to be tightened again after the bushing had time to settle in position.
Now the noise is gone....

hope this helps

 

First question i have is what kind of ends did you go with on these parts? Did you go with the Poly Ends or the Rod Ends? If you went with the rod ends then that is why you are hearing all the road noise. The Rod Ends transfer every little noise. If you went with the poly versions then I would make sure you torque all bolts to factory specs and then see what happens.
I would also make sure you have the pinion angle set properly since you have all those adjstable parts

Richard

 

It went with poly bushings everywhere. Earlier this evening I went for a drive with the back seat out so as to hear what was going on a little bit better. The sound I'm hearing is definitely coming from the UCA. I'm off to Sears tomorrow to pickup a floorjack, jack stands, and other goodies. I'll torque as many bolts as I can reach since the car won't be on a proper lift. If the torque specs are where they should be, could it be that the pinion angle is off. It's at negative 2. Knowing that, what should it be changed to?

Jon

 

I forgot to ask in my last post is if the pinion angle is off, what sort of sign would it be sending me? I ask because I am getting more confused the more I read about this. I understand that with poly bushings instead of the stock rubber bushings, more NVH will be introduced into the car. What is normal and what isn't? Maybe what I am hearing is normal but I have no idea.

Jon

 

If your hearing loud banging or knocking sounds that is NOT normal. If however it simply seems like there is more noise that would be normal. Like was said above the Suspension bolts are one time use torque to yield and while some people have had no issue others have had to replace the bolts once removed.

Richard

 

If the pinion angle is too high you will have loss of torque to the rear wheels. Less mechanical efficency. This condition would normally be pinion angle pointed down too much.

A pinion that is angled up too high can cause drive shaft clearance problems in the tunnel and pinion angle could actually be too low. You want at least 1 -2 degrees.

 

Hey Jon,

I'm sure you know this but thought It might be worth repeating.

The cars suspension must be loaded when tightening to torgue spec.
From reading your post it sounds like your going to lift the rear end up with the floor jack and then set it back down on jack stands. Man, be careful. I have no idea where on the rear end the jack stands should be safely placed.
Never mind about where to put the jack stands I just saw this........good info.
http://forums.bradbarnett.net/showthread.php?t=64434


The torque spec for the UCA and LCA's is 129 ft lbs. thats a lot of force.

Later

 

Jon something just came to me after reading your mod list again. Get under the car and check the clearance between the BMR Panhard Support and the driver side over the axle exhaust tube. I know on my car I could not use the BMR one as it caused the pipe to hit the bar and on bumpy roads it was really bad. I went through every brand of Upper Support and all but the CHE had clearance issues.

Richard

 

Jon i just read soemthing else that may be of interest to you. This is a excerpt from Steeda's website.

"""Stepped Spacer Details
This spacer is designed to fix the problem with the OEM upper link. At the attachment point for the upper link to the chassis mount Ford uses a 14mm bolt, but the opening in the mount is 16mm. This is not typically a problem with the OEM mount as it uses a soft hydra mount bushing to soften this. But once an aftermarket upper is installed with a urethane bushing can transmit this noise or clunk. This space can be installed with all aftermarket upper that still use a 14mm bolt. The stepped spacer takes up the slop and eliminates all noise from the upper. Note, it does work with aftermarket chassis mounts with smaller then 16mm bolt holes."""


And here is the lionk to the part:

http://www.steeda.com/products/tubul...r_3rd_link.php

 

Thanks for the link Richard. It's certainly worth a try. Gotta wait a bit though as I won't have access to a lift for a couple weeks. Kinda stinks but will have to put up with the noise until then.

Jon

 

Whoa...I'll bet that is my problem. Nice find!

 

That's consitent with what I found when I removed the UCA. There was wear evident on the UCA even after only 1000miles!

 

I ordered from Steeda this morning. If it gets here Friday, I will install this weekend. I have several thousand on mine! Did you replace the bolt also?

 

TTBIT,

I'm anxious to hear what you think of the Steeda Spacers as I want to get a pair for my car as well. The noise I'm hearing is getting to be a bit annoying.

Jon

 

Well, I installed the stepper washers. Honestly, I don't think it made a difference, in my case. I heard a nice clank when I first drove it after re-install (haven't heard that noise in months!) and I still seem to hear some clunking over bumps in the rear. I think it has to do with the jam nuts and the ends still wanting to twist on that UCA. The back jam nut was loose when I got under there to remove. Maybe that is why I hadn't heard the loud clank in a long time. Anyway, I will see if I still hear the clicking I do every morning when I park in the garage at work on Monday. To me, I thought the clicking was the clutch packs in the rear diff as I hear it when turning and going slowly, however, I didn't hear anything until I installed the upper.

This car is just at a different level from the older Mustangs. It seems everything I do to it causes some little issue that I wouldn't have noticed in the older Mustangs. You can really appreciate the engineering they put in this thing to make it just right, or... you can say they made it too complicated and any little thing you do throws something off.

I'll report back after some days of driving.