I have a 12" Mustang GT with 17,500 miles on it. Whenever I go over a pot hole or bump the bushings in my front lower control arms would make a loud creak noise. It sounds like a broken mattress and makes my car sound 20 years old. This noise was present from the very beginning when I bought the car new.
The control arms were swapped out 4 times by the dealer where I bought the car from. The noise is still here at 17,500 miles. It usually happens when the car has been driven for about 30 minutes, more noticeable in 70 degree+ weather. According to other people with this problem the cats. give off a tremendous amount of heat that heats up the bushings to the point where they start making the creak noise.
I understand there is this TSB out http://www.fordservicecontent.com/Fo...sb13-09-03.htm
this new TSB comes with a "heat shield", however, people on forums are still claiming the noise comes back. Furthermore, it's been cold here in NYC and I cannot reproduce the noise in cold weather, my 3 year warranty expires in April 2014.
I'm trying to think outside the box. I can buy these bushings and ask a local shop to install them http://www.prothanesuspensionparts.c...?prod=4%2E3165
however, I don't know how well they work and how difficult it is for a shop to install them.
I can get a local shop to get rid of the creak by cooling down the bushings by using exhaust tape to block the heat. Or even create a customized heat shield
The last option I have is to get a loud exhaust or just leave the music on all the time.
What do you think is the best way to go about this problem?

 

I’ve had my creaking front lower control arms replaced twice now in my 2012 V6 and I don’t know if /when Ford will have a real fix. The only good news is that my 7 year/100,000 mile extended “base care” warranty has already and will cover this fiasco in the future. Using my ESP provided me a rental car twice now when the control arms were replaced as the original factory warranty does not provide a rental or loaner. This was a good thing as my car was tied up for 3 days for each repair. After shopping around, my Ford dealer had the best price for the genuine base care ESP that covers 84 components. Not a real or permanent solution, but just a thought.

http://owner.ford.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Owner/Page/ESPWizardStep1

 

Dont put the urethane bushings in, they will cause the EPAS system to freak out and cause the steering to shake and shudder. I would talk to the dealer you had the previous work done and see if they will put the new LCA's on with the heat shields. I'm thinking about using the exhaust tape in addition to the heat shields also...

 

Since you've posted multiple threads and contributed to lots of discussion about this problem, I'm pretty sure you've got all the options at this point. It sucks that you've gone through four sets of LCAs without it curing the problem, but switching to anything aftermarket will void your warranty anyway, so not sure why you're worried about that. Why not look at all new LCAs from Steeda/Roush/etc.?

 

I had the new TSB done. Over 5000 miles since, and no noise. Fingers crossed it doesn't return. You won't know unless you try.

 

I installed Prothane bushings in my FCA a year ago and haven't experienced any problems with my EPAS.

 

I don't know anything about how exhaust tape works. Where would we stick it on to in our cars? like do we wrap the cats. in exhaust tape to prevent the heat from hitting the LCA bushings or what?

 

I actually asked a local shop to do it last month. The manager told me he's not willing to replace just the bushing, he claims it's too complicated, too many things can go wrong and doesn't want my car stuck there. He's willing to replace the whole control arm with an aftermarket one but NOT just the bushing, did a local shop replace just the bushing for you?

 

I've got a little creaking / squeaking going on also in the summertime over speed bumps and there's no way Ford is going to warranty it with my modifications and I'm not sure if I want them doing it anyway after some of the stories I've heard. This fix is pretty low on my list but I did look a little bit into aftermarket front LCA's and did not find anything for the 2011 ~ 2013 GT. Anybody have a link?

 

http://www.cjponyparts.com/bmr-front...014/p/LCA82-V/

There are these, however, from what I heard there is an 80% chance it'll cause a steering wheel shudder. People with these aftermarket arms claim it messes with the electric steering because of the stiffer bushings. The result is a car that's unpredictable in terms of steering

 

Thanks for the link, when I was looking into this I believe I heard the same thing about most aftermarket front LCA's.

 

The exhaust tape wraps around the exhaust pipe insulating the surrounding areas from heat. If my D series arms with the heat shields go out, I'll wrap from the shorty header down to the cats at least. I've done this on motorcycles before, but don't know how it will effect the cats if they get wrapped.